# I need help deep cleaning these cast iron skillets!



## Rikki Jean (Jul 15, 2005)

I just picked up three cast iron skillets at our church rummage sale for $3!!! I'm so excited!







They need a MAJOR cleaning though, and I'm really not sure how to go about it. I don't have anything that's cast iron, so I'm not familiar with the "rules" of cleaning them. Tips, please!


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## greencat (Jul 8, 2005)

This is what I do. If it has a lot of burned foods, soak and scrape them off as much as you can first with steel wire pad. Then, burn off with just a water to scrape off more, if it probablly needs to be done repeatedly. When all the rusts and foods are scraped off, I would re-treat it in the oven. Grease up the surface with olive oil and bake it in the oven as you would if you have a new cast iron pan.

For maintenance, I would just burn and scrape off the food and grease with steal pad and never use soap.


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## Leilalu (May 29, 2004)

I wouldn't use olive oil though. I would use an animal fat instead. Something like butter, lard, or the like.


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## mean_jeannie (Mar 3, 2007)

I agree with greencat. You should never use dishliquid or soap with cast iron. Boil some water in the pans, use steel wool to scrub and definitley cure with oil. I wouldn't use animal fat because when cast iron is cured, the oil needs to stay on - and animal fat would become rancid. Olive oil won't.

To clean after every use - scrub with the hottest water your hands can stand, dry immediately, and then rub the cooking surface with just a bit of olive oil and leave it on. You must hand dry them right away to keep them from rusting.

I love cooking with my cast iron. I always make my rice in it.

Happy cooking!


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## Rikki Jean (Jul 15, 2005)

Thanks for all of the advice everyone! Can you tell me why I shouldn't use dishsoap? Sorry for my ignorance; as I said before, I'm really unfamiliar with the rules of cast iron.









Also- I have a cast iron skillet that I picked up on Freecycle about a year ago. It's just sitting in my kitchen doing nothing, because I scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get it clean. However, I did use dishsoap on it and soaked it in borax (OOPS!







), but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to! I didn't have any steel wool at the time either (okay, I still don't, but I'll be buying some this weekend). So, is this pan ruined forever?


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## irinam (Oct 27, 2004)

This is what my mom did - boil them in a BIG pot with backing soda diluted in the water for 1-2 hours.

Come out good as new!


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## Samjm (Mar 12, 2005)

Another way to do it is to put your cast iron in your oven upside down and set the oven to clean (upside down so that the gunk will fall out the pots). The extremely high heat of the clean cycle will burn the gunk off the iron. Then you can re-season it.


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## zeldabee (Aug 23, 2004)

Heat it up with a little oil, lard, or shortening in it. Dump in some kosher salt. Scrape it out with a metal spatula, and/or scrub it with steel wool. The big, curly kind works better than brillo. Repeat if necessary. Once that's done, wipe it out with a damp cloth while it's still hot.


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## greencat (Jul 8, 2005)

I believe cast iron is somewhat pours, and that is why people with gluten sensitivities will not use the same iron pan for cooking gluten-food. My understanding is that the detergent and oil will some how 'combine' and won't leave the surface. So, as you cook your food, the detergent is going to be part of your food.

A friend of mine always threw her cast iron cook ware in the camp fire. If you leave it in, and let it cool naturally as fire cools the next day, it should be fine. If you take'm out to let it cool too quickly, it can crack.

I have used baking soda to get grease off, but not often.


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## tboroson (Nov 19, 2002)

When I get really naaaasty old cast iron from rummage sales and things, I give them to my Dad to take to work and sand blast (well, it's actually bead blasting). That makes them super-smooth, then I just season as usual.

I always season with animal fats. No, they won't go rancid. You're cooking on them and basically replacing the surface of the season all the time. And, olive oil *does* go rancid very easily.

