A question about fried eggs: is it a poor seasoning problem?

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Hey guys,
I have a question about fried eggs. Why do some of my skillets leave black spots on the bottom of them and some do not? Is it a problem with the way I'm seasoning them? Is it from the pitting on the cooking surface? Although, even some of the smoother ones still do it.

My favorite skillet, my #3 with the hover technology is my best one for eggs, it doesn't do it. (I always say this because from day 1, eggs have floated around on this one as if they are not even touching the surface)

Here are pictures of what I'm talking about:

Pic 1 - this morning's eggs as an example. I did these on my new Martin bacon fryer. It definitely has some pitting problems.

Pic 2 - an egg done in my new 1-notch #5. It has has some minor pitting around the edges.

Pic 3 - and egg done in my #3 with HT.

Pic 4 - a comparison of cooking surfaces of the #5 and #3 w/HT

[Cheryl Watson]

What type of oil are you using to season with?
How many rounds of seasoning, at what temperature?

Definitely looks like a seasoning issue to me....

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

That's what my guess is, but you would thing if the seasoning was coming off, the finiash would eventually look splotchy or something. However, the finish seems fine. There doesn't seem to be any of it missing afterwards.

I mostly use Crisco. Occasionally, I'll use lard (I bought a jar of "pure pork lard" at Sprouts). And, sometimes I will use Crisbee.

When I use Crisco, or Lard, I hear the pan for about 5-10 at 200. Then turn it up to 275 for the same amount of time. Then 350 for 15 minutes. Apply oil. Wipe off oil. Then 15 min at 425. Wipe again. Then an hour at 500.

I used to only get it up to 425, and have even played around with 350 for 90 minutes, but it doesn't seem to make what method I use.

I cook the eggs at a setting of "3". (My electric range goes from 1-10.) and I cook them in butter.

Oh well, I'll just keep using my #3. Apparently the Hover Technology prevents black spots.

[Russell Ware]

Depending on the source you find, Crisco can have a smoking point of up to 440F. Your 15 minutes at 425F might not be fully oxidizing/smoking/curing/annealing the first coat of oil you are putting on the piece. Essentially, you are putting more oil on a partially treated pan. You may be ending up with too much oil on it. I agree with what Cheryl says about it being a seasoning issue. I would recommend working on technique. Jack the temp and time up on the first oil coat. Make sure you wipe all excess oil from the piece before heating it.

[FD_Hoover]

Just a thought.   I was having issues with seasoning until I used a digital laser thermometer to check the iron temperature and found the oven when set at 500 was actually heating the iron to 430 to 450  the variation got closer as the oven temp was set lower If yours is varying like this when set at 400 you might only be hitting 375.  When backing at 350 you dont notice the temp difference as much but when seasoning if its not getting over the smoke point it can make a huge difference

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Thanks guys. I'll try going straight up to 500. And maybe get a fancy thermometer. I've been wanting one anyway! Ha!


I really didn't think the stop at 425 was doing anything other than easing the skillet up to the higher temp. I rarely find anything to wipe after the 15 min at 425. I guess I was checking it at that point as a precaution.

Edit: I wonder why my favorite #3 doesn't do it? I used the same method on it. Although, it was one the first ones I restored, so maybe I took a little extra care with it? Beats me.

[Cheryl Watson]

I never apply ANY oil until my piece is heated to 500°.

I do high heat seasoning.

Takes a bit to learn how to handle that HOT iron with out burning or melting yourself or anything else... :D

That is why I use Spray on Oil (PAM or Spectrum Grapeseed).

Instant smoke! 

Wiping down is challenging too... then back into the oven at 500° for one hour. 

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Cheryl, haha! Thanks for the reminder! When I first started restoring skillets. I put the seasoning on at 425. Maybe that is the dieence between the #3 (which was seasoned at 425 and above) and the newer #5! I had almost forgotten about that. I think I switched to 350 after reading about other folks seasoning at the temp and thinking, "boy. It sure would be nice to not burn my fingers." Haha! For some reason, a cotton dish towel, folded several times, can hold a 350 pan easily, but 425 seems to heat through it ina very short period of time.  :o :o

EDIT: I just thought of something else. If it wasn't for the love of fried eggs, I would never have noticed this. It doesn't do it with scrambled eggs and I've never noticed it happening on any other food.

