Acidic foods are fine in small doses.

Yes, but not for too long. A quick tomato sauce or a lemon pan sauce won’t ruin a well-seasoned pan. But simmering acidic stuff for an hour? That’s asking for trouble.

Here’s the deal: acid slowly dissolves the polymerized oil layer (seasoning). Your pan will start looking patchy and might even leave a metallic taste in your food. A well-seasoned pan is more resistant, but it’s not magic. I’ll do a 20-minute tomato sauce without worry. Anything longer goes into stainless steel.

If you do cook acidic food, clean the pan normally and stove-dry it. Then rub in a tiny bit of oil. The seasoning might thin out, but it’ll recover with a few rounds of frying.

Your cast iron isn’t fragile. Just treat tomato sauce like a quick guest, not a long-term roommate.