My pans stay at their best when I cook bacon in them regularly - basically, re-seasoning the pans as I cook


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## 425lisamarie (Mar 4, 2005)

This is not the prettiest way, but I just put them on the outside grill and let the stuff burn off. Works like a charm. Just scrape the crud off and rub some fat on them


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## Rikki Jean (Jul 15, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *greencat* 
I believe cast iron is somewhat pours, and that is why people with gluten sensitivities will not use the same iron pan for cooking gluten-food. My understanding is that the detergent and oil will some how 'combine' and won't leave the surface. So, as you cook your food, the detergent is going to be part of your food.

So, is there a way to reverse the damage I've done with the dish soap?


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## greencat (Jul 8, 2005)

To be honest, I don't know... But, cast iron pans are somewhat affordable. I have "Lodge" but also a set from K-mart. I only use cast iron and Pyrex or Bake stones for cooking (besides my other paraphernalia, like juicer, crock, pressure cooker, dehydrator, etc.) If you are interested in a lot of baking, Pampered Chef has nice bake stones. I have many of them, and love them all. Don't use soap on these either.

Here's some info I found on Google: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Infor...stIronPans.htm


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## Leilalu (May 29, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *tboroson* 
When I get really naaaasty old cast iron from rummage sales and things, I give them to my Dad to take to work and sand blast (well, it's actually bead blasting). That makes them super-smooth, then I just season as usual.

I always season with animal fats. No, they won't go rancid. You're cooking on them and basically replacing the surface of the season all the time. And, olive oil *does* go rancid very easily.

My pans stay at their best when I cook bacon in them regularly - basically, re-seasoning the pans as I cook









oooh, yes, bacon does them up very nicely








I have a steel wool scrubbie that does the job.
I just scrub mine up as much as I can each time, and season regularly.


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## greencat (Jul 8, 2005)

It seems there is a disagreement on which oil to use on the cast iron for treating it. I think any oil can go rancid if you don't use the pan for a while, and had excess amount of oil left on the surfice. When it does, burn and cook off with water and steel pad again. I've used baking soda for this, but Kosher salt sound like a good idea, too.


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## rtnsgirly (Oct 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rikki Jean* 
So, is there a way to reverse the damage I've done with the dish soap?









You don't use dish soap because it ruins the season of the fry pan and it will stick. Just re-season it and it will be fine.


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## rtnsgirly (Oct 13, 2006)

if you have a wood burning stove you can throw them in the fire to burn everything off. then just boil out and oil. (let them cool, before adding water to them when they come out of the fire or they will crack.)


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## tboroson (Nov 19, 2002)

Rust doesn't burn off, though. Some of the worst pans I've seen going cheap at yard sales and the like were rusty, not food encrusted. A light dusting of rust, I can scrub off. When it's really bad, though, that's when I send it home with my Dad. I had one with rust flaking up under the seasoning, that was slightly sticky. All in all, it was gross.


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## alsoSarah (Apr 29, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Samjm* 
Another way to do it is to put your cast iron in your oven upside down and set the oven to clean (upside down so that the gunk will fall out the pots). The extremely high heat of the clean cycle will burn the gunk off the iron. Then you can re-season it.









:
It's easy-peasy, no scrubbing.
If you have any grunged-looking (uncoated) cookie sheets, you can throw those in, as well, and they'll also come out looking perfectly new.









As far as the oil goes, I keep hearing about the rancidity factor with veg-based fats, but I'm essentially quite lazy, and olive oil is the only thing that I keep in a speed-pour bottle, so that's what I've used for years, and it works beautifully for me. No problems.

Regardless of which fat you choose to season your cast iron, be sure to wipe it down so that only a bare film of oil remains when you're done, or it could actually become sticky!

alsoSarah


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

ive scruubed rust off of mine with kosher salt and a little water

OP- you just have to keep seasoning the one you scrubbed and it should come out fine. as for your new ones, unless theyre rusty, or have dried food on them or something, i'd probably just scrub it down with hot water, then season it, that way you wont mess up the season it already has, if any. cast iron doesnt get "clean" like youre used too, its the oils and stuff that help make it nonstick


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## Ilovelife (Jun 6, 2004)

I've always scrubbed off used ones with steel wool. Then season with animal fat (my dh & dd are always up for some bacon). After it's well-seasoned, you just need to rinse them out with a scrubby and water after use. Or scrape them with a metal spatula. Dish soap ruins the seasoning, so just reseason.


