I was trying to apply a coat of oil to my pan after cooking when I noticed the towel catching on a whole bunch rough spots from carbon build up on the pan. So I took a chain mail scrubber to the worst parts of the pan, and managed to peel off a bunch of build up. But after a few minutes of scrubbing, there was still a lot of carbon build up on the pan (as you can see in the picture), and the remaining stuff is going to be much harder to clean off.
So: Is there a better way to get all this stuff cleaned off of my pan other than elbow grease and time? Am I being foolish for trying to clean it off? Should I let it go and just cook?
Regularly after I cook with the pan, I pour in some salt with warm water and then try to clean it with the chain mail scrubber. Clearly I haven't been doing that good of a job though, probably from the times where it's still too hot and I can barely stand keeping my hands in the water long enough to actually clean it. But I thought it was better to clean it before everything completely cools, so who knows what the right thing is to do.
I like to deglaze the pan while it's hot, after I'm done cooking so I can dislodge any burned on bits. Much easier to clean later once it's cooled down.