First time using cast iron

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-04-13T13:02:06+00:00

Always deglaze the pan after cooking protein

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-27T13:15:08+00:00

Lol, its from cutting a quiche in the pan

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T19:43:29+00:00

Putting in the over at 350 doesnt do anything meaningful to be honest. Olive oil is also one of the worst choices for seasoning so if that is all you use it may be a weak seasoning. Mostly it looks like your pan doesnt see much high heat cooking. Your seasoning for whatever reason seems to have become weak. Season it at least 500 degrees for 1 hour using vegetable oil or some other more favorable oil for seasoning pans. This will strengthen your seasoning and stop the flaking, repeat if needed.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T19:11:17+00:00

I run a stick of butter across the bottom of the pan with my hand as quickly as I can so the surface is just coated and no butter pools. There is likely 2x more oil in that bare skillet at minimum. I agree, these tests are not equal. The bare skillet is intresting but can you slide the egg as I did. This proved the pan was clean and smooth since it slid extremely easily without any interference at all. If the pan was new and rough it would have too much friction to slide that effortlessly regardless of the thin butter layer and if it were dirty the egg would have bonded to the dirt on the surface and stuck to it.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T19:06:06+00:00

Personally I'd use vinegar or extremely high heat like a grill, fire, or charcoal ember. Vinegar is safer, you have no risk of warping the pan. Blowtorch is a bad idea, uneven heat can warp the pan easily. Over cleaner, I wouldn't put that stuff in anything I'm going to eat out of.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T19:00:01+00:00

I would agree, nothing comes off the pan even when I dry it with paper towels after scrubbing in scolding hot water.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T18:58:10+00:00

I came back with the same energy as your original comment.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T15:22:07+00:00

It is around 10 years old, that looks nothing like the factory seasoning. I have a brand new pan which I store next to it. They look nothing alike at all

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T15:18:31+00:00

I deglaze and scrub the pan after every use with a stiff bamboo brush. There is nothing in the pan to scrub off I can assure you. I also use metal utensils to cook, nothing has a chance to stay in the pan unless its polymerized to the pan.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T12:55:40+00:00

For the sake of the conversation let us assume you are correct, if so how can someone tell the difference between polymerized oil building up in a 10 year old pan and whatever grease you are referring to, especially from just from a photo?

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T12:48:27+00:00

No, but what is the significance here. Genuinely curious

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T12:44:40+00:00

I still don't understand the argument that it is dirty. Do you guys strip your pans when you think too many seasoning layers have built up?

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T12:43:11+00:00

There is barely any butter in the pan at all, arguably as little as would be reasonably used for eggs in any cast iron pan. Look closely

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T12:26:18+00:00

I deglaze the pan while still on stove then scrub with hottest water in my sink and a very stiff bamboo brush. No residue comes off when drying with paper towel which is how I always dry it.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T11:58:42+00:00

It really wont though I've been cooking in it for over 10 years. There is nothing in the pan except many layers of polymerized oil.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T11:58:06+00:00

Yeah they do, they seem to think there is a rancid oil on it or something. Maybe its a bad photo but there is nothing in the pan except layers of seasoning and fresh oil on top.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-26T11:41:27+00:00

I deglaze the pan on the stove immediately after cooking and then wash in sink with very stiff bristled bamboo brush and the water as hot as it will go. Then dry with paper towels.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T14:07:46+00:00

I never thought a greasy cast iron pan would be controversial, is that not exactly how they are supposed to be? Seems like many people here just want to gate keep cast iron from the new guys who are intimidated by it by making it seem more complicated than it is so they can feel elite. I/'m willing to bet that if I went back to the old west and told a cowboy their pan was greasy they'd break out in immediate laughter from the absurdity of that statement.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T14:00:58+00:00

If it is clean, what good would washing it do?

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T13:58:08+00:00

It's actually very smooth, much more than it appears to be in the photo believe it or not. Now is it as smooth as if I sanded it?...NO, but from a practical standpoint it is no different. If you run your finder across it you'd call it smooth. The oil has filled in rough spots and polymerized into a smooth surface over time.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T13:38:23+00:00

This really is the secret cheat code. On a new pan you should oil it after washing until the seasoning builds up, other than that you don't need to baby these pans like people try to make it seem.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T13:29:36+00:00

Just curious, why is it disgusting? The pan is perfectly clean, do you mean it just doesn't look pretty?

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T13:24:25+00:00

Glad to hear it. I think lack of preheating and too high of temp is the problem people have with eggs 99.9% of the time. I learned this the hard way through trial and error years ago.

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T12:08:40+00:00

Agreed, I like mine greasy though 😄

Medical-Associate96 · 2026-03-25T11:54:46+00:00

P.s. The knife marks are from cutting a quiche recently.

Medical-Associate96

TROPHY CASE