Appreciation post: my pan's surface went from patchy to perfect in a month

I got a vintage skillet from a garage sale in Boise, and the seasoning was all splotchy and weak. For 30 days straight, I just cooked a single egg in it every morning with a tiny bit of oil, no fancy oven seasoning sessions. The heat and fat from that simple daily use built up a layer way better than I could force. It's now this even, dark surface that nothing sticks to. Has anyone else fixed a pan just by using it for one simple thing over and over?

3 comments

3 Comments

ivan821mo agoMost Upvoted

My grandma in Toledo swore by the potato peel method for fixing up old cast iron. She'd fry the skins in salt and oil for a week, said the starches filled in the weak spots better than anything. Your egg routine sounds like the same idea, low and slow building. That kind of patience always beats a rushed oven season.

gavine411mo ago

A week? She left a pan of frying potato skins going for seven whole days. That's not seasoning, that's a full time job watching a skillet. My smoke alarm would have given up and moved out after day two.

the_phoenix1mo ago

Exactly, that's not seasoning, it's a science project. My place would smell like a burnt diner for a month.