-
If a web search for the answer to your cast iron cookware question has brought you directly to this forum, the information you seek may be covered in one of the many reference topics featured on the main website.
Quick Links: · Main Website · How to Identify Unmarked Pans · All About Cleaning & Seasoning · Reproductions & Counterfeits · Commonly-Used Terms
Orange tint
- Thread starter RNeu
- Start date
W. Hilditch
Active member
If you are using lard, bake again at 475° F for an hour or two and let cool in the oven. Do not add any new coating. The orange tells me you have not burned off all the impurities to the carbon stage. If using an oil, get above the smoke point.
Hilditch
Hilditch
I have a couple of Wagner skillets I bought that once cleaned ended up having an orange tint of which I suspect were heat damaged at some time in their life. I tried several methods of seasoning of which did nothing to improve their looks so I finally decided to accept them as is and just cook in them. They are definitely not show pieces but they cook fine.
Not an answer to your question but maybe there isn't one. Try Hilditch's method and see what happens.
Not an answer to your question but maybe there isn't one. Try Hilditch's method and see what happens.
I'll suggest that trying to achieve the look or patina or even non-stick performance of a well-seasoned pan with only a modicum of manual seasoning trials is often an exercise in futility. There are too many variables of oils/fats, smoke points, temperatures and duration of baking to say any one combination is unequivocally superior to another.
I've never seen any manual seasoning result in what I would call "orange", so I'm going to guess what's going on here is what is often seen that I would call "bronze" (really need a photo), and that's not unusual. It's the difference between caramelizing and burning/carbonizing the fat or impurities contained in it. What's important to note is that bronze vs. black does not equate to failure vs. success. If your intention is to use these pans, then just use them; the black shiny patina and non-stick performance will come in time and you will enjoy the fruits of your labors as well as some good food. To expect to be able to achieve that goal in an afternoon of baking six coats of whatever onto a pan, as some sources would lead you to believe, is not realistic.
I've never seen any manual seasoning result in what I would call "orange", so I'm going to guess what's going on here is what is often seen that I would call "bronze" (really need a photo), and that's not unusual. It's the difference between caramelizing and burning/carbonizing the fat or impurities contained in it. What's important to note is that bronze vs. black does not equate to failure vs. success. If your intention is to use these pans, then just use them; the black shiny patina and non-stick performance will come in time and you will enjoy the fruits of your labors as well as some good food. To expect to be able to achieve that goal in an afternoon of baking six coats of whatever onto a pan, as some sources would lead you to believe, is not realistic.
Rieu,
I think Doug is correct. The best way to get the pan to look like it has been used is to use it. Cook a couple rounds of cornbread and then go to your butcher and get a thick ribeye or two and have some good friends over. Fill your house with smoke and cook that baby better than your local steak house. Do that for a few years and no matter the color of the pan you will love it. My wife and I have been cooking in the same #8 Wagner for 2 years now and it is just beginning to look like my grandmas pan, but by know I trust that pan to cook anything so I don't care as much about the color. Happy cooking,
Kyle
I think Doug is correct. The best way to get the pan to look like it has been used is to use it. Cook a couple rounds of cornbread and then go to your butcher and get a thick ribeye or two and have some good friends over. Fill your house with smoke and cook that baby better than your local steak house. Do that for a few years and no matter the color of the pan you will love it. My wife and I have been cooking in the same #8 Wagner for 2 years now and it is just beginning to look like my grandmas pan, but by know I trust that pan to cook anything so I don't care as much about the color. Happy cooking,
Kyle