Seasoning Carbon Steel Pans

[rotuts]

if thats the case, consider striping them down back to the steel and starting a seasoning program again.

EasyOff ?

[gfweb]

if thats the case, consider striping them down back to the steel and starting a seasoning program again.

EasyOff ?

I just don't use them for eggs anymore.

for that I have teflon

[Hassouni]

I've been quite meticulous about wiping and scraping the pan out - when I did the bacon there was some gunk almost burnt onto the pan, but I made sure to get that off, and with each coat of oil/grease/whatever, I've wiped as much as I could out then heated till it was no longer sticky.

Hopefully continuing to do that will keep it as slick as it is now

[Hassouni]

OK, I'm livid and distraught.

I've been recovering from an illness chez les parents for the last couple days, which is where I've seasoned my new pan.

I just now discovered that my father while attempting to boil water mistakenly turned on the burner that the De Buyer was resting on, to max high. For god knows how long, while he walked off (I was resting in bed). The seasoning obviously has vaporized off, the bottom of the pan has a fucking imprint from the coil of the burner, and the coating of the handle has started to melt off. (How my father didn't smell the damn thing blows my mind, the kitchen stinks of burnt silicone and vaporized seasoning now, and of course he vehemently denies all culpability, but that's not the point) I tried to see if any warping was evident, and there might be a tiny bit, but I'm not positive.

Pics:

Is the pan ruined? Can I reseason it? It seems like traces of the original seasoning have been permanently stained it, as has the red-hot coil (there was a lot of flaking crap I removed).

Here I was, so excited about this new pan and it's freshly zambonied ice-like interior, and this happens.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Hassouni (log)

[Hassouni]

Update.

The pan is still a lot uglier than it was before this incident, but I expected it to get nasty looking over time, so whatever. Vigorous scrubbing removed the bits of burner that stuck to the pan and other ashy crusty crap, and I got it back to a relatively smooth steel surface. It now looks like a very used pan, rather than a destroyed one.

However, it is not quite as smooth as when new, nor is the inside (post seasoning, see below) as smooth as the outside of the pan. Also, to my relief, it appears to not be warped.

I re-did the seasoning, no oven this time, but maybe 5+ thin coats of flax oil on the stove, plus 3 rashers' worth of very fatty bacon. After this, it appears well seasoned, like an old wok or something, but it isn't quite as glass-smooth as before, and has a very slight texture. That being said, I seared 4 turkey thighs today, both skin side and meat side, and NO sticking and yet again they glided around. I haven't tried an egg, but the Turkey experience was very reassuring.

So, bottom line, these De Buyer pans are kind of indestructible!

One odd note - some fluff from the towel got into the pan and baked under one of the coats of seasoning. I couldn't remove it except with a metal implement (tongs I think), which gouged the seasoning and revealed, to my surprise.....really light, raw-colored bare steel. I thought I had taken it back to bare steel, steel which had been discolored from the heat (as happens to CS in high heat, case in point, woks). What might be going on with that? Does that mean if I really wanted to, I could steel wool the whole thing back to its original condition?

[gfweb]

I've battered the heck out of my steel pans. I believe that they are indestructible.

Perhaps made of old NATO tank armor.

that's what I like to think

[Winston Smith]

Considering modern cast iron is much rougher and will accept a polymerised finish,I can't imagine your pan won't season well. Look like new? No but perfectly serviceable.

[takadi]

I believe seasoning is a physical process rather than a chemical process, meaning that the polymerized oils don't chemically combine with the iron/steel to become a new non-stick substance (don't quote me on that). It really is just a thin coat of polymerized oil on top of steel and with newly seasoned pans, the seasoning is much more fragile. In my experience is flax works quite well...canola can get gummy/sticky, and lard chips more easily. Heated hot enough though, any seasoning will be blown right off, which is why many like to use the oven clean setting to restart old pans to put a new seasoning on them.

You could steel wool it back to its new condition but chances are, the more established the seasoning, the more of a pain in the ass it's going to be.

Referring to the "roughness" of modern, particularly lodge cast iron, you can use a machine sander to smooth it out to a glass-like surface. It will never be as good as an old wagner pan but the seasoning adheres so much better and the pan becomes so much more nonstick after doing this.

[rotuts]

id use easy-off carefully to get back to the beginning. watch the stuff on the handle w the EO

steel wool unless of a very very very fine grade might scratch the pan.

you would get some very fine polish and polish the heck out of the bare steel before seasoning. look at auto stores and use a sponge. make sure you get it all off pre re seasoning.

[Hassouni]

3 weeks too late see this post upthread http://forums.egullet.org/topic/119100-seasoning-carbon-steel-pans/?p=1952286

The inside of the pan just looks very well-used now. It has a decent layer of carbon down, and while not glass-smooth anymore, is still pretty much nonstick. I haven't tried eggs yet, though. The bottom still looks like it's been through hell and back, but whatever.

I have to say, the handle is annoying. If it were also bare steel I'd have just stuck the whole thing in the self-clean cycle.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Hassouni (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Hassouni - is that a crack I see in the bottom of the first photo?

[Hassouni]

No, despite appearances. Not sure why it looks like that.

[paulraphael]

I've used safflower and sunflower oils to good effect. I don't know how they compare to flaxseed oil, but both are very high in polyunsaturated fats and it polymerize easily and durably. I've used them to get longlasting results on several cast iron pans, a huge carbon steel wok, and an aluminum griddle. I wasn't sure if they would work on the griddle ... that was an experiment ... but now the thing is black as night, even, and durably stick-resistant. I usually use safflower because where I shop it's a lot cheaper.

