Cast iron not well seasoned despite seasoning it many + times already! Plus the ODOR

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Back to the OP's question:
Besides the seasoning of the pan, it is also important to take time to fry proteins. If you try to flip something to early, it may stick (esp fish & chicken with skin). Waiting a minute or so can make a world of difference
 
it came pre-seasoned, yet I seasoned it with oil and bake it before the first use and many times between uses.

my sourdough bread still got stuck. I used it mainly for bread, for I don't want other food odor getting into it.

Due to infrequent usage, I started using it for oily food like salmon and beef. There's always 1/8"-1/4" fish oil from fish alone, yet fish still got stuck a little. I don't get the logic. I did pre-heat, and i heard the fish sizzling when I place the fish in.

anybody, please help?

Due to dish-washing liquid is not recommended for washing cast iron pots, now whenever i heat up the cast iron pot, the odor is so.............disgustingly bad......
What can I do?

thanks
I'm 70 and I grew up cooking on cast iron. I do use washing liquid on mine and it's fine. You don't ever want to soak in it. And your rinse real well and then you dry thoroughly. And then you put a scant amount of vegetable or canola oil and then wipe it completely down with a napkin which will remove most of that but treat the pan.

There are always going to be some things that stick in it. I reserved mine for caramelizing steaks and the like. You put a small amount of oil but not as much as you put in another pan. And then you leave the steak until when you gently lift up on it it comes loose. That's just something you have to kind of get used to.

I only ever made cornbread in mine. You have to grease well for that.

I really use mine limited. I just wrote on here how I made a sliced potatoes and onions fried in it and it didn't do as good a job as the way I usually do it in a non-stick pan. So they're not superior for everything.
 
JohnDB was not wrong. Salt does have effects on oil, mostly negative. But so does iron itself.

During the frying process, oil degrades to form polar compounds. Salt can cause a chemical reaction to cause the oil to degrade prematurely. Salt increases the oxidation of fatty acids, which causes the oil to breakdown. This can lead to foods having off flavors and odors.

Certain metals such as iron and copper accelerate oxidation of fats and should be avoided. For this reason, it is also advisable not to add salt before frying, because the salt’s sodium ions act as an oxidation catalyst. Salt also contains other impurities such as copper and iron ions. These impurities cause increased oxidation of the frying medium.


The salt and oil seasoning practice has a pretty long history in pro cooking from before the advent of non-stick. It was used for "egg pans" well polished pans used only for eggs. These were seasoned with salt and oil. Aluminum was common, but there were also some stainless steel egg pans. Julia uses such a pan in this video. in the early angles, it looks dark like non-stick, but as she goes on, she tips the pan you can see it's not coated.

 
I don't know about the whole salting thing but I put some Dawn on mine and get it all off. Now salt would be a good way to scrub stuck on food from it.
 
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