Seasoning my skillet not going as planned

[Caslon]

This 8" cast iron skillet starting sticking because I used some soap. I decided to clean it after umpteen years and reseason it. I've seasoned a wok before.

OK, so I cleaned it out all I wanted to, and per some sites instructions, wiped some Canola oil in the pan and set it upside down in the oven with some foil underneath it. 340 F for an hour.

Taking it out, the oil collected in places on the bottom and sides and turned into a shiny glaze, leaving other areas still dull. It almost looks like sugar glaze at the bottom.

I reduced the heat to 240 and wiped it down again and its in the oven now for another hour. I ditched the idea of keeping it upside down in the oven. That's what I think caused such a build up of glaze in areas.

Needless to say I'm disappointed so far. I may end up starting over and scouring out the skillet again.

Is it normal for that glaze like surface to be kinda...well, thick? Do I need to repeat the process until its glazy like all over?

PS. When I wiped it down again with oil to go in the oven again, I could still see the slightly raised previous shinier areas when shown to the light. I'm pretty sure I didn't use too much oil the first bake, maybe I did. Seems like I did something wrong. Too high a temp?

 

[justplainbill]

My guess is that you're winding up with a somewhate tacky or gummy reddish brown glaze. I've found that at 350F it takes upwards of 4 hours to get the black (carbonized) finish that I want.

 

[Caslon]

My guess is that you're winding up with a somewhate tacky or gummy reddish brown glaze. I've found that at 350F it takes upwards of 4 hours to get the black (carbonized) finish that I want.

What about the areas of the skillet that still look unseasoned (a dull flat appearance) after the baking process? I don't mind repeating the process, but I don't like how my first "bake" turned out.

 

[justplainbill]

In my book, bone dry does not mean unseasoned. For me, a clean well seasoned pan is one that has an even, black, dry and relatively dull finish. Shiney finishes seem prone to rancidity.

 

[Caslon]

That may be true, the oil may have pooled, requiring the skillet be scrubbed down again and the seasoning process started over.
There are squiddly patterned lines of what appears to be pooled areas of oil that got overbaked or something.

Those baked on pooled areas with their weird raised outlines are now permanent unless I scrub them off and start over.

 

[justplainbill]

After washing and mechanically drying, you might want to heat pan to insure it is thoroughly dried before greasing / oiling the pan.

 

[Zhizara]

I remember buying a cast iron skillet that wasn't already seasoned and the instructions were to put about a 1/2" of oil in the pan and put it in the oven for several hours at a low temp. I think the temp was 200 or 250. Since then I have reseasoned by doing the same thing.

My new 8" skillet came already seasoned! Whenever I use it, usually for cornbread, I spray it liberally with cooking spray before adding my batter. It comes out perfect every time. The reason I did this was the first cornbread didn't quite come out whole, but ever since I started with the cooking spray, it comes out completely in one piece that I can cut into pie wedge pieces.

 

[Caslon]

I found that lightly coating a cleaned skillet with oil at 350F face down, for an hour, is not the ideal way to season a cleaned out skillet.

More than a few sites mention 350F for an hour to season. That probably may have been way too hot?

 

[letscook]

Put some oil in it and if you have a gas grill take it out side and let it "cook" on the gas grill (won't stink up the house) I do mine this way all the time - works great.

 

[GB]

It definitely was not too hot. If anything it was too cool. I am confused as to how you think it being upside down contributed to pooling. the reason you turn the pan upside down is so that the fat has a harder time pooling as gravity will force it to not pool.

Pooling happens when too much fat is used. You should just wipe a very thin layer on it.

 

[KaiC]

Hi all, I got pointed to this forum as a great resource and one of the first topics I came across was this one - a passion of mine is cast iron (I am also a Wagner and Griswold Society member), I think I can help...

Here is how I have done my cast iron. I have done pieces nearly 100 years old, and the most contemporary piece was a skillet I picked up in Walmart for camping. It came pre-seasoned, but I wanted to try out seasoning methods so I stripped the pre-seasoning off to start fresh.

After get rid of the old seasoning, I air dry the piece upside down in the oven for about 20 mins at 400 degrees. I leave the oven open a crack for a few minutes to allow moisture to escape to avoid flash rust.

After 20 minutes I take it out and spray it with PAM or apply Crisco with a paper towel. Both have worked well for me. The trick is to wipe it down REALLY WELL with a cheap terrycloth. Wipe it until you think you wiped off all the oil. Put it back in the oven upside down for an hour, then turn off the oven and allow to cool inside.

