New cookware requires a wasted "sacrificial" first cook to burn off factory coatings

Pain point

Griddle/pan owners must cook and throw away real food to remove industrial anti-rust coatings — wasteful, confusing, and a perceived poisoning risk if skipped.

Signal

Very strong engagement on solutions specifically: the workaround comments are the highest-voted in the thread (7,535 for the flour-salt-water dough trick; 2,513 for tortilla/bread-with-oil; 2,348 complaining about food waste; 102 explaining the chemistry). When the top comments are all *homemade workarounds*, the product gap is real.

Opportunity

A "First Cook" seasoning/break-in puck or sheet — a cheap, food-safe, disposable absorbent pad or pressed dough disc sold in 2-packs, optionally bundled by griddle/cast-iron brands as an in-box accessory. B2B OEM bundling (Blackstone, Lodge, Weber) is the real play. Feasibility: quick (food-contact compliance is the only friction).

Evidence

• Note in the instructions for my new griddle