People say this is rust on underside of cast iron but I'm unsure!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

BAPyessir6

Senior Cook
Joined
May 15, 2020
Messages
331
Location
Prior Lake
Some new cast iron I've seasoned about 4 times in the oven between using them mostly for skillet cookies (the small ones). I want to know what this reddish brown coloring is on the underside of the cast iron. It doesn't rub or flake off at all when I rub it, or scrub it with salt or steel chainmail cast iron cleaning thing. Maybe a slight black residue when I really go at it, but only a bit. Is it rusting underneath the layers of my seasoning perhaps?

You can see the color difference inside the skillet versus on the bottom.
 

Attachments

  • PXL_20241107_224504556.jpg
    PXL_20241107_224504556.jpg
    175.9 KB · Views: 27
  • PXL_20241107_224500420.jpg
    PXL_20241107_224500420.jpg
    171.6 KB · Views: 24
  • PXL_20241107_224457585.jpg
    PXL_20241107_224457585.jpg
    219.9 KB · Views: 26
when you apply oil to the pan and heat it, the oil polymerizes and changes color. It starts out brownish and ends up black. All those brown blotches on she pans are the same thing.
 
when you apply oil to the pan and heat it, the oil polymerizes and changes color. It starts out brownish and ends up black. All those brown blotches on she pans are the same thing.
You are a smart smartie! I didn't know that.
 
I assume everyone on here knows something about cooking more than me!

My Blackstone has the same problem. It's kinda brown now. I need to, like you, use it more. But it's getting cold!! I'm in Minnesota and I'm a weenie! 🌭
 
I assume everyone on here knows something about cooking more than me!

My Blackstone has the same problem. It's kinda brown now. I need to, like you, use it more. But it's getting cold!! I'm in Minnesota and I'm a weenie! 🌭

My Blackstone was an impulse buy. Walmart had it on Clearance Sale, and I couldn't resist. In hindsight, it was not the smartest purchase I've made. I do like it, but every time I walk past it, I ask myself why I bought it. :ROFLMAO:

CD
 
I haven't used mine nearly as much as my charcoal grill or smoker. I'm still glad I bought it. FOMO and all. 😁 🤓

It's also fun to learn a new cooking style, as it's technically my first "gas/propane grill." I only ever cooked on charcoal.

That being said, I grew up with a gas stove. Is that the same thing?

Smash burgers, eggs, fried rice, and pancakes are banging on it though.
 
well... ok...

No offense intended -- I should have explained my reasoning.

If you only season the inside of a bare cast iron pan, the outside can still rust. You don't need to put as much effort into the bottom of the pan as you would the inside... it obviously does not need to be nonstick, requiring that level of seasoning, but still needs enough seasoning to protect it.

CD
 
I've never seasoned the outside of my cast iron and carbon steel pots and pans
 
I've never seasoned the outside of my cast iron and carbon steel pots and pans

Wow, I thought it was standard practice. I'm not sure why I thought that, but it just seemed like the thing to do. Granted, I grew up in SE Texas, where everything metal rusts. My sister lives in Houston, and over twenty something years, I have filled her garage with tools, and they are all covered in varying amounts of rust.

CD
 
We got dust, spiders, termites but rust seems under control, at least on the outside :)
These are about 30 years old
IMG_20241108_105840_169.jpg
 
I guess mine just pick-up grease in the normal cooking routine. But other than a quick swipe of an oil on a new pan - I have never stripped a CI pan, nor done the full seasoning routine.
I would say the outside "crust" on most of my pans are pretty darn thick.
 
Back
Top Bottom