Help with streaks and spots?

[Carol]

Hello there!  I've been out of the cast iron discussion world for some time, but I have a collection of vintage iron that I use and have run into a problem.  I'm hoping someone could set me straight.

I have a Wagner Chef's Skillet (looks like an omelet pan) which was working just fine but not black.  Of course I had to "fix it" and tried to re-season it.  It came out of the oven with black sticky streaks and speckled spots and is now, of course, distinctly not non-stick anymore.

Method I used:  Pan into oven, oven set for preheating at 350.  Let pan heat up until almost too hot to handle, apply thin layer of Crisco, return it to oven, bake for an hour upside down.  Turn oven off, let pan stay inside and cool down naturally.  Whammo, the above mess of sticky spots and streaks.

What did I do wrong?  What should I do now?  Any help would be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

ETA:  Editing to add that a week before, I'd used the above method on a later vintage corn bread pan (Wagner, the pie wedge style) and while my Chef Skillet has the very smooth surface circular milling lines, the corn bread pan is the more recently made rough, bumpy kind of iron.  This method turned that cornbread pan a beautiful black-black.  I'd love to know as an aside why that method worked so beautifully on that corn bread pan but was such a disaster on my chef skillet.  It has to be something to do with the smooth surface, yes?   
 
Again, thanks in advance for any advice.

[Cheryl Watson]

Carol, my best educated guess is too much oil left on the surface of the chef skillet. The smoother, more polished the surface is, the more wiping off of excess oil is needed, before returning it to the oven for baking.
You could try spritzing with Dawn Power Dissolver and seeing if that will remove the excess, if not, then back to the oven cleaner/lye to restrip.

[Roger Barfield]

I remember you Carol.  Welcome back.  You had too thick of a layer of Crisco on the skillet.  You have to wipe it down and when you think you've wiped everything off, wipe it down again.  The thinnest possible layer and you won't have that problem again.   

[Carol]

Hi Roger!  I don't recall what "handle" I used on this board, but thanks for the recall anyway and the welcome back!  ;-)

Wowwww.  Is THAT what it was!  Too much Crisco.  Sheesh.  Okay, that's actually making sense now that I'm thinking about it.  I have no idea why the corn bread pan didn't have those glops, if anything I would have probably had a thicker coat.  But that's the bumpy surface which might take oil differently.  Well, that was basically said, now wasn't it. 

I stuck it in the dishwasher just now (no soap) but that's super hot water.  I'll see if that does anything (will catch it before the dry cycle).  If not, then I'll do the oven cleaner. 

Thanks MUCH to both of you for that insight - maybe obvious but it wasn't.  ;-)

[Carol]

Oh, also - the other question I had.  Is my method still considered a good one -- 350 rather than higher temp and otherwise as described above?  I remember I got that method from here, and it had replaced an earlier method that had been shown up to then.  But when I google or talk to anyone, there are so many different (and conflicting sometimes) instructions for procedures, some involving much higher heat.  Just checkin'. 

[Carol]

Hmmmm.  This is interesting.  Any thoughts on this?

First though, the dishwasher (sans the very hot drying cycle which seems to rust iron) went a long way in getting rid of the spots and streaks - no longer could feel them, some still showed but that was okay.  I did the above-described method of seasoning again, only this time applied the thinnest layer I could of Crisco... and then wiped the oil all but off - knowing there was still some there.  This worked!

So now I wanted to do another treatment, but this time I didn't let the pan cool down entirely.  In fact it was still a bit hot.  Repeated the very scant amount of Crisco (wiping off all but the light skim coat remaining) and it seems I have more dark spots. 

So here's my question.  Is it possible that by whatever amount of oil we're using (one variable) that applying ANY oil to a pretty hot pan is going to encourage sticky spots?  Like... maybe if the pan heats up beyong the touch stage with the oil on it, that doesn't encourage the stickies?  But where if you apply ANY amount of oil to a too-heated pan, then you're just asking for the stickies? 

Just a thought because that's another variable and it kind of did a ping on my brain to see if that's a significant difference that would maybe make something within the oil separate out and have that effect.
??

[Cheryl Watson]

I think that the dishwasher cycle has created some weaknesses in the layers of prior seasoning.

Cardinal rule of Cast Iron, is Never, Never put Cast Iron in a Dishwasher.

Most Dishwasher detergents contain Sodium Carbonate, which is a strong base, which is what we (I) use in my electrolysis.

I season my pans at 500°.

The CI is heated PRIOR to applying the oil. The oil carbonizes on contact, and the oil thins out and runs off faster at the higher heat. It actually makes it easier to wipe down/off excess oil.... You just have to learn how not to burn the 'digits'  ;) ;) I then bake at that temp for one hour.

A new layer of seasoning is only as good as the previous layer(s), in my mind. :)

[Ken Davis]

A new layer of seasoning is only as good as the previous layer(s), in my mind. :)

Yep. Just like paint.