Cast Iron Skillet Loses Seasoning After Cooking Chicken?
I season my cast Iron thoroughly until it is so slick it could sell a used car. However, whenever I cook chicken breast, I notice the seasoning comes off? No other foods do this. I can cook eggs and vegetables in it with no problem, but for some reason chicken breast is the problem food.
I suspected I wasn't oiling the pan enough for cooking, but even when I added more, the seasoning came off. Is this a thing with chicken? Does the fat coat to the seasoning and cause it to come off?
Also, if relevant, I season using grapeseed oil on my range until the oil coats and seasons the pan as it should.
Best Answer
Seasoning in cast iron pans is very sensitive to acidity. For example, tomatoes or a sauce based on it, will easily degrade your seasoning. It is possible that your chicken, its marinade or exterior is acidic as well.
Make sure also you cook the chicken on its side long enough for it to naturally come off and no longer stick to the pan surface. Don't force it off.
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Quick Answer about "Cast Iron Skillet Loses Seasoning After Cooking Chicken?"
The Cause: Occasionally food may stick to your cast iron cookware. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as not using enough fat or oil when cooking, using cookware that isn't well seasoned, or when breaking in new cookware that hasn't built up additional layers of seasoning.Why does my cast iron seasoning keep coming off?
Sometimes layers of seasoning may flake off your cast iron pan. This can happen if layers of seasoning have not fully bonded to the metal. If your pan is flaking, don't panic. Simply scrub the pan with a nylon brush or salt, then rinse, hand dry, and rub with oil.Can you burn the seasoning off cast iron?
Just after the smoke point is where the season carbonized polymerization and it bakes in to a matte black finish. Go any longer then 5 minutes or higher heat beyond 600 you'll cook the season off. When you wipe out and see black. That's your seasoning.What happens if you use too much oil when seasoning cast iron?
Using too much oil, anything more than about the size of a quarter will just build up and cause an oil slick on your pan. When it's time to season your cast iron skillet, you simply can't do this with a cold skillet. This will cause build up of that oil residue, and cause stickiness.How do you fix uneven seasoning on cast iron?
Splotchy, patchy, or uneven cast iron is caused by using too much oil during the seasoning process. To fix it, scour the pan with steel wool to remove old seasoning. Wash and dry the pan. Apply a thin layer of oil, wipe the pan down with a towel, and heat it in the oven at 500 degrees for an hour.Why is My Cast Iron Sticky? And How to Fix It!
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Answer 2
This just sounds like a bad seasoning, quite possibly a too thick layer - especially with the super-slick description, you usually don't get that if you can't quench the pan in the oil.
The reason it is happening with chicken is just that chicken is high in protein and low in fat, so it is stickier than most other foods. If you don't have the experience to use the perfect heat and timing for it, it will stick a bit, and if the seasoning is a bit gummy, it will come off. The extra fat was a good idea, it just seems that it did't contribute enough to save your pan.
Both problems are of the "practive makes perfect" type - just redo both the seasoning and the chicken until you get what you need.
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