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The flaxseed thing comes from a 2010 blog article [1], which purports to be a scientific approach to seasoning pans. As people have found out, it's unfortunatel

The flaxseed thing comes from a 2010 blog article [1], which purports to be a scientific approach to seasoning pans. As people have found out, it's unfortunately not a good idea. Aside from the fact that flaxseed is ridiculously expensive compared to the traditional alternatives, it creates a brittle surface and flakes off after a while. It also requires a ridiculous number of coatings to get to the right level of smoothness. It's just not worth it compared to something cheap like canola or soy. A lot of people have looked into it. Here [2] is a good Reddit post from /r/castiron. But among all of the technical discussions about seasoning it's easy to forget that a pan generally only needs to be seasoned once, and most pans you can buy are well pre-seasoned, and using the pan for cooking is also a form of seasoning. [1] http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/ http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-te... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5owtnm/why_i_dont_recommend_flax_seed_oil/ https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/5owtnm/why_i_dont...

alexhutcheson 7y ago
In my experience, you’ll eventually cook something in the cast iron that sticks really hard, and the only easy ways to get the burnt-on gunk out end up stripping the seasoning, so re-seasoning ends up being a roughly semiannual process in my house. Would love to know how to avoid this.
- KozmoNau7 7y ago
  Scrub out any gunk with salt and oil and either a sponge or half a potato, depending on what you have. Then rinse with super hot water and dry well. It has worked amazingly well for years for my carbon steel pan.
- Moru 7y ago
  I usually heat up the pan directly after cooking and wash it under the hot water. Just heat enough so it makes a bit of steam when it hits the water, scrub with a wooden spatula. Or while cooking, add water if it fits whatever you cook. Make a sauce out of what is left after the sunday steak is out of the pan.
- ip26 7y ago
  Boiling water in the pan helps sometimes. Scrape a bit with a wooden spoon while it boils.

alexhutcheson 7y ago

In my experience, you’ll eventually cook something in the cast iron that sticks really hard, and the only easy ways to get the burnt-on gunk out end up stripping the seasoning, so re-seasoning ends up being a roughly semiannual process in my house. Would love to know how to avoid this.

KozmoNau7 7y ago
Scrub out any gunk with salt and oil and either a sponge or half a potato, depending on what you have. Then rinse with super hot water and dry well. It has worked amazingly well for years for my carbon steel pan.
Moru 7y ago
I usually heat up the pan directly after cooking and wash it under the hot water. Just heat enough so it makes a bit of steam when it hits the water, scrub with a wooden spatula. Or while cooking, add water if it fits whatever you cook. Make a sauce out of what is left after the sunday steak is out of the pan.
ip26 7y ago
Boiling water in the pan helps sometimes. Scrape a bit with a wooden spoon while it boils.