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So, Your Cast Iron Skillet Is Flaking? Here’s What to Do

No, it’s not the metal coming off—it’s the seasoning. Let’s talk about why that’s happening, how to fix it, and how to prevent it.

A flaking cast iron skillet in our test kitchen. | Craig Britton / Tastyble
By Dim Nikov,
editor-in-chief of Tastyble, formally trained chef, and author of Cooking Methods & Techniques: A Crash Course on How to Cook Delicious Food at Home for Beginners.

So much has been said and written about cast iron skillets on the Internet. If you check out our “Kitchen” section, you’ll see that we’ve even written a good chunk of it ourselves.

And yet when you buy a cast iron skillet and start googling for answers to your questions, you’ll quickly realize that most of the content out there only scratches the surface. (Fortunately, this isn’t the case with our content.)

Questions such as what to do when the seasoning on your cast iron skillet starts to flake off in thin, crispy pieces—the same issue that likely brought you here. Well, I’ve been there and had to deal with that before. So let’s not waste any more time on introductions and help you figure it out.

What Those Flakes Coming Off Your Cast Iron Skillet Really Are

Let’s start with what those flakes coming off your skillet actually are … and what they aren’t.

Contrary to what you might think, those flakes aren’t metal. Don’t worry, your cast iron skillet is still in one piece. They’re actually the skillet’s seasoning—that thin layer of cooking oil that has bonded to the surface, which protects it from corrosion and rust.

This isn’t to say that it’s fine for your cast iron pan’s seasoning to come off in flakes. (It’s not.) But first, we had to establish what those were. (Like we did.)

But Why Is Your Cast Iron Skillet Flaking?

And now, the burning question: Why is your cast iron skillet’s seasoning flaking off?

There are two likely causes. One is in the pan’s seasoning. The other, and less obvious one, is in how you’re using it. See below.

Cause #1: Your cast iron skillet may not have been seasoned properly from the start. This is often the case with new, pre-seasoned pans. Despite manufacturers’ claims, the factory-applied pre-seasoning is rarely very good.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: Reseason the skillet. Just make sure to do it correctly this time. (I’ll share my top tips for that in a moment.)

Cause #2: This one’s a little less intuitive, but you may be cooking with excessively high heat.

Many cast iron cookware owners don’t realize that this type of pans and pots are great at retaining heat, so you don’t actually need much heat to cook with them. What you do need is plenty of preheating time, since they conduct heat slowly.

From now on, simply cook using lower heat. My stovetop has nine settings in total. When cooking with cast iron, I typically use settings four through six. As I mentioned earlier, the key is to preheat the pan properly before use, which takes about 3 to 5 minutes.

How to Fix a Flaking Cast Iron Skillet

Remove the Seasoning

Start by removing the old seasoning. There are multiple methods for doing this.

The quickest and easiest method—though also the least effective—is using vinegar and baking soda. Sprinkle baking soda over the entire cooking surface of the cast iron skillet, then slowly pour in a mixture of equal parts distilled white vinegar and water.

An acid-base chemical reaction will occur (with vinegar as the acid and baking soda as the base), causing the baking soda to start sizzling. Once the sizzling stops, scrub everything off with steel wool and rinse the skillet. Be sure to wear gloves.

If successful, the skillet should appear dark gray and metallic, like the one in this photo:

A cast iron skillet with the seasoning removed. | Craig Britton / Tastyble

A harsher but much more effective way to remove the seasoning from your cast iron skillet is to spray it with oven degreaser and leave it outside on your backyard or balcony overnight.

Re-Season Your Cast Iron Skillet

Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) for 30 minutes.

Make sure your cast iron skillet is completely dry. Dab a lint-free kitchen cloth or paper towel with a small amount of cooking oil—less than you might need—and spread the oil all over the pan, including the inside, outside, and handles.

You need only a tiny amount of cooking oil to season your cast iron skillet. | Craig Britton / Tastyble

Place the skillet upside-down in the oven. With the pan upside down, any excess oil will drip off and fall instead of pooling. To prevent the oil from dripping onto the bottom of the oven, place aluminum foil or a sheet pan underneath.

Place the oiled pan upside-down in the oven and allow it to season undisturbed for one hour. | Craig Britton / Tastyble

Let the skillet season undisturbed for one hour, then turn the oven off and allow the skillet to cool naturally inside, which usually takes another hour or two.

Once the skillet has cooled enough to handle safely, it’s seasoned and ready to use for cooking again.

Cook Using Lower Heat

There’s no need to turn the heat all the way up when cooking in a cast iron pan. Instead, use low to medium-low heat for regular cooking and medium to medium-high heat for searing meats and sautéing vegetables.

The trick is to preheat your pan for a sufficient amount of time. It doesn’t matter whether you add the oil when the pan is cold or once it’s hot enough to cook in. What’s important is that the metal has a chance to accumulate enough heat so it can transfer it to your food.