Seasoning Gone Wrong


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
I am puzzled. Need to re-season a Lodge CI pan for my daughter. (grandson stacked a bare aluminum pan in it made a mess). I stripped it scrubbed it well dried it in a low oven for an hour+. Then turned up to 250, very fine coating of avocado oil, wiping it into the pores. After a couple hours at 250, I put it in the pellet grill because I had that up 350. Left it in there for another hour. Left out to cool. Now it's sticky :mad:
 
Was it upside down in the oven and on the pellet grill? if not the oil can pool up and can make it sticky.

For a quick fix, here is what I'd try; get it hot on a burner and "polish" it a bit with some stainless steel chainmail using tongs or leather gloves to hold the chainmail. if you have an IR temp gauge, go for 400F then shut it off. That should be right around the smoke point of the oil so it might smoke a little.

I just cleaned mine dry with chainmail and a very light coat of safflower oil using this approach.
 
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DanHoo said:
Was it upside down in the oven and on the pellet grill? if not the oil can pool up and can make it sticky.

For a quick fix, here is what I'd try; get it hot on a burner and "polish" it a bit with some stainless steel chainmail using tongs or leather gloves to hold the chainmail. if you have an IR temp gauge, go for 400F then shut it off. That should be right around the smoke point of the oil so it might smoke a little.

I just cleaned mine dry with chainmail and a very light coat of safflower oil using this approach.
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Don't have chain mail. I wiped the oil so thin there was no pooling at all. Maybe tomorrow I can set it upside down on the Q perhaps and get it hotter
 
If still sticky after cooling, it's one of two things. Either too much oil or not baked long enough. Baking temp is subjective, but near the smoke point of the oil used is typical; no need to exceed. You can take refined avocado up pretty high. People think a thin coat just means not a lot of oil, but in reality, you need to aggressively wipe off what you put on like you are trying to wipe it totally off. Use an old terry towel, as a paper towel already saturated in oil just smears it around more than removing it like you want. Then bake that until it doesn't feel tacky, and repeat a couple of times. In your case, you could try just baking it a little longer and hotter until no longer tacky feeling. BTW, there are no pores in cast iron to open, close or fill, just micro pits in the surface that crystalline graphite flakes once occupied.
 
I would just scrub it the best you can with hot water and dawn and a good scrubber sponge. Then reapply a thin layer of avocado oil but it needs to be way hotter. Smoke point of avocado oil is over 500 degrees. It's what makes it a great oil to season with since even high heat doesn't burn it off or soften it. My best method is thin layer of oil then on high cooktop until it starts smoking, then rub another thin layer on the hot pan, then remove from heat and let it cool.

Smithey recommends this method and it's been great for all our stuff.

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MikeLucky said:
I would just scrub it the best you can with hot water and dawn and a good scrubber sponge. Then reapply a thin layer of avocado oil but it needs to be way hotter. Smoke point of avocado oil is over 500 degrees. It's what makes it a great oil to season with since even high heat doesn't burn it off or soften it. My best method is thin layer of oil then on high cooktop until it starts smoking, then rub another thin layer on the hot pan, then remove from heat and let it cool.

Smithey recommends this method and it's been great for all our stuff.

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Click to expand...
^^^^ this ^^^^ works for me every time.
 
I know it's been talked ad nauseum here and other places...which oil?
I've tried a few...Grapeseed oil, canola, flaxseed...a few months ago I used coconut oil...I've found it the best, easiest and most forgiving.
 
My answer is usually, "You probably already have something in your pantry that will work just fine." No need to get exotic. Crisco, grapeseed, canola have all been used successfully for decades before somebody got everyone to go down a flaxseed oil rabbit hole. Bear in mind that what we are doing baking on thin coats of oil is just primer for the paint job. It needs to stick, and then what gets added to it by cooking is the real seasoning that will give us the non-stick property we're looking for. I started with Crisco, tried others (including flaxseed for research purposes), and, after a few hundred pans, if you really wanted me to pick just one, I would say refined grapeseed. I can bake it on to a dry state at a reasonable 400° (smoke point 420°) without stinking up the house. It's not expensive and it does the job.
 
I have had sticky cast iron a couple of time and is usually caused by too much oil build up during the seasoning process. It can also come from one of three sources:

Too much oil (most often the issue)
too low of a seasoning temperature
too short of a seasoning time

I have had mixed results with stovetop seasoning to resolve the issue so I place the cookware upside down in the oven at 450-500F for one hour. Turn off the heat and let it sit in the closed oven untill it cools. The key is upside down.

If that doesn’t remedy the issue then consider starting over with stripping etc. because the strictness will never fully go away as the excess oil will not fully polymerize.
 
I can guarantee it was not from too much. I was EXTREMELY careful on amount. I just think too cool and too short. I've not had time to get after it yet today, but once I do I will report back on results
 
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