Seasoning flaked off after a cornbread bake yesterday

I made cornbread in my 10 inch Lodge pan yesterday, and when I flipped it out, the seasoning came off in a patch about the size of my palm. Must've been too thin in that spot or the batter was too acidic. I scrubbed the loose bits off with a chain mail scrubber, dried it on the stove, then did two thin coats of crisco at 400 degrees. Anyone else have seasoning fail on a simple bake like cornbread?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason.mary3d ago

You know, @angela_kelly, I gotta push back a little on the 400 degree thing. Lots of folks run their seasoning at 400-450 and get great results, it's just about how long you leave it in there. For crisco, a short bake at 400 works fine if you're just doing a thin coat, the key is not leaving it in there for an hour like you would for a full session. Also, saying cornbread is "one of the worst things" seems a bit dramatic to me. I've made cornbread in my Lodge for years and never had a flaking issue unless I rushed the initial seasoning or had a really thin spot from scrubbing too hard. A little acidity from buttermilk isn't gonna wreck a decent seasoning layer, that's like saying tomatoes will ruin a pan. Your advice is solid for someone with a brand new pan or a really thin layer, but for a pan that's been used a bunch, one cornbread bake shouldn't be a crisis. Maybe OP just had a weak spot from a previous scrub and this bake was what finally knocked it loose.

angela_kelly3d ago

That 400 degree oven is way too hot for crisco for a seasoning coat, lol. Crisco has a smoke point around 360-370, so at 400 you basically burned your seasoning before it even had a chance to polymerize right. I've done the same thing before, it comes out brittle and flakes off easy. Next time try 350 for an hour, let it cool in the oven slowly. Also, cornbread is honestly one of the worst things for new or thin seasoning because the batter is acidic from buttermilk or yogurt. You might wanna do a few more layers of seasoning at the right temp before baking cornbread again. Your pan will be fine though, just keep cooking bacon or frying stuff in it to build that base back up naturally.