Plastic formation in cast-iron pan

[Tom Lever]

Yesterday morning, before work, I cooked eggs in canola oil in a cast-iron pan. Afterward, I rinsed out the pan and heated it to dry it. By mistake, I left the stove on. When I returned home, in addition to my house being smokey and smelling like IHOP, my cast-iron pan was lined with a tight-clinging plastic-y substance. I spent a while scraping out the pan, washing it, rinsing it with canola oil, and re-oiling it. Afterward, though, I was rewarded when I discovered that I had accidentally reconditioned the pan! There was not the slightest stick when I cooked some chicken!

Questions:
1. What substance(s) were formed from slowly heating the canola oil over time?
2. If the substance forming the new non-stick coating on the pan is a plastic, will adding canola oil at room temperature cause blending or bonding with or to the coating?
3. To what temperature does the cast-iron pan need to be raised to cause blending or bonding between the coating and fresh canola oil?

 

[Bystander]

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/231274927_Thermal_Cracking_of_Canola_Oil_Reaction_Products_in_the_Presence_and_Absence_of_Steam

 

[ChemAir]

Wikipedia link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoning_(cookware)

Other commercial links
http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/what-is-seasoning
http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/refurbish-your-finish

 

[symbolipoint]

Something much like a plastic film had formed in a teflon-lined pan. Nothing would remove it. No detergent. No scraping with abrasive cleaner. The film had only formed once or twice, so I am not fully sure the conditions that formed it. Oil was being used for pan-drying, but other conditions I do not remember.