[Mark R. Smith]

Those eggs look just like my mom’s eggs did when she fried them. She always Cooke the bacon first then the eggs in the leftover bacon grease. That is what caused the spots. I have her cast iron skillets and the one she used is a BS&R red mountain #8 she bought in 1949 and the seasoning is still as good as the day she seasoned it slick and hard. Did you do the bacon in the same pan?

[Spurgeon Hendrick]

Occasionally, but not usually. My dad always did though. :)

[Duke Gilleland]

To each his own. "Maybe" :-/ too much heat with the seasoning process. I am a firm agent of solid Crisco seasoning, but hold at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. best seasoning is from frying or baking in the skillet. Sometimes I think we might be expecting TOO MUCH from that first seasoning coat. [smiley=shrug.gif] Keep frying-it always gets better with time-Granny's did [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Lewis Downey]

Spurgeon, I used to have a similar issue with tiny specs of black stuff on the first eggs cooked in a newly restored skillet and do not know what changed in my process to reduce it. The spots on my eggs were typically tiny specs vs large flakes your pics seem to show. The second or third time I made eggs in the pan there were no more spots. I wrote it off to albumen in the eggs picking up or removing <something> from the cooking surface.  I have no evidence for that theory except that the spots stopped right away and did not come back.  Like you I wonder about the cause and the cure.

If I had to guess... it is carbon that was shed during the cleaning processes but not thoroughly removed during the final rinse-and-dry. In that scenario whatever the material is, whether carbon or something else,  it was left on the surface, became affixed to the seasoning but not the iron, and was subsequently picked up by the albumen in your fried eggs. Again, no evidence.

[Lewis Downey]

This morning I made eggs over easy in a freshly seasoned pan and now have a slightly different theory of the black specs. It was the first time the pan was used to cook anything.

In the first pic, the eggs have been turned over. There is a medium-sized dark spot near the center of the eggs but it is the pan showing through. There are a couple of small areas of black specs. One is on the top egg at about the 1-o'clock position (relative to that egg) and another on the bottom egg at about the 3-o'clock position (relative to that egg).

The pan pre-heated longer than was appropriate and the eggs were reluctant to let go of the overheated surface. A thin metal spatula was used to turn them -- normally I just flip them in the air using a 9" Wagner Chef's Skillet (my favorite pan :)).

The second pic is a close-up after the eggs almost finished cooking and were plated on top of a bagel and bit of finely shredded cheddar cheese. It shows numerous black specs. The close-up makes the scale of the specs hard to appreciate; they are no bigger than finely ground pepper - probably smaller.

My new guess is that the black specs are burnt egg. Sez me, when the eggs would not let go, they bonded to the surface a little bit. The thin spatula freed the eggs but also mechanically loosened material in the area where they stuck. The eggs were still rich in sticky albumen and picked up the mechanically loosened material <it's a theory>. By the second or third time a given pan is used to fry an egg, no specs are visible - maybe because the seasoning has built up the least little bit, maybe for some other reason. I not notice any specs on scrambled eggs.

Even if this guess turns out to be correct it does not necessarily describe the cause of anybody else's spots.

The pan was thoroughly cleaned and carefully seasoned. It is an unmarked top of some kind of combo cooker. The third picture is the pan before the eggs.

[Lewis Downey]

The second morning the skillet was used I made an omelet and the third scrambled eggs -- neither tend to show those spots. Today, the fourth time this pan was used, I made eggs over easy again. No spots (none were expected).

The thick cooking surface on this pan is a little tricky. It over-pre-heated this morning even if less than before. The eggs were soft and delicious, but the butter browned almost as soon as it was added. 

I'm really curious about those spots, if anyone has insights or wants to speculate.

Spurgeon (if you notice this and care to reply) I'm also curious if you still get spots on your fried eggs after using the pan a few times.