Pitting/catering on cast iron pan. Repeated seasoning has not resolved the problem.

Wife and daughters were washing the pan and then setting it aside to dry.

Chuck
  • Posted by: Chuck
  • February 17, 2019
  • 3200 views
  • 6 Comments
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6 Comments

Chuck
Chuck February 19, 2019
Based on reccomendations from multiple sources I was using flax oil.
 
Lori T.
Lori T. February 19, 2019
I've used flaxseed oil, but found it too fragile and with a tendency to flake off rather easily. Not to mention, the good stuff is expensive. Lodge used canola oil, I think. What's most critical is to make sure the layers are thin. I also forgot to mention that you can also put cast iron through the self cleaning cycle of an oven, which will also remove old flaky seasoning. Whatever method you use, you will need to get the pan back to bare metal, assess the condition, and re-season from there. If you have good luck with flaxseed oil, then go for it. I normally just tell people to stay away from the solid vegetable shortening, because it's so easy to overdo it and it ends up a sticky mess.
 
Nancy
Nancy February 19, 2019
Yes to Lori Terwilliger reminder about using self cleaning oven to take cast iron back to original finish.
This is what the professional service would do.
 
Lori T.
Lori T. February 19, 2019
Honestly, that looks like the original old seasoning is trying to come off, and it's been compounded by repeated rounds of trying to re-season it. I would start by stripping it down to the metal, with plain old steel wool and a lot of elbow grease. Yours looks kind of a challenge for the manual removal method, so you might even consider using something like Easy-Off. Obviously that's a pretty rough treatment, and I've only done it myself once- with a flea market find. Once you are down to bare metal, it will be easier to assess what kind of real damage you are looking at. If it doesn't look so bad, then you can proceed to re-season. I don't know what you used for seasoning, but I don't recommend vegetable oil. It tends to turn into a plastic like sticky mess. I prefer to use old fashioned lard or bacon fat instead.
 
Nancy
Nancy February 18, 2019
Also if the pan is to far gone, or futher resurfacing attempts don't work, there are companies that do that professionally.
If this pan is not worth the cost of the professional service, start over with a new pan and avoid:
* frequent washing in water and all drip drying
* heavy use of acidic foods
* storing heavily liquid or acidic foods in the pan.
 
Simplyaok
Simplyaok February 17, 2019
Your best bet is to google "badly pitted cast iron pan" and it will give you a number of videos on how to fix it!
 
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