Was the stain under where you cooked the eggs? Was there oil all over the pan, or just under the eggs? The black matte interior is porous until it's seasoned. You might have seasoned it just in the area under the eggs with the oil or butter you used. Try scrubbing out the pan well, and then use a thin coat of oil all over and heat the pan with a low to medium flame until it stops smoking. You can do that a few times. This will season the interior of the pan all over, and give you a nice, shiny, nearly nonstick even surface.

The stain was under where I cooked the eggs. I didn't use a lot of oil, so I can't say 100% that the entire surface of the pan was covered with oil.

I wasn't aware that I'm supposed to season this pan. The sales person told me that it's enameled cast iron and I just assumed no seasoning is required. It did puzzle me though that the interior is black as compared to my other LC pot.

I've read that seasoned pans should not be washed is soap. If I season this pan, should I just wash it plain water?

Thank you
Anna

I tried to season the pan. I rubbed a small amount of oil and heated it up. The interior is nice and shiny but the spot now looks like its burnt. Any ideas how to get rid of it and what could it be?

Thank you.

I honestly don't know what it is, but as you use the pan more and it develops a patina, it should all blend into a uniform finish.

I was told when I purchased Le Creuset in a hardware store in France that the pieces with black interiors just have black enamel instead of white enamel and do not need to be seasoned. They should be treated like other Le Creuset pieces. I have a few of these, but they are 32 years old and I am not sure today's black interiors are the same. I have indeed always treated my black ones just like my cream-colored ones. I just went and looked at a couple of them and there is no variation in the black surfaces. I am wondering if the problem you note is due to a defect in the enamel. Do you have your original packing? I would contact Le Creuset and see what they say about this.

Seasoning is optional on these pans, but if you want to hurry along the nonstick patina that comes with use, you have the option of seasoning them. The new interiors aren't the same as before. They also made another dark interior called Glismail, or something like that that was shiny too. The new ones are high temp, and are matte black, and can take a seasoning as the enamel is a bit rough and porous.

Do you use the non stick sprays like pam? I used to use it on my non-stick cookware until it ruined the nonstick abilities of the pan....it felt like what you described. I don't know if it makes a difference on the enamel cookware, but I would check into it.