Yellow cap Easy-Off is the trick

Yellow cap Easy-Off is the trick.

Yes. Oven cleaner with lye (the yellow cap version) will strip that seasoning overnight with almost no elbow grease.

Spray it on, stick the pan in a garbage bag, tie it shut, leave it for 24 hours. The lye breaks down polymerized oil (which is what seasoning is) without damaging the iron. Rinse it off with warm water and a scrub brush—wear gloves—and you’ll be down to bare gray metal.

Other methods work but aren’t as hands-off. Vinegar soaks only remove rust, not seasoning. Self-cleaning oven cycles can warp pans. Scrubbing with steel wool and dish soap takes forever and might leave patchy spots. Electrolysis is amazing but overkill for most people.

If you don’t have yellow cap Easy-Off, you can also just scrub aggressively with a chainmail scrubber and Barkeeper’s Friend, but that’s more work and not a full strip—you’ll leave some seasoning behind. For a true reset, lye spray is the standard.

Just don’t use it on aluminum or enameled surfaces. Works only on bare cast iron.

Future You will appreciate not having to scrub for an hour.