How To Clean Black Cast Iron Wood Stove

Cleaning a cast iron pan is like shooting fish in a barrel! No dishwashers! A clean, well seasoned creates a rust resistant, nonstick surface. Properly cared for, this durable skillet volition just keep getting better with historic period. Here's how to take care of a cast atomic number 26 skillet.

Stack of Old Cast Iron Pans

Stack of Quondam Cast Iron Pans | Photo past Meredith

How to Make clean a Cast Atomic number 26 Frying Pan

To clean, only use mild dish soap (that'south right, it's okay to use a fiddling lather!) and a scouring pad or a bandage iron pan cleaning brush. Wash it, scrub it, rinse it, then wipe it out well and season it with a few drops of oil and store with a newspaper towel covering the cooking surface.

As well soap and a scrubby, you lot can too use some really hot h2o and a spatula to accept off seriously burnt-on food. It'southward how cooks make clean flat-pinnacle grills in a eating place, so information technology'll work for you, too.

For really baked-on residue, scrape

For really broiled-on residue, scrape with boiling h2o | Photo by Noel Christmas

How to Dry a Cast Iron Pan

It's cleaned and rinsed, now make sure the rust doesn't come up back. It'southward easy: just turn the burner to high, set the pan on it, and await for the water to boil out. That cast iron is practically parched at present.

Dry the pan on the stove

Dry the pan on the stove to brand sure all the h2o is gone | Photograph by Noel Christmas

How to Flavor Cast Iron

At present, it's clean and dry, but you want information technology seasoned. "Seasoning" is, basically, oil bonding to the iron (there'south more to it than that, but once the scientists say "long-chain polymers" I start looking out the window and simply desire some tiffin). So, in lieu of a class on metallurgy, just follow these ii like shooting fish in a barrel steps:

one. Oestrus your clean cast iron pan on the stove until it'south crazy hot.

ii. Pour a little canola oil or flaxseed oil on a wad of paper towel and rub it all over the pan. Do not touch that hot pan with your unprotected hand. Then wipe the surface with a make clean newspaper towel to remove excess oil. Y'all practice NOT want a thick slick of oil on your pan, otherwise you'll end up with a glutinous, gummy mess. Let the pan cool.

Wiping Oil on a Make clean Cast Iron Pan

Wiping Oil on a Clean Bandage Iron Pan | Photo by Meredith

And that's how to flavor a bandage fe pan! Easy, right? Notation: If y'all've totally stripped downwardly your pan with steel wool and you lot're seasoning from scratch, you'll want to echo these steps a half-dozen times until the pan looks shiny and shine. Merely don't be tempted to slather on the oil to speed upwards the process; you'll just terminate upwards with a pasty pan. If you're doing routine maintenance on your pan, one round of seasoning should do it.

Stack of Seasoned Bandage Iron Pans

Stack of Seasoned Cast Iron Pans | Photograph by Meredith

| Credit: Meredith

Taking Care of Your Bandage Atomic number 26 Pan

If your pan was super rusty, y'all may want to repeat the heating/oiling/cooling process, reseasoning the pan 2 or 3 times before you utilize it. For more on cleaning rusty cast fe, check out how to clean a rusty cast iron pan.

What you'll find is that every time you make clean and season cast iron -- make clean it, dry out it on the stove, then oil it and cool it -- your pan will clean easier, become increasingly non-stick, and fifty-fifty get less prone to any rust actualization on it. It's truthful, cleaning a seasoned cast iron pan is easier.

Cast Iron FAQ

So that's how to clean and season a cast atomic number 26 skillet. Now we take a few answers to your burning cast-fe care questions

Why is my cast fe pan mucilaginous and viscous?

Using too much oil when you flavour bandage atomic number 26 will brand your pan sticky. You'll demand to wash the pan with soap and hot h2o to remove the excess oil, then reseason it using merely a thin, sparse, thin coating of oil.

What kind of oil should I use to season my cast iron pan?

Many fans of cast iron cooking swear by flaxseed oil, every bit it builds up a smooth, hard finish every time you properly flavor your pan. Merely because flaxseed oil can be very expensive and fragile (you accept to refrigerate it), canola oil is often the next all-time choice.

My new pan says information technology'due south already seasoned. Do I yet have to season it?

It's a proficient idea to requite your pre-seasoned cast iron pan a fiddling more protection before y'all utilise it for the first time, and always season it over again after you lot utilize information technology.

Can I season my cast iron pan in the oven?

Yes, in fact many people do. Here'south how to season cast atomic number 26 pans in the oven. Offset, wash and dry out the cast fe pan. Add vegetable oil to a paper towel and wipe a sparse, even glaze of oil on the within and outside of the pan. Then place the pan upside down in a preheated 350 degree F oven (lay a sheet of aluminum foil on the bottom rack to catch any oil drips). Permit the cast atomic number 26 "bake" for an hour. So permit it cool down. That'southward too how to cure a new cast iron pan. After curing cast iron in the oven, it'south ready for routine use.

Can I soak my cast atomic number 26 pan in h2o to soften up crusted-on food before I wash information technology?

What? No! Never soak your cast iron pan. What y'all can do is estrus the pan on the stove with water in information technology and scrape off the bits with a wooden spatula as it comes to a boil.