You must clean stainless steel it is not ment to be seasoned. Now one of my favorites cast iron you can season. They are such a joy to cook with. On my current poll it looks like cast iron and stainless steal are neck and neck.
Today I spent several hours restoring some rusted up pie irons. It took me an hour for each one. However I am quite proud of how the came out. I should have taken pictures of the job for everyone to see. They were rusted pretty bad.
I went to hardware store and picked up a wire brush...
I find the best way to clean my cast iron is the following and keep it seasoned well.
Hot water and scrape away food build up with plastic scrapper.
Dry completely
Put back on stove on medium heat for 5 min with some lard.
Let it cool a little and then wipe lard oil around in pan.
Bake in oven...
Sounds delicious! By the way you would have been alright putting them in the non-stick pan. Did you trip dipping them in some melted cheese. That is my favorite cheese and pretzel dip.