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## junestars (Dec 2, 2004)

We season with bacon fat as well. I have several pans that are 100+ years old passed down from my grandmother. I just slow cook bacon in them from time to time to keep them shiny, black and smooth. If they get really dirty I'll scrub them out with some coarse grind sea salt and a rag. Maybe a touch of hot water and quickly dry. I wouldn't _really_ soak them in water because of the rust factor.

After cooking I usually just wipe them out with a damp, almost dry, rag. Nothing sticks to them.

ps - Don't cook anything with tomato - it will take the finish right off!


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## momtoalexsarah (May 21, 2005)

I had some really nasty ones that I was given because someone knew that I loved cast stuff. Some where full of crub some where rusty - I Cheated and had someone us a wire grinding brush on them - (the kind you put on a drill) and he got them perfectly smooth - then I seasoned them with pork fat.
Some people will say not to cook tomatos in cast iron, but I do - it gets the iron into the food - which if your at all anemic is a good thing. I wash them with warm water after and cook bacon in them next - and that seasons them right up again. Bacon/side pork/ ground pork is really good for cast.
What I wish was i had some cast pots - I've seen some I like but wasn't able to get them at the time.


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## Rikki Jean (Jul 15, 2005)

Thanks so much for all of the input everyone! I _think_ I have it figured out now. Between all the advice, I don't think I can go wrong!









I don't have a woodburning sove, don't plan on camping anytime soon, and I don't think I want charcoal chemicals from our charcoal-burning grill in the pans...However, DH's grandma has a self-cleaning oven, so I'll have to ask her if I can clean them at her house!

I'm so glad that there is still hope for the pan that I soaped and soaped, and soaped!









Again, thanks everyone!


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## tempestjewel (Apr 18, 2005)

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## naturemama1 (Apr 30, 2007)

You may have to sandblast it, but I would try giving it a good scrub with some steel wool to start. Once all the crud is gone, you can season it. There are lots of different opinions out there, but the way I've done it is with a light (very light) coat of lard or bacon fat and baking it at 275F for a couple of hours. Then you should be good to go!

Once that's done, daily maintenance is easy. Use a scrub brush and hot water to clean it, dry well with a dishtowel, and rub lightly with oil. I keep my cast iron skillet on the stove, since it's what we use to cook with most of the time.

Have fun with your new pan!


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## wallacesmum (Jun 2, 2006)

what temp/time do you season for? also, if dh is veg, should i just use separate skillets so i don't have to use soap?


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## Lady Lilya (Jan 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Rikki Jean* 
I just picked up three cast iron skillets at our church rummage sale for $3!!! I'm so excited!







They need a MAJOR cleaning though, and I'm really not sure how to go about it. I don't have anything that's cast iron, so I'm not familiar with the "rules" of cleaning them. Tips, please!









You put them in fire. That strips absolutely everything off of them. Then you have to season them until you build up the coating again. Season by brushing them with a fat with salt added (my father uses bacon fat...I use duck fat with salt....I have also used olive oil with salt on rare occasion when I was lazy and it was right there on my counter top....i expect coconut oil would be great too) and then heating them really hot on your stove. It can take many applications to get them to perfect smoothness, but then it will stay that way for a long time.

Seasoning is supposed to make it non-porous. The fat and the salt and the iron combine to form a very tight crystalline structure on the surface. When properly seasoned, you can see your reflection in it.

P.S. I have used my dish soap (Dishmate) occasionally on them without problem. Probably if I did it regularly, or used something harsher, it would ruin the finish. The correct way is to scrape the food bits loose with something like steel wool, and then rinse it out and wipe it out with a cloth or paper towel, then spread on your fat and heat it, like when you season it.

Don't let them sit with anything acidy in them for any length of time. It causes rust to form.

Whatever oil you use should NOT become rancid. This is because a chemical bond is forming with the salt and iron, and anything left is burning off. There shouldn't be any oiliness left when you season it. If it is oily, wipe it with a paper towel and heat it some more.