This is a good start. I have repeated the coating/wiping/baking several times just to really get it seasoned nicely, but the best way to season is to use it. As soon as you're done cooking, wipe it down before it cools completely and you're good to go. I have used varying temps to season CI, all the way up to 500, but I personally haven't found that high to be any MORE effective. But below 400 I did not find worked nearly as well.

Hope that helps!

 

[Andy M.]

When you prepared the skillet for seasoning, did you remove ALL of the old seasoning and get it down to the original cast iron surface?

 

[Caslon]

I got most all of it off. The sides are a different matter tho. The sides aren't as important to me as the bottom.

I'm gonna re-scour it out again and get the sides cleaner. One site says to spray it with EZ OFF and put it in a plastic bag for a few days. I might try that.

I find it a bit strange that there are so many sites using different temps and techniques to season a skillet. I'm hesitant to use the 350F again and might try the lower 225F maybe, tho that doesn't seem hot enough.

Even with a seasoned skillet, when cooking eggs, they would always slip right out if I cooked some bacon first. Otherwise they tended to stick a little, even with a bit of oil in the pan.

 

[jabbur]

I used the cleaning cycle on my oven to remove gunk and old seasoning from my CI. Then put some oil on a paper towel and rubbed it all over. Back in the oven at 500 degrees for an hour. Shut off the oven and left pan in until cool. Then for the next few times I used it I put some bacon grease or oil in the pan before cooking. Have not had a problem.

 

[Andy M.]

I got most all of it off. The sides are a different matter tho. The sides aren't as important to me as the bottom.

I'm gonna re-scour it out again and get the sides cleaner. One site says to spray it with EZ OFF and put it in a plastic bag for a few days. I might try that.

I find it a bit strange that there are so many sites using different temps and techniques to season a skillet. I'm hesitant to use the 350F again and might try the lower 225F maybe, tho that doesn't seem hot enough.

Even with a seasoned skillet, when cooking eggs, they would always slip right out if I cooked some bacon first. Otherwise they tended to stick a little, even with a bit of oil in the pan.

Why don't you go to the Lodge Manufacturing website and use the method they offer. It's simple and easy and I don't imagine anyone knows better.

I would completely strip the pan. Last time, I just put the pan into my gas grill and turned it up full blast for a while. Using the oven cleaning cycle would also work.

 

[Caslon]

I came across this site of ppl using the self-cleaning oven method. My skillet isn't gunky but someone's was and the self-cleaning cycle caused a fire in the oven. The oven door is locked during the cycle so the door could not be opened. Anyways, others posting there had success, so I might try it.

Cast Iron Pans, Self Cleaning Oven for Cleaning Cast Iron, Techniques for Restoring an old Cast-Iron Skillet

 

[KaiC]

Don't be scared to put the heat up. They are made to withstand high temps. You just want to watch how fast the cooldown rate is, which is why I recommend leaving the piece in the oven to cool down after shutting off the heat.

FYI, the WAGS forums are an incredible wealth of information, including the best ways to season and care for your cast iron. These people are dedicated to their collections... many people have extensive collections of rare and antique pieces well over a century old, and many of those antiques are still in service. When I make pancakes on Sunday morning, I use my 1905 Griswold long griddle I brought back from rust and neglect using the method I wrote about. The pancakes NEVER stick.

If you are interested in how the collectors take care of their CI, please check out their forums:

Griswold and Cast Iron Collectibles' Forum

Folks there are very friendly and happy to try and help.

PS: someone mentioned using EZ Off - this was one of the first methods I tried and it was definitely effective, but be prepared to re-apply after a couple of days and wait up to a week to get the piece completely clean. I have since moved onto the lye bath method which is VERY effective and cheaper than EZ Off if you have more than one piece to clean. I am told the electrolysis method is the best, but I am in an apartment and cannot have that setup here.

 

[Caslon]

I coated it with EZ-OFF but am going to only wait awhile and not days. I'm impatient and am going to try the oven cleaning method in about an hour. I agree, it would take many times coating it with EZ OFF to get it clean.

PS: I'd like to season it later on tonite. I don't wanna go to the store to buy Crisco. Will a light coating of Canola oil be OK? The wags site is adamant about using Crisco melted.
Also, another site suggests repeating the seasoning a few times if you don't plan on cooking with it right away. I might try that.

 

[Andy M.]

Not sure how canola will work. I think it will be ok but Crisco is favored by the people who know.

Don't be impatient. If you want good results, do it right.

 

[Alix]

Caslon, have you got any fat that is solid at room temp? Lard, bacon grease, crisco?