Cast iron help, please! page

[Comma]

I have a cast iron pizza pan- one of those lodge logics preseasoned ones- that I use daily. It had a really nice black finish, but then my dumb sister poured concentrated dishwashing detergent on it, and now there is a lighter-colored rivulet going through the black. The bad news: there seems to be an awful lot of black stuff flaking off the border and sticking to the food. What do I do?? Clean all black off and start from scratch? Does anybody know?

Or does cast iron stick little black flakes to your food and that's just that?

[Laconophile]

The black flakes are probably the old seasoning that got loosened by the soap. You should remove all of the seasoning that is weakened (because it'll fall off sooner or later) and reseason it.

[Comma]

Reseason = bake a pound of bacon on it, right?

[Laconophile]

Reseason = bake a pound of bacon on it, right?

That'll work. Pork fat is one of the best seasonings. You don't really need to cook a whole pound at once though, I cook a couple strips a day and leave a thin layer of grease afterwards each time.

[Comma]

Ah, thank you.

It is really hard getting the seasoning off! What the heck did she DO? I'm a bit mad now.

[Laconophile]

Ah, thank you.

It is really hard getting the seasoning off! What the heck did she DO? I'm a bit mad now.

You could finish the job she started by using more detergent. Just remember to rinse it well and dry it thoroughly ASAP afterwards.

[Comma]

Doesn't seem to do the job entirely, so I'm taking a Brillo to it...don't know what else to do!

[ssn679doc]

Brillo will certainly take the seasoning off.... and then you can re-season it. I have several cast iron skillets and are seasoned to the point now that they are almost "non-stick" pans. Bacon fat is a great way to season cast iron. A light coat and bake it, repeat several times. Coat with fat after washing the pan as well.

[keithpowers]

I like to use lard, and bake at intense temps over lump charcoal. The fats polymerize to the point that they don't wash off.
(I know this because I can wash mine in super-hot water with Ultra Dawn, and not lose any of the coating).

[kap]

Some folks recommend placing the pan in an oven and set the oven on Clean mode. That should take most or all of the seasoning off. I haven't tried it myself, but it sounds like the easiest way to prepare for re-seasoning.

Kevin