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By: kporangehat
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I have a set of Caraway ceramic pans which started out fantastic. One of them has completely lost its nonstick coating now and I’m trying to season it to regain some nonstick back.
I cleaned the pan well with soap and warm water and there are no scratches or baked on food residue. I used a tiny amount of avocado oil and put a thin glaze on the pan (just barely enough to see a slight sheen on the surface, not so much that there’s any to roll around) and heated it on medium for I’d say about 20-25 minutes to try and reach the smoke point. I never saw it smoke but it did start to discolor so I took the pan off and let it cool naturally back to room temp.
However, the result was a sticky surface instead of a rejuvenated nonstick pan. The pan now has some mild discoloration due to this even after washing.
I have read avocado oil is good because of its high smoke point. Though I’m not sure I even reached it.should I be using more?
What am I doing wrong?
Ceramic coated cookware should not be seasoned. You'll note that on the Caraway site, in the "Before Cooking" section, it reads:
3 SKIP THE SEASONING Ceramic comes naturally non-stick, so no need to season your pan beyond a dash of oil.
While there are food bloggers that, I'm not aware of any manufacturers of pans that provide that advice for ceramic coated pans, like cast iron manufacturers do.
Traditionally, ceramic (or enamel) coating was used on cast iron cookware (like Le Creuset) specially to prevent the need to season the cast iron.
More recently, companies have started selling ceramic coated stainless steel and aluminum pans, as an alternative to Teflon nonstick coating. I believe this is the type of pan you have.
Like Teflon coated pans, the nonstick surface eventually loses it's nonstick properties, and food begins to stick. In my experience with modern ceramic coated nonstick pans, the "stickiness" can be caused by either not being completely clean--such as a thin bit of polymerized oil--or from use/abuse causing putting or imperceptibly small scratches.
I find it to be tricky to maintain perfectly--if you don't wash it well enough, food starts to stick. If you wan too aggressively, you create micro scratches and food starts to stick.
The manufacturer Made In has an article with more info on the pros and cons of ceramic coated cookware.
By trying to add a seasoning coating, you've created or exacerbated the "not clean enough" scenario. You'll need to scrub that coating off to get back to the pristine ceramic. However, getting it back to pristine ceramic will likely require pretty heavy scrubbing or harsh cleaning chemicals--both of which are likely to cause pitting or micro scratches. Your pan may be unsalvageable.
Regardless of the type of coating, nonstick pans eventually degrade over time & need to be replaced. Some folks admit defeat and buy less expensive pans to replace more frequently, and others buy higher quality and longingly care for them, and others simply avoid nonstick pans and go with uncoated pans that last longer in exchange for more cleaning.
I personally keep dedicated nonstick pans for delicate things like omelettes so that they last longer, then use uncoated stainless steel cookware for very high heat (which causes oil polymerization to build up faster), and less delicate, less finicky food.