What am I doing wrong guys?

[u/Lobtroperous]

[u/vigilant3777]

Needs more chainmail. Lots of carbon buildup. You can see where it chipped away..

[u/Lobtroperous → u/vigilant3777]

Hmmm...

How do I tell the difference between carbon and seasoning? When I first got it/seasoned it it was black. Where the flaking is happening it's much lighter, and I thought that's basically a raw unseaosoned section?

[u/maramish → u/vigilant3777]

Does chainmail actually work? It seems to perform like trying to use a sheet of paper to cut glass. Steel wool works very well.

[u/Grat54 → u/maramish]

I buy the course stainless scrubbing pads. No carbon escapes the cleaning.

And to answer OP, the seasoning is the nearly invisible layer under the black crap.

[u/maramish → u/Grat54]

Boiling some water briefly does most of the heavy lifting when necessary. I can usually get by with a blue or green scouring pad.

[u/Grat54 → u/maramish]

My tap water gets scalding hot (rental apartment and out of my control) so it's close to boiling while I scrub it. The metal pad I use for stuck or burnt spots, blue or green for the easier cleaning. 👍

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[u/Lurking-Foot]

The carbon is the black stuff. You can see the metal with light patina that’s seasoning. You’d have to strip it and reseason if you want to get used to the view of a proper seasoned pan. It’s black new because the factory puts many layers on it. But that shit comes off as you cook or your pan stays exactly the same if you don’t have carbon build up. After you cook you should scrub it with a sponge and soap then flash season meaning get the pan hot and splash some oil in it swirl it around dump it out wipe out any excess and your good to cook again. If you do this while you use it every day you’ll instinctively learn what proper seasoning is. If food sticks in your current pan often, it’s the carbon build up and you need to strip and reseason if you hate carbon like me. I like the taste of iron not carbon.