Cleaning and caring for cast iron?

[Groundhog66]

I wash mine with soap every time I use it. You won't wash the seasoning off. Then I hand dry, place it on the stovetop on high with about 2 tablespoons of oil in it, wipe that all over and just when the pan barely starts to smoke I turn off the burner and let it cool overnight. Works great.

Yup, what he said...don't be afraid to use soap.

I found THIS interesting.

 

[rdstoll]

Interesting suggestions about not cooking until up to temp and not to heat it up too much. That may be part of my problem! I love the cast iron it's just that there seem to be a million ways to care for them!

 

[Grannywms]

Cleaning and caring for cast iron

Sometimes a cast iron skillet is past cleaning. Nothing seems to help. I like to find these at garage sales. Take that old skillet and throw it into a fire ( campfire, bondfire, Buck stove) you get the idea a real fire. I've even used a left over BBQ fire. Throw it in and let it cook. After the fire cools, dig it out of the ashes. Doesn't look too pretty. But it's clean and now you can start over. Scrub the crud off your skillet with a scrubber and reseason it with crisco or lard. Let it bake in the oven a good hour. Your now ready to go all new. I never use soap and only lard. I've had bad results with oils. Hope this helps. If not you can send me that old skillet. I'll find a fire.

 

[Grannywms]

Silly me. I forgot after the clean up and seasoning how to care for the skillet. Cook on desired heat. I've set off the smoke alarms, so heat doesn't matter. If when finished cooking food has stuck to your skillet. Pour some boiling water in the skillet. After eating rinse off the skillet. The stuck food is loose. Then put on burner heat skillet and wipe with lard. Let cool and ready for next go round.

 

[HunkyDory]

Cheap cooking oil, coarse salt, stainless steel pot scrubber and or paper towels for my dutch ovens. The more you use them the better

If you use water, be sure to cook it out then oil it so it does not rust.