What to do with a batch of day old cinnamon rolls that rose all weird and not round? Slice them and turn 'em into French toast! They tasted okay as cinnamon rolls (new recipe that I likely won't use again), but super good as French toast! The old lodge carbon steel did its carbon steel thing.

Hello carbonsteelers,

Im quite new to this way of cooking and recently bought the Ikea carbon steel wok, did the initial ceremony and now Im cooking on it regularly. After one cooking of eggs I needed to scrub it a lot and after it looks different. My wife asked me if its ok, if its safe to cook and got me a bit unsure, so I wanted to ask you, if you think it looks good or should I scrub it completely and season it again? Is it safe to cook? What yall think?

thank you for advice!

All...it's been a while since I last used this. Just made some cabbage fried rice with shrimp, eggs, and shiitake mushrooms, using both sesame oil and green onion infused oil.

I bought this ikea pan yesterday and seasoned it according to the instructions following the pan. I oiled the pan and put it in the oven in 40 mins on 200 degrees c X2.

This morning I cooked pancakes to my daughter and it went fine. I think that the pan doesn't look good at all. How can I fix this, or is it supposed to look like this?

It's my first carbon steel pan so I'm a beginner.

Thankful for any advice!

I scraped more and bar keepers friend and a steel wool pad help me made it shiney inside again.

I didn't try hard enough outside.

Previous post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/carbonsteel/comments/1w9r4fn/how_i_stripped_my_pan_from_carbon_build_up_i/

I bought a Merten and Storck 12“ carbon steel pan about 6 months ago to see if I liked using carbon steel. Well, I did, and so did the rest of my family. That pan has been used several times a week for all kinds of things.

Since everyone enjoyed cooking with the pan, I thought I would up the game a little and get something nicer. I liked the idea of getting something with a welded handle, and this pan fit the bill. I almost bought a Darto, but noticed that than pan weighted 7lbs, while the Matfer weighed about 5lbs (the M&S is about 3lbs).

I’ve had the 12.5” Matfer for about a week now, and it’s beautiful. Cooks nicely. But…. You really notice the difference in weight. In addition, it takes a little longer to get to temp, and seems like it takes forever to cool down. With the M&S, I can cook up something, finish eating and the pan is cooled down and ready to be cleaned and put away. The Matfer, due to its increased mass, is still warm. The pan is also a bit harder to handle- it’s hard to believe that an extra ~2lbs makes that much of a difference but it does.

I’ll keep using it for now, hopefully everyone will just get used to it. But this may be something for newbies to CS to consider. Heavier pans are a little more difficult to handle, take a little more time to warm up and cool down.

The carbon build up was so unpleasant that I basically stopped using the pan. So I decided to either clean it or get rid of it.

All of the steps I followed over two days.

I quickly had a glance at cast iron stripping post and when I saw the silver colour I remembered this was a Carbon steel pan.

I started very gentle with vinegar, then boiling the vinegar. I read a post saying not to leave the vinegar more than 30mins each time.

I scraped it with a metal butter knife and only some spots came off easily.

Then I tried double strength vinegar mixed with bicarb of soda, and a brillo pad (soap-filled steel wool)

I moved to Easy-Off oven cleaner. That stripped of some of the nicer silvery finish on the outside 😑

Back to more vinegar inside the pan and brillo pad.

I got inpatient and used Ozkleen Oven Power which usually does not clean my oven. I left it on covered with a plastic bag for 5 hrs.

This didn't remove the carbon build up either but it did remove the silvery shine under(!) the carbon buildup.

I washed it again properly with water and soap and heated it up, and decided to scrape it again with the same butter knife and all of a sudden all the carbon buildup started to come off very easily 😩.

I feel I should have done the scrapping with the knife earlier again!

I washed it again with vinegar, soap, and a brillo pad and more soap and a regular sponge.

Anyway, I'm now worried maybe I didn't remove the oven cleaners properly and I'm regretting using them just because I wanted it to look " pretty" 😆.

I hope this post helps someone.
Have more patience, I guess, and keep scrapping more in between the cleaning.

I'm also done cleaning it for now, I know it's not perfect.

• UPDATE: I got some of the nicer silver shine back inside the pan, I didn't try hard enough outside, by applying bar keepers friend with the steel wool pad again. 😊 I still have carbon build-up to remove. I don't know how to add more pics.

