Seasoned pan

Slgrier

So, we have a wok for the egg and on the second use, it was really covered with stuck on food and sauce. I was going at it and had added a bit of soap to my pad and he got FURIOUS!  He said that because I used soap all of the pan season is gone and now the wok needs to be thrown away. 

Is this correct?

womaus

Hell no.

If you want to really cause a problem get some coarse steel wool and some Barkeepers Friend, then really go at it. (Be sure to tie him down first to a chair).

Then cook with it. It'll season as it goes.

It's steel. It just does.

hoosier_egger

Well someone sounds overly dramatic. 

Good luck 

Slgrier

Thanks much. I felt horrible that I might have ruined his pan. 

Slgrier

Maybe “furious” is a bit of an overstatement but he was pretty upset. 

nolaegghead

I use soap on my seasoning all the time.  Nothing wrong with that.

Also, not uncommon to remove the seasoning if it gets too thick or damaged and re-season it.  Sounds like the pan person is (redacted).

How someone could think a seasoning problem would constitute throwing away a pan is kind of tough to wrap my head around.

Corv

Reseasoning a pan is not uncommon. I'd say it's just routine maintenance, and not difficult.

The way I do it is to wipe the every surface of the pan with a high-temp oil. Place in the oven with the temperature up as high as it'll go. After an hour beyond when it came to temperature, shut the oven off. When it's cool enough, remove the pan and it'll be fine.

nolaegghead

from https://devilsfoodkitchen.com/2018/04/14/the-science-of-cast-iron/

Once you have a seasoned pan, it is perfectly ok to:

1. Use soap and water on your pan to clean it. This will not remove the seasoning. Just make sure to use regular dish soap, and dry the pan thoroughly immediately after washing.
2. Use metal utensils in the pan. Mild use of metal utensils (like a whisk or spatula) will not remove the seasoning of your pan and will in fact gently abrade the pan’s surface making it less prone to food sticking.

You should avoid:

1. Using abrasive cleaners or cleaning products on your pan. Stick to regular dish soap and a sponge. Avoid using steel wool or similarly rough cleaning pads.
2. Highly acidic foods. The acid in these foods can break down the molecular bonds of your seasoned pan.

Langner91

I read that the reason people fear "soap" on their seasoned pans is because soap used to contain lye and lye will take off the seasoning.

In fact, the lye based oven cleaners can be used to remove all of the seasoning if you want to start over. (As @nolaegghead noted in his link)

Modern dish soap doesn't have lye in it.  But, since grandma said to not use soap on her cast iron skillet, people still think it is forbidden.

1voyager

nolaegghead said:

from https://devilsfoodkitchen.com/2018/04/14/the-science-of-cast-iron/

Once you have a seasoned pan, it is perfectly ok to:

1. Use soap and water on your pan to clean it. This will not remove the seasoning. Just make sure to use regular dish soap, and dry the pan thoroughly immediately after washing.
2. Use metal utensils in the pan. Mild use of metal utensils (like a whisk or spatula) will not remove the seasoning of your pan and will in fact gently abrade the pan’s surface making it less prone to food sticking.

You should avoid:

1. Using abrasive cleaners or cleaning products on your pan. Stick to regular dish soap and a sponge. Avoid using steel wool or similarly rough cleaning pads.
2. Highly acidic foods. The acid in these foods can break down the molecular bonds of your seasoned pan.

Great advice. I use a Lodge polycarbonate scratcher to remove the bits that had stuck to the pan:

I also add a thin coat of Crisco on the inside of the pan after each use. Now-and-then for the exterior if it looks dull.

fishlessman

Slgrier said:

So, we have a wok for the egg and on the second use, it was really covered with stuck on food and sauce. I was going at it and had added a bit of soap to my pad and he got FURIOUS!  He said that because I used soap all of the pan season is gone and now the wok needs to be thrown away. 

Is this correct?

next time put the wok back on the flame, get it hot, pour a quarter cup cold water in, work it with the round bottom wok spatula and that stuck on stuff lifts off, wipe it down with a paper towell. way less work

HeavyG

Use a bamboo wok brush while the wok is still hot just like Asians have been doing for centuries.

Botch

I guess I don't need to, but I'll continue to wash my wok immediately after use, with water only, as it gives my lunch time to cool before I burn my mouth.  I then wipe it dry, put it back on the flame, add a drop of grapeseed oil, and wipe the inside with a dedicated bit of washcloth.  
 
I use an Oxo brush, smaller than a bamboo brush and nearly indestructible.  It has a built-in reservoir for dish soap, but I leave it empty.  
 

 

nolaegghead

Langner91 said:

I read that the reason people fear "soap" on their seasoned pans is because soap used to contain lye and lye will take off the seasoning.

In fact, the lye based oven cleaners can be used to remove all of the seasoning if you want to start over. (As @nolaegghead noted in his link)

Modern dish soap doesn't have lye in it.  But, since grandma said to not use soap on her cast iron skillet, people still think it is forbidden.

Correct - lye (sodium hydroxide) is used commonly as an oven cleaner.  Insofar as soap goes, it has been used for centuries (and today) for saponification of fatty acids into soap (salts of fatty acids).

Also soap makers have been adjusting the pH of their soap after the saponification step by either adding more fatty acids or something like citric acid, etc.  It's really just a problem if the soap is poorly made (homemade).  "Hey, why is this soap burning my hands?"

fishlessman

DONT PUT LYE IN AN ENAMELLED CAST IRON DUTCH WHEN DIPPING PRETZELS before baking. it eats right into the enamel. lucky it was the marrshals brand dutch oven and not the expensive one