How To Clean Your Cast Iron Skillet
Although it's tempting to treat your cast iron skillet
the same as any other pan, doing so would defeat the purpose of using that hulking iron monster in the first place.
What makes your cast iron skillet so special? Over time, cast iron pans develop a dark layer of "seasoning" that is made up of absorbed oils. This layer of seasoning forms a helpful barrier that makes the pan naturally "non-stick", creating a perfect environment for searing and frying with relative ease. Unfortunately, the seasoning is also rather delicate and requires special care to maintain.
If you own a cast iron skillet but don't really know how to care for it, you're in good company! The good news is that although it does take a bit of effort to maintain cast iron, it's actually pretty simple to do.
The basic idea is that you don't want to do anything to damage or disturb the layer of seasoning. That means that you shouldn't use soap to clean the pan since it will dissolve the natural non-stick finish. You also want to avoid scrubbing the pan with anything that could cause the seasoning to flake or chip off - no scrubbing pads, Brillos, etc.
The best way to clean a cast iron skillet is to sprinkle some coarse salt over the surface and then gently scrub it with a paper towel to remove the food and grease.
However, if you forget or are forced to resort to washing it with soap and water, all is not lost!
You can restore the seasoning by rubbing the inside of the pan thoroughly with vegetable oil (peanut is best) or lard (I know most of us don't have rendered pig fat on hand nowadays but Kasma, my Thai cooking teacher, swears by it for seasoning so I thought I'd mention it just in case...) and either cooking it over low heat on your stove top for half an hour or placing it upside down over a roasting pan to catch any drips of oil in a 300 degree oven for about an hour. The iron will absorb the oil, helping to repair any bald spots your soap or scrubbing has created in the pan's seasoned surface.
This is what the pan will look like about halfway through the seasoning process - you'll see the oil begin to sink into the pan in some spots. I sometimes use the oily paper towel to spread it all around evenly again before finishing it off.
Beware that either method is likely to produce significant amounts of smoke so you may need to leave some windows open and/or disable your smoke detector before you try this!
You should use additional oil when using the pan for the first time after this treatment since the coating will not yet be mature enough to do the trick on its own.
Happy frying!
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the same as any other pan, doing so would defeat the purpose of using that hulking iron monster in the first place.What makes your cast iron skillet so special? Over time, cast iron pans develop a dark layer of "seasoning" that is made up of absorbed oils. This layer of seasoning forms a helpful barrier that makes the pan naturally "non-stick", creating a perfect environment for searing and frying with relative ease. Unfortunately, the seasoning is also rather delicate and requires special care to maintain.
If you own a cast iron skillet
but don't really know how to care for it, you're in good company! The good news is that although it does take a bit of effort to maintain cast iron, it's actually pretty simple to do.The basic idea is that you don't want to do anything to damage or disturb the layer of seasoning. That means that you shouldn't use soap to clean the pan since it will dissolve the natural non-stick finish. You also want to avoid scrubbing the pan with anything that could cause the seasoning to flake or chip off - no scrubbing pads, Brillos, etc.
The best way to clean a cast iron skillet is to sprinkle some coarse salt over the surface and then gently scrub it with a paper towel to remove the food and grease.
However, if you forget or are forced to resort to washing it with soap and water, all is not lost!
You can restore the seasoning by rubbing the inside of the pan thoroughly with vegetable oil (peanut is best) or lard (I know most of us don't have rendered pig fat on hand nowadays but Kasma, my Thai cooking teacher, swears by it for seasoning so I thought I'd mention it just in case...) and either cooking it over low heat on your stove top for half an hour or placing it upside down over a roasting pan to catch any drips of oil in a 300 degree oven for about an hour. The iron will absorb the oil, helping to repair any bald spots your soap or scrubbing has created in the pan's seasoned surface.
This is what the pan will look like about halfway through the seasoning process - you'll see the oil begin to sink into the pan in some spots. I sometimes use the oily paper towel to spread it all around evenly again before finishing it off.
Beware that either method is likely to produce significant amounts of smoke so you may need to leave some windows open and/or disable your smoke detector before you try this!
You should use additional oil when using the pan for the first time after this treatment since the coating will not yet be mature enough to do the trick on its own.
Happy frying!
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