NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

Cleaning cast iron skillets

by

Okay, this may be one of the most random things I’ve ever written a post about. (And I’ve written about some random things in three years.)

The subject: Cast iron

My husband has recently become obsessed with old cast iron skillets. He found one in an antique store. Then, his grandmother gave him two more of hers.

(I am still uncertain why someone needs three cast iron skillets. But we’re rolling with it.)

(He does like to cook eggs. That may be the reason.)

It is kind of neat to have some variety in our cookware. And since my husband loves them, I love them. And as it turns out, cast iron cookware should last forever. What’s not to love?

So, if you find yourself with some old cast iron cookware, here’s some things you may need to know.

Initial cleaning
If you have an old skillet and wish to clean it before using it, it’s like magic. Stick the skillet in the oven and run on self-clean. When it’s done, all the “gunk” will be ash. Wipe clean with paper towels.

Seasoning
After clean, simply rub vegetable oil on the skillet and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. This seasoning creates a nonstick coating and a lovely, black patina over time. This will only get better with time.

Everyday cleaning
After using the skillet, simply wash with hot water and a mild abrasive (like coarse salt) right away to clean. Don’t use soap or put in the dishwasher. Dry thoroughly to prevent rust and re-season, as needed.

Here’s how our cast iron pan looked after running through the oven’s self-cleaning function.

And like new after coating with vegetable oil.

Amazing, right?


What do you think of cast iron?

Comments

  1. Be cautious using self clean oven, extreme 1000+ degree Temps can potentially do more harm than good to both your oven and your cast iron, as stated by oven manufacturers. They only keep manufacturing self cleaning ovens because so many people will no longer buy an oven that doesn’t have the feature. On modern cast iron, it should be ok if you choose the self clean method. But vintage cast iron, due to age, can crack. If it was a yard sale or flea market find, may be ok but definitely not a collectible one (some can be worth $500+! Wouldn’t want to crack that!). An heirloom, I would never use self clean method, not on something that can’t be replaced easily. Also, soap is only discouraged because most soaps used to contain lye. Modern day soaps are lye free and will not strip seasoning. It’s seriously okay to suds up. An alternative method to cleaning cast iron if you want to strip it down to the original metal is Easy Off oven cleaner and soak for a few days. It does contain lye, so use caution. Wear gloves, eye protection, and have ventilation. It will not harm the cast iron, but be ready to quickly soak off any rust with vinegar, scrub, scrub, scrub, rinse with COLD water, dry quickly, and reseason quickly. And another option but is a little tougher to gather supplies for, is electrolysis which requires a plastic tub with a lid, battery charger, steel pan, washing soda and water. It basically creates a magnet that pulls all the crud right off. Happy hunting for those beauties!

  2. The before and after pictures are of 2 different pans one says 8in and the clean one is a 5in, just saying. Either way the process of cleaning with the oven selfclean cycle works:)

  4. I love cooking with cast iron and have quite a few pieces my mom has given me from her own huge collection. Some were my great-great-grandma’s–the woman I’m named after! It’s so fun to use them and think of her using them nearly 100 years ago. THanks for posting these tips–I’ve never cleaned them in the oven before.

  5. Thanks for posting these tips! I’ve been paranoid of my teflon pans lately so we’ve been using the good ol cast iron skillet. Nothing is better than frying some bacon the leaving a little of the drippings to scramble your egg in. For some reason the cast iron makes it taste better 🙂

  6. I am with Cindy…I always thought they were cool, but don’t have any. Hmmmm….but now you have me thinking. So it was a super helpful post!

  7. Cool. We have one pan and one 2 sided griddle. John uses them more than I because I think they are pain to clean. In fact I feel like they are never truly clean and that grosses me out.

  9. My husband’s Mexican grandmother gave us her tortilla pan for our wedding. Basically it is a flat cast iron plate that goes on top of the stove burner. We LOVE it! We did get quite the lecture about not using soap on it. The oven trick is super neat if it ever needs it.

  10. I inherited two of my granny’s cast iron skillets and they are very near and dear to my heart! I love using them, because every time I pull them out I think about her cooking cornbread in them. They make a mean grilled cheese, too!

  11. they are healthy to cook with too -supposedly adds iron to your diet. for women, that’s a very good thing. bought one after bottoming out at the blood bank.

  12. It’s so funny that I found your blog! I just moved to Fulton, IL from Memphis and I was just saying recently that I needed a good cast iron skillet AND that I wished I could find more blogs/twitterers/etc. in this area and then… there you are, posting on Rinse. Repeat. Yay!

  13. shut the front door! that’s fantastic to know! the house skillets are good but the camping one is NAAAAAAAAAAASTY! yay!!! thank you!!
    Kim

  15. Oooh thanks for the tips- I never knew you could clean it in the oven. I’ve owned a skillet before but I’m not sure what happened to it…this inspires me to buy another one. 🙂

  16. I love everything about this post. Educating people about proper cast iron cleaning is very important!

    You have hit upon something I’m very passionate about. I’m not an obsessed collector, but I’m a passionate believer in the awesomeness of antique cast iron skillets. Not those crappy new ones without the pretty patina.

    It’s all my Dad’s fault. He collected like 200 pieces of 100+ year old Wagner Ware cast iron when I was a kid and ebay was still new. Guess who was responsible for cleaning said cast iron?

    I took a skillet to college with me and it freaked my roommates out because after cooking with it, I refused to allow anyone to clean it with soap. I would give them a crazed, wide-eyed look, hug the pan to my chest, and tell them that soap was sacrilege!

    I currently have 5 different sized skillets, a griddle, some trivets, a few dutch ovens, and an ebleskiver pan. All from my dad’s collection. There’s just something so cool about cooking on 100+ year old pans. I like to think about who might have owned them – like a cowboy out on the range cooking up his breakfast over a fire. (I usually take a skillet with me when camping because of this.)

    I hang them on the wall in the kitchen because I think they are pretty. Crazy right?

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ugXpqvL6F-g/TkkM2y18TWI/AAAAAAAABPU/R9l6T7mJOAA/s640/IMG_7904.JPG

  17. I love cast iron! I actually wrote pretty much the same post last year (http://www.athomealterations.com/2010/10/cast-iron-cookin.html). Here’s my favorite recipe for grilling steak or burgers indoors: 1) Heat the oven to 450 and preheat the cast iron on the stove top til a drop of water sizzles. 2) Put olive oil/salt/seasoning on both sides of the meat. 3) Cook the meat for 2 min/side on the stove top. 4) Move the pan to the oven and do another 1.5 min/side. That’s it! It’s pretty much as good as summer grilling.

  18. Ooh, great tips! We actually have 2 cast iron skillets that I WANT to love but I haven’t quite figured out how to care for them and keep them from being super disgusting. So this is perfect! My mom always made cornbread in her cast iron skillet and I’ve been jealous, so now I can join the club. 🙂

  19. We had a cast iron pan for awhile, but I didn’t love it. Mostly because I’m allergic to eggs, and it skeeved me out that Justin cooked eggs in it and it didn’t get a THOROUGH cleaning after. Salt just didn’t feel like it cut it to me!

  25. I get Ryan’s fascination with cast iron – I am in love with my grandmother’s skillets but so far I’ve been unsuccessful in convincing her to give one to me. I’d never considered antique stores as a possible source… but that’s a great idea. Buying one new just doesn’t have the same appeal.