Wooden at 900 degrees- obviously not a good idea?

Nope, not a good idea. And unnecessary. Soak the pan in hot water, scrub a bit with some dish soap, and re-season in the normal way if necessary. If you want to try removing some seasoning that seems to persist in the pan, try adding some lemon juice to the hot water. If you are using the pan to cook highly-seasoned things on a regular basis but also want to use the pan for pancakes and you don't want the pancakes to taste like garlic or to go through all the extra work of cleaning the pan all the time, I'd recommend buying a second cast-iron pan and saving it for unflavoured things. With a little luck you can find one at a thrift store for a good price.