I am going to launch DP into the SUN for this.

He heard he just didnt listen

He hadn’t seen you care for the pan or heard you talk about it over ten years?

It can be re-seasoned. Careful coating with a THIN coat of good oil, followed by an hour in a slow oven. Repeatedly. Gentle cleaning. VERY gentle cleaning. And it will take time.

And yes, launch him into...well, I'll quote Pink Floyd here, "Set the controls for the heart of the sun."

Many many years ago when I first started in the hospitality trade I washed the egg pan. Now this probably wont mean much to anyone who hasnt worked in a professional kitchen but lets just say that I was lucky to walk out alive!

I tell that story whenever I start in a new job to reassure the chefs that whatever mistakes the servers/porters/washer ups may make, it will never be as bad as washing the egg pan. In fact it became a saying in my last place "At least he didnt wash the egg pan eh Pyong?!" :o

I have just bought a new cast iron pan, it arrived yesterday.
DW has been told not to touch it ever, never.

She walked through as I was cooking breakfast, Ooh, I’ll turn this off shall I?

I just said Spoony Fucker and she scarpered!

My sympathies OP, 💐

Until a couple of years ago, I thought I'd read this in one of the many true crime books I've had over the years. I had been telling people about this great way of getting away with murder that an old lady had done (I didn't query how she got caught in the end, and nor did anyone I told) When I realised it was from one of my RD books for adults, I felt so stupid, but haven't admitted it to anyone till now. In my defence, no one ever corrected me so it's their own fault if they believed it and repeat it 😉

I used one of my cast iron pans earlier tonight (for this www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/vegetarian/cheesy-garlic-dough-balls/) and have just given it a pat of appreciation as I wandered through the kitchen having just read of this horror

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1615049-Sigh-I-have-to-stick-a-wooden-spoon-up-dhs-arse-dont-I

Martin : People think you're stuffy. You know, with your opera parties, and your wine parties and your seasoned crepe pans.
Frasier : In my defense, Niles is the only one who has ever seasoned his crepe pans.
Niles : Which is precisely why I've had the same set since the ninth grade, thank you very much.
Daphne Moon : Dr. Crane, how do you know it's time to have your crepe pans re-seasoned, anyway?
Niles : It can be confusing. But this may help: "Saucepans in summer, crepe pans in fall, when winter's upon us, there's food for us all."

I thought this was one of those things that only Niles Crane did.

...the only lasagne dish in existence that neatly fit lasagne sheets without needing surgery.

@BoomChicka - I urgently need a description and brand. This is the sort of thing I dream about.

Whereas I'm reading this thread in horror at all the mofo's happy to eat from what is essentially a filthy pan that doesn't get touched by soap 😲 and is probably crawling with all the bacteria of everything that's ever been cooked in it.

You've got the wrong end of this particular stick.

I don’t understand how he could have been fully aware for years that the pan was not to be touched, then suddenly decide to ignore that and scrub the fuck out of it?

Same way others hate their cars being filled with takeaway wrappers or bumped up kerbs/against walls, white clothes turned grey because they've been put in with darks or every jumper, set of voiles and pair of socks they own being put on a sixty wash. Or coffee and pizza stains left on a carpet.

There could be something that's important to you - perhaps your clothes, car, TV, the house itself - if you think of something you love and have worked hard for, imagine that being trashed not by accident, but out of lack of care. And you're told in so many words and deeds that it's not worth caring about because it's only [your item]?

Give his car a nice clean just like he did your pan.

This makes me feel sick to my stomach, when I was about 18 I had a part time job in a restaurant, after a while i was offered kitchen shifts. I was very keen to learn to cook properly so jumped at the task. It was a restaurant specialising in Cajun food. On a quiet shift I was being as productive as possible, cleaning, tidying etc and scrubbed the chef's cast iron blackening pan until it was as shiny as a new pin. He was a 6’5 broadly built South American man. He honestly nearly cried, the sous chef told me to run. The pan had been his father's. I've never felt more stupid in my life.

@BoomChicka
Oh that is the dream lasagne dish, I’m so so sorry. I never dared dream such a thing has ever existed

TBH I've never really thought about it. Or had any actual "cooking" lessons of any kind. School was more about healthy nutrition and how food affects the body and some scientific type experiments involving potatoes. So I just clean stuff. Properly. As a child every metal oveny-type or pan-type thing that came into the kitchen ended up looking like that, with added blistered flaky bits that fell off in the food, despite starting off some shade of silver/grey when purchased and being "cleaned" with washing up liquid and brillopads. It was just filthy. All of it. There were no chefs in that kitchen! 😆 Or hygiene. The fridge almost always contained something green and fluffy that used to be food and the walls were splattered in blood. Presumably had mum not taken a spiky sledgehammer to the meat once a week she'd have had a hobby as a serial killer, I thought it best not to ask.

If he owns an angle grinder this is a good opportunity to strip off the old seasoning and have it glassy smooth like the best old pans. I have a cheap modern pan that I had this done to and it performs as well as the ones a hundred years old.

How to season a cast-iron pan. For those of us without an oven that has a self-cleaning cycle, ask around for a friend with a kiln or similar because you do need these temperatures.

www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron

www.lodgecastiron.com/cleaning-and-care/cast-iron/oils-cast-iron-cooking-and-seasoning

And since it's come up a few times -

Untreated cast iron is silvery grey and prone to rust, but it turns black as soon as it's seasoned. This requires maintenance and you need to be careful with soap or acid but it can be heated as hot as you want or need.

Cast iron can also be coated with enamel, which is what you have if you have a Le Creuset or Le Creuset-type pan with a cream-coloured interior. This enamel is a coating on the cast iron that makes it require less maintenance, but it can't be heated too high or it scorches. You don't need to maintain it otherwise, you can soap it up and cook tomatoes every day without worry.