Very burnt cast iron pan - still usable?
Hello! Someone just left my *only* week-old cast iron pan on the stove, and before I smelled it, it got burnt. I mean, it's completely covered in almost black layer of burnt oil (I wiped it with some rapeseed oil yesterday, as I always do after cooking with it), except for a small spot in the middle (it still has golden-to-dark brown colour, which the whole pan had earlier). Is it safe to cook on it now, or should I scrape down/off the black layer completely and re-season it? I hope it isn't unsalvagable...
Thank you for your help!
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3 Comments
You can relax about your pan not being salvageable unless it's warped or cracked. Cast iron can take a lot more heat than a residential cooktop can put out.
The dusty gray description sounds like carbonization. Personally, I like to assume the little black specs in my eggs are pepper so I'd do something about the situation. Read this article and see if it helps:
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/howto/print/detail.asp?docid=19634
http://www.food52.com/hotline/14000-getting-burnt-gunk-off-of-cast-iron-skillet