Seeking Carbon Steel Seasoning Advice.

[hoovarmin]

After cleaning your carbon steel pans, how long do you keep your pan over the heat after the oil has stopped smoking?

[HawkerXP]

Until the smoke alarm stops?

[bmillin]

I treat mine just like a cast iron pan. What do you mean by cleaning?

[hoovarmin]

By cleaning I mean scraping out the food and rinsing with water.

[Henrik]

Hmm, not sure I understand what you mean. I assume you:
1. clean the pan and wipe it dry,
2. Add oil and heat it up

...and then? I add oil and heat it up, but once the oil starts smoking I pull it off, let it cool a bit and then repeat this 2-3 times.

[Allon]

@hoovarmin

I believe that would leave you with a burnt taste in your food.
I've never gone that far before so my opinion may have some flaws...

[realdocBBQ]

I leave my griddle running hot until the oil stops smoking. Then I apply another thin layer, and repeat. I know it's best to let it cool in between for cast iron, probably carbon steel, too, but the smoking off it what indicates the polymerization of the oil. That's the way I understood it, anyways.

[hoovarmin]

realdocBBQ same

[FireMan]

Treat it just like ya would yer Wok or cast iron.

[Jim White]

That’s what I do. I don’t even go back onto the cooktop. The hot water in my kitchen sink is set a few degrees above normal top limit. My last rinse is at that really high temp. Then a quick wipe with a paper towel followed by one with a drop or two of peanut oil. Thinnest possible coat only to achieve a sheen and I’m good to go.

[Donw]

Pull off when it starts to smoke. Here is a quick video from De Buyers which is the oldest manufacturer of carbon steel pans in France, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93PqAgTcUOA

[Oak Smoke]

I too would treat it like cast iron. My old #12 Wagner is my daily driver. After it cools down from being used I take it to the sink and run hot water with some dish soap in it. I have a hard plastic scrapper I use next then a light rub with the dish rag. After a good rinse with hot water I dry it with paper towels then set it on the stove and turn a burner on medium. All this is for is to completely dry the pan. Once the pan is dry pour a bit of oil in it and rub it around with a paper towel to keep it from rusting then turn the burner off. This presumes the pan is well seasoned. My old skillet gets this treatment all the time and hash browns won’t even stick in it. Now this doesn’t leave a beautiful even colored finish in the pan, but a well seasoned pan may not have the same color across all the bottom.

[realdocBBQ]

You use soap?? Funny, that was what I'd always been warned NOT to do...

[Oak Smoke]

I have a fairly large cast iron collection now and have gotten most of my instructions from Castironcollector.com. If you want your skillet to look like a show piece then don’t use soap. If you want a clean non-stick skillet soap won’t hurt at all. You still can’t leave it to soak or put it in the dishwasher,.

[ecowper]

I came here to say what Oak Smoke said

[hoovarmin]

OK, wow, seems I have some mistaken notions about seasoning carbon steel. Thanks everyone.

[ecowper]

I have no carbon steel. But I have a lot of cast iron. My understanding is that they are basically the same on the maintenance front. I could be wrong, obviously, since I don’t have carbon steel.

[Finster]

I too would treat it like cast iron. My old #12 Wagner is my daily driver. After it cools down from being used I take it to the sink and run hot water with some dish soap in it. I have a hard plastic scrapper I use next then a light rub with the dish rag. After a good rinse with hot water I dry it with paper towels then set it on the stove and turn a burner on medium. All this is for is to completely dry the pan. Once the pan is dry pour a bit of oil in it and rub it around with a paper towel to keep it from rusting then turn the burner off. This presumes the pan is well seasoned. My old skillet gets this treatment all the time and hash browns won’t even stick in it. Now this doesn’t leave a beautiful even colored finish in the pan, but a well seasoned pan may not have the same color across all the bottom.

This^^^^^^

[hoovarmin]

I had a dream last night that Emeril Lagasse came to my house and was going to cook on that pan. He tested it out by spitting in it in various places to see how quickly each one started to fizzle and evaporate, then looked at me and said, this isn't a good pan.

[Finster]

One of the worst cast iron pans I have is an Emeril pan. It was a christmas gift a number of years ago. The inside bottom of the pan has a ridge in it. Pretty poor quality control by the manufacturer.
It gets used (and abused) exclusively on the grill for searing, or sauteing...
Will never buy a product with Emeril's name on it...

[barelfly]

Ha! Come on! Emeril would have said BAM! BAM! BAM!!!! When that paella came out in that pan!

As for Finster - I too have an Emeril CI skillet that just isn’t really good. It’s the pan I’ve had the longest and after all the use, the seasoning on it is still horrible, rough. I was thinking of taking my sander to it this week to get it as close to bare as I can and starting over.

[Spinaker]

Leave it on the heat until the smoke starts. Then remove it from the heat and give the pan a wipe. That is all you need.

[hoovarmin]

Just reiterating that we are taking about carbon steel here and not cast iron.

[Polarbear777]

It’s the same. Heat to ensure it’s dry and get the oil smoking but use very little oil. Once it’s smoking even a little, wipe any excess and you are done.
I have a lot of both and treat them the same.

[Donw]

I’m going to add this video for a deep look into seasoning and maintaining carbon steel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEZYD5VSEIM

[Attjack]

I treat cast iron and carbon steel the same. Scrape, scrub, rinse. Heat until dry, oil it, cut the heat, if it's smoking a little fine if not that's fine too, wipe. Let cool and put away.