Just purchased a Matfer carbon steel skillet. I've run into a few problems with seasoning it. I followed the Matfer instruction to heat potato skins and salt first. My process was this:
1. Vigorous scrubbing with dish soap and pad to remove protective coating. Pan didn't look much different but I didn't take a photo.
2. Followed the matfer recommendation of potato skins, salt and I used flaxseed oil at med then high heat.
What resulted:
The center black part was completely non-stick, with a varying gradient of non-stick for the rest. I knew something was wrong so I decided to go to the oven non-stick route. I applied flaxseed oil and then rubbed it off with a paper towel. I put it in the oven at 450 for two hours and then let it cool in the oven for 6 hours. What resulted was a splotchy brown pan with a dark black spot. I now (after many videos and reading) realize the splotchy brown was what I should've been going for. I decided to try to vigorously wash it out with dish soap and hot water and salt a few time to try and remove all layers and then heat it to remove all water and then retry the oven seasoning. This is what resulted after washing and heating:
I have a few questions/observations:
1. I wouldn't do the matfer suggestion of heating on the stovetop. Maybe my stovetop is uneven (I did swirl the pan a few times, maybe not enough but the pan looked cover in oil to me).
2. I would do the oven seasoning, what I took to be splotchy brown is the correct seasoning after reading/watching a few videos, here is a screenshot of one oven seasoning which is what my pan looked like with a thick black spot in the center though.
My question:
What state is my pan in, what should my next step be?
Would you apply more oven seasoning until it's black? My black splotch felt completely non-stick.
