Hi all...It seems no matter what..Every time I season this pan I get this orange peel effect on the finish. Frustrating to no end because the seasoning is not uniform, very often food sticks. This pan was at a near perfect state of seasoning for many years.
Now mediocre at best. I'm considering getting the sander out and sanding to bare metal and starting over.
This pan is my very first piece of cookware I bought for myself for my first apartment.
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
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Two things, either you are using to much oil or not enough heat to manually season the pan. If it is sticky, you have oil that is not fully baked into a polymer coating. Try baking it hotter, 400 F-500 F for at least two hours then let it cool slowly. Allow the pan to preheat for a 1/2 hour at 200 F, then take it out add the oil and wipe it clean. There will be a tiny micro layer of oil on the pan, that is all you need. Then crank the heat. After about 15 mins on high heat, remove the pan and wipe it again with a clean rag, then throw in the oven. Allow to bake, once it’s done baking, shut the heat off and keep the door shut for a few hours. The slower it cools, the better.
If the seasoning is uneven, that is not a big deal at all, just keep cooking and it will fill in.
If the food is sticking, you are using too much heat and/or not enough oil. Cast iron retains heat very well, so you do not need to keep the heat up on your stove to help the pan keep up, as you would with a stainless or carbon steel pan. Allow the pan to heat soak then cook at medium. You really don’t need to cook much hotter than that.
If if you are just starting out, add a lot of oil to the pan, don’t be shy, you need that extra oil to help the food not stick. And don’t use cooking spray or PAM, just use oil.
And, please, don’t take a sander to this gorgeous piece of vintage cookware.
The sander is really only necessary if you have a Lodge or a Chinese pan. Even then, I have numerous Lodges that are not sanded and they are non stick. Just remember that oil while cooking and temp management is key. Please LMK if you have any more questions, happy to help out. troymeister
One thing I do after every cook using my cast iron - after cleaning, I put it on the stove and heat it over med high heat. I place 1-2 drops of avocado oil (or oil of choice) and rub it in thoroughly with a lint free cloth. Let it heat until the skillet starts smoking, then repeat with 1-2 more drops. Rub it in and shut off the heat. Let it cool, wiping the pan one more time with a clean cloth. (By 1-2 drops, I literally mean 1-2 drops.) Do that after every cook and you’ll have yourself a patina that’ll make the 1900’s cry.
Over time & heavy use should not wear the seasoning out. It should build up on it. Unless you are cookin a lot of tomatoes or using water in it a lot. From what you described you should not strip it down. That should happen if it is rust or needs to be restored. It sounds like a restoration is above & beyond what is needed. Let’s see what tomorrow brings after givin it the Spin treatment.
Spinaker What I ended up doing was I scoured the pan vigorously with Kosher salt to smooth the surface as best as possible. Then followed your advice. Preheat to 200. Then at 450 for about 2 hours. There was still an element of stickiness so I cranked the oven to 500 for another 1.5 hours. This seems to have done the trick. It’s not near perfect like it used to be but at least I know I can get that way over time.
What can I do? How can I fix this.
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