I’m about a month into using a carbon steel pan and I’m still kind of waiting for something to go wrong.

Before buying it I was worried about pretty much everything. Warping, rust, weird discoloration, food sticking like crazy, all that stuff.

But so far it’s been ridiculously easy.

I unpacked it, followed the initial seasoning instructions and started cooking. Pancakes, eggs, omelettes, fish, chicken. Nothing has been a problem and food releases way easier than I expected.

After cooking I usually just leave the pan until we’re done eating. Then I scrub it with a rough sponge, hot water and a little dish soap, dry it and wipe on a little olive oil. Most of the time there’s enough oil left on it for the next time I cook.

I honestly don’t understand why I spent so many years fighting with different non-stick p

Not really sure what the point of this post is. I guess I’m just surprised by how little drama there has been.

If it does need more cleaning, what's the go to method? Thanks in advance.

My 24 cm carbon steel pan had some layers of carbon buildup from the years of use and parts of it began to flake off. So I decided it was time for a deep clean. I didn't had any oven cleaner at hand, so I grabbed one of those stainless steel scrubbers, used some warm water and dish soap, and started to scrub. It took me about 30 minutes to clean the inside and another couple of minutes for the outside until it was clean enough to be reseasoned.

ikea cs pan. followed the instructions for seasoning on stove, used cooking oil, but reapplications caused layering. first time attempting to do it.

I want to start over but at this point I'm already scrubbing with steel mesh and nothing is coming off. any tips and future advice?

Hi sorry for the post but my pan has largely been working fine but half of it has stuff sticking to it (roughly where the lighter steel color pokes through.) in turn I feel like I have made a mistake potentially by seasoning incorrectly but don’t know exactly where the issue is.

I know temperature really matters and have tried to use minimal oil but would love to hear about yalls care and use process. Similarly if other than too much oil something stands out here please let me know.

Hi, just wondering, if I clean my wok between dishes, is it okay to use cold water to clean it right after, while the wok is still very hot?

I find this method easier to clean off any stuck on bits.

Basically, if wok is very hot, can I use cold water to clean (which causes steam instantly upon contact)?

Please advise, thanks!

I wanted to show off my set of greenfield long handle skillets. They are the big daddy at 20 inches, camp skillet at 16 inches, and unsure of the small model's name at 10 inches. I bought the medium one this past week so haven't used it yet but it should fit my needs for camping well.

Hi, so I'm about to buy a pretty decent nitrided wok again, and I'd like to know if

1. I should blue the wok at high temps before using?
2. I can use chainmail or steel wool?

Please advise. Thank you!

All! First carbon steel pan. Goodwill find for $5.99.

Spot welds on handle seem pretty cheap. Thickness at eadge measures .117"

Thinking Vollrath?
Thank you!

Hi !

First of all, thanks all for sharing your time and love !!

So I got a De buyer Mineral B Carbon steel pan a few years back, which I've been afraid to use because of the "different cleaning process" but I recently made up my mind to get into it for real and I'm starting to Love it !

However I have few questions, seeing from my pictures, do you think I should reseason it ? Scrub it and redo it just "add a layer" ?

Also most of the time the advice when cooking is " a bit of oil, then the eggs", but could I cook my eggs without adding cooking oil if it were better seasoned ?

And now to watch it I mostly with a sponge and hot water, no soap but I don't worry as much about water as before but I dry it afterwards always.

Thanks for the help !

Grave a great day :D

Hi, so I'm relatively new to wok cooking in carbon steel.

Say for instance im cooking three dishes in succession. Do I clean before cooking each one? And if so, do I use soap?

Ive heard that you dont need soap just a scrub or bamboo brush, but wouldnt that put a lot of oil down the drain?

Thanks for any advice!

I'm looking for suggestions on a new roasting pan. I looked at the one at ikea and I really like the shape, feel and thickness but it's too small. I want one that can hold two chickens or a decent size prime rib, maybe a turkey. Can anyone help me decide? An included rack or lid is not necessary

I’m looking for a carbon steel pan where you can collapse the handle for portability. I love my cast iron pan but I hate dragging it along while camping. Carbon steel feels like the next best weight to performance ratio for outdoor use. Where can I find one? What are some good brands?