People may be having problems with sticking because polymerizing is only part of the process. You actually have to burn the oil a little. The resulting carbon soot mixed in with the polymer gives the stick resistance. Pure, clean polymerized oil is sticky. I like to buy brands like Spectrum, that print the smokepoint on the label, and then set my oven to 25° higher. I prefer the oven to the stove because it heats the whole pan evenly.

Then it's just what everyone's saying: very thin coats wiped on with a paper towel, cook until smoky, repeat. You can put a bulletproof coating on anything in under an hour.

Just don't expect miracles. "Seasoning" isn't teflon. If you're cooking eggs you still need good technique and a lot of attention.

Edited February 27, 2014 by paulraphael (log)

[slkinsey]

A few things about carbon steel:

The kind of carbon steel used in cookware is significantly softer than cast iron (it is easily scratched with a Scotch Brite pad, for example). For this reason, the seasoning will never be as durable as the seasoning on a cast iron pan.

This is not such a big deal, however, because carbon steel doesn't really need to be seasoned like cast iron. If you scratch away some of the seasoning, all you have to do is a little bit of re-seasoning before the next time you use it. A good habit is to do some pan treatment after each time the pan is cleaned. This can either take the form of a minor reseasoning, or just spreading a thin layer of protective oil onto a warm, dry pan.

The best way I have found to season and reseason carbon steel is on the stovetop. Just leave the pan on the heat until it starts smoking, then take a cloth moistened with the barest amount of seasoning fat and quickly swipe all over the inside, then take a clean cloth and wipe out the inside of the pan, wait a few minutes until that layer smokes out and the pan visibly darkens, then repeat a few more times. The oil must be burned a little or it will be sticky rather than glassy. Tongs are useful here for holding the fat-spreading and excess-removing cloths. Unless you like burned fingers.

If parts of the pan get rough-looking, they can usually be smoothed out by scrubbing with kosher salt and elbow grease. A "magic eraser" followed by a few layers of reseasoning does well for tougher jobs.

Well-seasoned carbon steel is still not nonstick in the sense that PTFE surfaces are nonstick. They require fat and heat. To the extent that we may sometimes be able to see an egg slide around, this is due to the leidenfrost effect.

For things like crepe pans and omelette pans, the more you use them the less sticky they will be. These pans should never need to be scrubbed if they are only used for their intended purpose. Don't complain if you fry a hamburger in your crepe pan and crepes stick to it now. These pans are inexpensive enough that you can have a dedicated crepe pan. Getting the temperature just right is important to their non-stickyness, as are the ingredients used. My standard Julia Child crepe batter recipe always flips over in the air with just a jerk of the pan, whereas any crepe recipe using sugar needs to be loosened and flipped with a thin spatula. French-style omelettes need the right amount of eggs, heat and fat for the pan or they will stick and/or brown, and they should be cooked in 90 seconds or less.

[Hassouni]

To the extent that we may sometimes be able to see an egg slide around, this is due to the leidenfrost effect.

The what now?

[rotuts]

maybe maybe not

none the less interesting stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leidenfrost_effect

[takadi]

Leidenfrost effect

 

[Hassouni]

Having not cooked much in the last few months, I used my reconditioned de Buyer to fry an egg, and once again - like ice! I added a small film of oil to the pan before adding a pat of butter - not sure if just oil or just butter would give the same results, but I'm happy with that result.

[TicTac]

I actually have had issues with my Matfer and seasoning.

 

I did about 12 coats of flax oil, looked great when done - but after cooking a steak and a quick rinse with hot water and a brush of a cloth, some of it chipped away.

 

Quite annoying.

 

 

[btbyrd]

I've heard that flaxseed oil leaves a brittle seasoning that's liable to flake off. I never use the stuff (though I did use it for the initial round of seasoning on my first Darto pans). It's an expensive product that has no other use in my kitchen. And it's prone to go rancid. I don't know where the lore about using flax came from (though I suspect Sheryl Canter plays a big part in the story) but it's not worth tracking down and paying for in my experience.

[btbyrd]

On a related note, people stress way too hard about what oil to use to season cast iron and carbon steel.

 

Way too hard.

[TicTac]

So what fat/oil do you suggest?

[rotuts]

if you choose to use Fax Seed Oil, you can get a small bottle in a health / vitamin store

 

its not that expensive that way.

 

and its true  its only good for seasoning pans  I keep it in the refrigerator or freezer and bring to room temp if my pans need a bit more seasoning.

[btbyrd]

My suggestion is not to stress about it and not to buy a special, expensive bottle of uni-tasking oil that you have to source from a "health food" store and sit taking up space in your refrigerator. Especially if it leaves a brittle layer of seasoning that is liable to chip. If you want to use a "drying oil" with a similar fatty acid profile to flaxseed oil that actually has a culinary purpose and tastes delicious, use walnut oil. I mostly use "light" olive oil, but tend to use whatever I have on hand. 

[lindag]

Has anyone tried this product on their carbon steel pans?  I like that it says it won't turn rancid.  The last brand that I bought, years ago, turned rancid very quickly.

Thanks, AnnaN, I forgot to add the link.

Edited May 20, 2017 by lindag
duh (log)