Successfully oven-seasoned my deBuyer minreal-b (non-oven-safe handle)
I had to remove all previous seasoning on my deBuyer mineral-b and decided to reseason it in the oven. I wasn't sure wether to risk this with the handle offically not being oven safe. After having read this and that all over reddit and other platforms, I decided to do it and share my process and experience in a all-in-one post no matter how it turned out to potentially help others struggling with the same thing. I want to clearify however that every oven is different and I have not extensively tested this on several pans, just this one.
I had mainly been concerned about the handle melting in the places it touches the rack. On my pan however, the handle stayed visually entirely intact. It might feel a tiny bit rougher to the touch on the upper side but nothing that I wouldn't expect from extensive use anyway. To me this is well worth it and the difference is really negligable in my case. However, It has been in the oven for one single layer of seasoning only and I will not go further than that on mine as I don't feel like it would be worth the risk.
Just to have this mentioned here, despite it seeming obvious, you do not want to cover this coated handle in oil when seasoning. You can follow any oven seasoning instructions to do yours, I will just quickly list the things I did that are specific for this pan:
- Pop out the yellow rubber knob out of the handle to protect it from burning
- In the oven at 240C for one hour
- Make sure the pan doesn't touch anything besides the rack, especially the handle.
- Place the rack so the handle is at about mid-height in the oven to prevent it from heating unevenly and potentially roughening more on either side
- Straight on the rack without any parchment paper to avoid the risk of it melting into the handle, getting stuck and ripping off leaving bits behind
- The handle pointing to the front of the oven where it's less hot
- Afterwards, let it cool inside the oven without touching it This is crucial as you risk deforming the handle with the material softening in the extensive heat
I hope this helped at least someone. Some bonus advice I'm not sure a lot of guides on seasoning mention: I blued the pan on the stove before starting to season it.