People say this is rust on underside of cast iron but I'm unsure!

[BAPyessir6]

Some new cast iron I've seasoned about 4 times in the oven between using them mostly for skillet cookies (the small ones). I want to know what this reddish brown coloring is on the underside of the cast iron. It doesn't rub or flake off at all when I rub it, or scrub it with salt or steel chainmail cast iron cleaning thing. Maybe a slight black residue when I really go at it, but only a bit. Is it rusting underneath the layers of my seasoning perhaps?

You can see the color difference inside the skillet versus on the bottom.

 

[Andy M.]

The "brownish coloring" is seasoning. You can add to it and it will turn black like the rest of the pan.

 

[BAPyessir6]

Why do you think it turns from brown to black? Or starts brown then becomes black with layering?

 

[Andy M.]

when you apply oil to the pan and heat it, the oil polymerizes and changes color. It starts out brownish and ends up black. All those brown blotches on she pans are the same thing.

 

[BAPyessir6]

when you apply oil to the pan and heat it, the oil polymerizes and changes color. It starts out brownish and ends up black. All those brown blotches on she pans are the same thing.

You are a smart smartie! I didn't know that.

 

[caseydog]

You are a smart smartie! I didn't know that.

You didn't know about the seasoning color thing, or didn't know Andy is smart? Both of those are true.

My Blackstone griddle is currently in the process of going from brown to black. I don't use it enough.

CD

 

[BAPyessir6]

I assume everyone on here knows something about cooking more than me!

My Blackstone has the same problem. It's kinda brown now. I need to, like you, use it more. But it's getting cold!! I'm in Minnesota and I'm a weenie!

 

[caseydog]

I assume everyone on here knows something about cooking more than me!

My Blackstone has the same problem. It's kinda brown now. I need to, like you, use it more. But it's getting cold!! I'm in Minnesota and I'm a weenie!

My Blackstone was an impulse buy. Walmart had it on Clearance Sale, and I couldn't resist. In hindsight, it was not the smartest purchase I've made. I do like it, but every time I walk past it, I ask myself why I bought it.

CD

 

[BAPyessir6]

I haven't used mine nearly as much as my charcoal grill or smoker. I'm still glad I bought it. FOMO and all.

It's also fun to learn a new cooking style, as it's technically my first "gas/propane grill." I only ever cooked on charcoal.

That being said, I grew up with a gas stove. Is that the same thing?

Smash burgers, eggs, fried rice, and pancakes are banging on it though.

 

[dragnlaw]

The "brownish coloring" is seasoning. You can add to it and it will turn black like the rest of the pan.

You season the bottom side of your pan???

 

[BAPyessir6]

You season the bottom side of your pan???

I always figured seasoning prevents rust, even on the underside. Paranoid prevention maybe?

 

[caseydog]

You season the bottom side of your pan???

To properly season a cast iron pan, you season the whole thing, top and bottom.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

well... ok...

 

[caseydog]

well... ok...

No offense intended -- I should have explained my reasoning.

If you only season the inside of a bare cast iron pan, the outside can still rust. You don't need to put as much effort into the bottom of the pan as you would the inside... it obviously does not need to be nonstick, requiring that level of seasoning, but still needs enough seasoning to protect it.

CD

 

[Badjak]

I've never seasoned the outside of my cast iron and carbon steel pots and pans

 

[caseydog]

I've never seasoned the outside of my cast iron and carbon steel pots and pans

Wow, I thought it was standard practice. I'm not sure why I thought that, but it just seemed like the thing to do. Granted, I grew up in SE Texas, where everything metal rusts. My sister lives in Houston, and over twenty something years, I have filled her garage with tools, and they are all covered in varying amounts of rust.

CD