Nuke & Start Over Seasoning Carbon Steel Pan?

[riverofwind]

Hi this is a continuation of a previous thread here. My Made In Blue Carbon Steel Pan is not behaving very well. The first time I seasoned it I used way to much oil. I spread the oil throughout the pan but kept it shiny not looking dry. I redid it but to strip the old seasoning I just cleaned the pan very well with a Scotch-Brite Dobie and soap for 5 minutes. When I rubbed a wet paper towel against the pan there was no color on the paper towel after the cleaning. Then I did two proper seasonings.

The non-stick performance of the pan has been sub par I've had two sticky scrambled eggs and two sticky fish fillets but also two non-stick fish fillets. The scrambled eggs start out non-stick but before the eggs are fully cooked they start sticking at the end of the preparation. Am I doing something wrong with the eggs?

Should I nuke with vinegar and redo the seasoning considering I only used a soapy dobie to strip the first incorrect seasoning? Will nuking/starting over remove the blue carbon steel annealing process effects? Should I try some bacon first then decide what to do next depending on the results after that?

Also my pan got bad reviews here, here, and here. For some reason it was recommended by NYTimes Wirecutter... maybe I should just get another pan? Mine apparently is 2mm thick instead of 3mm so the thermal characteristics are different, not sure if unfamiliarity of these characteristics is the reason for the bad reviews.

Thanks!

 

[dragnlaw]

What do you mean by "nuke"?
To me that means using the microwave, which, of course, you would never do with a metal pan.
So just what do you mean?

 

[jennyema]

Carbon steel will never be literally nonstick. Maybe just continue to cook things other than eggs it it. Particularly fatty things and keep building up the seasoning. But dont assume it will perform exactly like a coated pan.

I cook eggs in my few nonstick (coated) skillets.

Im not a fan of Made In. I was gifted a skillet but I always go back to my AllClad.

My one carbon steel skillet is a De Buyer and its pretty great.

 

[riverofwind]

@dragnlaw lol no way I am putting that thing in the microwave... see here

@jennyema I guess I'll try some dry bacon several times maybe then see if I need to start over or not.

Thanks.

 

[Kathleen]

I thought traditional woks were made with carbon steel and were capable of being non-stick with the correct seasoning. Or is it the techniques used that keep things from sticking. I rarely use a wok, so am asking.

 

[taxlady]

I thought traditional woks were made with carbon steel and were capable of being non-stick with the correct seasoning. Or is it the techniques used that keep things from sticking. I rarely use a wok, so am asking.

I just saw a YouTube video by a Chinese chef I follow. He mentioned that seasoning a carbon steel wok is not the same as seasoning a carbon steel western cooking implement. The wok has a very small flat surface at the bottom, so lots of heat gets there and less on the sides, so the wok will deform slightly when it is heated. That means that the western style of a built up seasoning would just bend and break off. Chinese chefs always heat the wok and add a lot oil, swirl it around and then pour out the excess, before starting to cook. That's one of the reasons a wok will be act non-stick. They aren't building up a layer of seasoning. They are pretty much seasoning every time they cook.

 

[pictonguy]

I beg to differ. A carbon steel pan which includes woks can be seasoned and take on a black surface where polymerization in stages has taken place which results in a non stick surface. That's basically the whole point to purchasing them. I have carbon steel well seasoned pans specifically for eggs and these work better than non stick, which is to say they slide around much easier and I'd attribute that to the actual surface of the pans where the carbon steel under magnification is smoother.