My cast iron skillet got wrecked after one awful chili cook off

Last Saturday I took my 12 inch Lodge to a neighborhood chili cook off near Fresno. I let a buddy borrow it to stir his batch and he used metal tongs like a maniac, scraping the seasoning right off. Then someone left it soaking in soapy water for like 20 minutes before I caught it. The whole surface is now patchy and sticky, even after scrubbing with coarse salt. Any tricks to fix a bad seasoning job without starting totally from scratch?

2 comments

2 Comments

umaprice1mo ago

Jumped right into the same headache myself last spring. I tried cooking a thick layer of cornbread in mine to soak up some of the sticky mess, and it helped a little but not totally. Honestly I think you're looking at a full strip and reseason if it's patchy and sticky, no shortcuts that work. I ended up scrubbing mine with a chainmail scrubber and a ton of salt, then doing three rounds of grapeseed oil in the oven at 450. It wasn't the same for a few weeks but now it's my favorite pan again. Just be ready for your kitchen to smell like a diner for a day.

jade2711mo ago

That chainmail and salt scrub you did, did it take off the seasoning all the way down to bare metal or just smooth out the sticky parts? I always worry about going too hard and ruining the seasoning completely when mine gets like that. And when you did those three rounds in the oven at 450, did you let the pan cool down fully between each coat? I tried doing two layers once and the second one came out kind of blotchy because I didn't wait long enough.