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Any boring dinner can be elevated to a work of beauty with a cast-iron skillet. Whether you’re roasting or making grilled cheese, cookware is essential to creating delicious meals. The only flaw? Cleaning burnt cookware can seem tedious, but don’t give up. There’s a quick and safe way to clean your home with something you already own.
Cast-iron cookware needs to be cleaned differently than stainless steel or nonstick cookware. While this hardy cookware material can withstand years of banging on the oven range or grill top, scorching heat and metal cookware, cast iron has a fragile side. Your cast-iron pan will have a long and productive life if you clean it seasonally and properly.
Four frying pans that are essential: Check it out on Cnet
Whatever you do, avoid the urge to put your cast iron in the dishwasher or soak it in water. A basic pantry item can keep your skillet looking like new by removing too many stuck-on particles.
Have you guessed what it is yet? It is saline.
Should you put cast-iron cookware in the dishwasher?
Is it safe to put cast iron in the dishwasher? Although the solution is complicated, it is not always the case. While running the pan through the dishwasher won’t completely break it or render it useless, it will remove the significant coating of seasoning and nonstick patina you’ve been slowly building up on the top. Simply put, this will not benefit PAN in any way.
How to clean your cast-iron skillet like a pro
Cast-iron pans take a few minutes at most to clean. Additionally, you don’t need to clean your pan thoroughly after each use. For example, if you’ve just fried an egg or reheated a chick breast, you’ll need to clean it.
If you follow these simple instructions, your cast iron will stay clean and retain its beautifully finished, nonstick surface, even if you eat anything with added fat or food particles.
Clean your cast-iron skillet while it’s still warm
I understand that the last thing you want to do is clean up a delicious pork chop after taking it out of the pan. Working quickly will make the task easier, I promise. A few minutes after taking the pan off the heat, add some hot water to prevent it from overheating and melting the metal. Degumming the pan will help a lot with that little bit of boiling.
Scrape with a wooden spoon or soft bristle brush
Now that the hot water has loosened the food from the surface of the pan, use a wooden spoon or soft brush to remove any residue.
This Oxo cast-iron brush is a good buy at $11. It works wonderfully on traditional flat skillets, but thanks to its split bristle tufts, it also performs admirably on cast-iron grill pans and grates. If you want something more natural, these palm scrub brushes work well, although they won’t last as long. You can always use a soft sponge with a scrubby side, but remember that this will be the last time you use it.
Stay away from metal scrubbers as they can damage the cast-iron surface. Additionally, watch out for cheap rubber and plastic spatulas they may melt against the hot metal.
Use salt to clean cast iron for stubborn, stuck-on foods
You can tell what kind of cleaning job you have on your hands just by looking at your pan. Most of the time, a quick rinse with warm water should solve the problem. If too sticky, use a flat-ended wooden spoon or spatula to gently scrape the cast iron and sprinkle with kosher salt (without water). To start things off, add some water and add salt.
If you need to scrub harder than you can with a wooden spoon or rag, use a cast-iron safe brush like the ones mentioned above.
Dry your cast iron immediately
The most common problem people have with cast iron is rusting, but it can be easily prevented. It is important to dry your cast iron thoroughly and quickly. To dry your pan from the inside out, using heat from the stovetop or oven is the ideal method, but you can also use a dry towel.
Place the pan on the stove for a few minutes on low heat to dry. It will produce some steam and maybe even some smoke. When it starts to soften, your pan is dry. If the oven is on, dry the pan on medium heat. At 325 F, 5 minutes should be more than enough.
Give it a quick reseasoning, why don’t ya?
After it’s dry and while it’s still hot, you can (and should) feel free to season it more with a cast-iron seasoning wax (I like Made In’s mix of beeswax, canola and flaxseed oil) or some other high-heat cooking oil. For more on that, check out this CNET guide to perfectly seasoning your cast-iron skillet .
Can you use dish soap on cast iron?
Is it possible to clean a skillet or grill pan with soap? This is one of the most frequently asked questions about cleaning cast-iron appliances. Yes, but we should try not to, is the response. A small amount of soap—say, a very small dab—won’t break the nonstick finish on your cast iron, but some abrasive soaps can ruin the flavor your iron has acquired.
READ | Certain Cast-Iron Skillets Have an Undiscovered “Feature” It’s a Defect, Actually
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