The Real Reason My Seasoning Kept Failing… Until Now

Cast iron seasoning that keeps failing: eight days of oil, oven, cool, wipe taught me the layer I was scrubbing away. I'm Wes Fordham. I cooked on the line for forty years, and a cook doesn't buy his tools. He earns them. This video shows what seasoning actually is, why mine stayed pale and patchy for years, and the black layer underneath that the oil needs to hold on to. WHAT YOU NEED clean iron oven cleaner a sealed bag gloves a small spoonful of oil vinegar an oven Here is what you will learn: ✔ Seasoning is a polymer skin, only as good as what it clings to ✔ The wipe is the step most people skip, and thick coats never cure through ✔ Bake upside down at 400 to 450 degrees for one hour ✔ Flaxseed hardens brittle and flakes off in sheets within a month ✔ Sanding a cheap skillet to a shine gave me five rounds of pale, weak seasoning ✔ The crayon smell on an old pan is oil that went on too thick ✔ Black rust forms with heat or acid, with no standing water ✔ Black rust is not red rust, and the rag keeps coming away black You do not need a new pre-seasoned skillet. You need the layer underneath that holds the oil. What did your mother or grandmother cook in, and what did the inside of that pan look like after thirty years? Keep it hot. Keep it oiled. Keep it simple. Chapters: 0:00 - Why Seasoning Fails 2:41 - How Seasoning Bonds 5:21 - The Sanding Mistake 7:54 - The Magnetite Secret 10:35 - When to Leave It Alone 13:19 - Daily Care and Oils #castiron #seasoning #cooking