Rust will spread deeper and deeper into the pans. The earlier you get to them the better for getting out the rust.


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## sunflowers (Sep 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lady Lilya* 
... Season by brushing them with a fat with salt added (my father uses bacon fat...I use duck fat with salt....I have also used olive oil with salt on rare occasion when I was lazy and it was right there on my counter top....i expect coconut oil would be great too) and then heating them really hot on your stove. It can take many applications to get them to perfect smoothness, but then it will stay that way for a long time.

Seasoning is supposed to make it non-porous. The fat and the salt and the iron combine to form a very tight crystalline structure on the surface. When properly seasoned, you can see your reflection in it.


I have been having a really hard time getting my cast iron non-porous. I've never read to try salt in conjunction with fat! I'm going to try this over the next few weeks for mine. Thanks for the tip! I hope it works.


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## Lady Lilya (Jan 27, 2007)

My father is the cast iron KING.









He is really obsessed with it. He travels all over collecting pieces. He has stacks and stacks of them in perfect condition.

He doesn't like the newly made ones (someone mentioned buying them at K-mart) because the quality of the original casting is not as good. They start off more porous. He tries to find the ones that were as smooth as possible as the bare metal (before seasoning).

P.S. I tend to wash the outside with dish soap, and the handle, because I don't like it to be oily when I handle it, and that part doesn't touch food so it doesn't need to be seasoned.


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## greencat (Jul 8, 2005)

Oh! It was ME who bought a set of cast iron pans from K-mart.
O.K., eveyone; it is not recommended!

I just looked at my pans, and the (cooking) surface is not smooth, like my Lodge brand's, although it is black. I don't think it will ever be smooth, from the way it is made. It cooks fine, but it must be the quality of the iron/mix.


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## cloudswinger (Jan 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lady Lilya* 
My father is the cast iron KING.









He is really obsessed with it. He travels all over collecting pieces. He has stacks and stacks of them in perfect condition.

He doesn't like the newly made ones (someone mentioned buying them at K-mart) because the quality of the original casting is not as good. They start off more porous. He tries to find the ones that were as smooth as possible as the bare metal (before seasoning).

P.S. I tend to wash the outside with dish soap, and the handle, because I don't like it to be oily when I handle it, and that part doesn't touch food so it doesn't need to be seasoned.

Does he cook with them, or is it just a collection? I've kind of been collecting different shaped cast iron cookware, like a japanese tamagoyaki pan with octopus shaped holes. I haven't used that one yet... but I'm not really collecting in general.

I thought the other reason for the seasoning was to prevent rust, and if you wash the handle/bottom with soap and don't season it, doesn't it rust?


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## Lady Lilya (Jan 27, 2007)

Yes, he uses them.

So far they haven't rusted. I don't really get the outside perfectly de-greased. Then I put it on the heat to season the inside, so it gets a half-assed seasoning on the outside too. I don't de-grease the outside every time -- only when it gets really messy and disgusting. So, in the mean time during use it built up quite a bit of protective black coating.


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## greencat (Jul 8, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cloudswinger* 
I've kind of been collecting different shaped cast iron cookware, like a japanese tamagoyaki pan with octopus shaped holes.

I have not found a cast iron Tamagoyaki-pan. Can you tell me the web pg, if you bought it on line, please. Thanks.


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## cloudswinger (Jan 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *greencat* 
I have not found a cast iron Tamagoyaki-pan. Can you tell me the web pg, if you bought it on line, please. Thanks.

Sorry, I miswrote, it was a takoyaki pan I have. But I found this:
http://www.mrslinskitchen.com/index....D&ProdID=18304
It says it's iron, but it also says it's non-stick, so I'm not sure, but most of the time I see them sold as aluminum.

They also have an obanyaki pan:
http://www.mrslinskitchen.com/index....D&ProdID=16388

And a takoyaki pan(but not the one I have), and a lot of cool cast iron tea pots.

I've bought cheap pans at Harbor Freight, it was something like 3 pans for 9 bucks. The texture is coarser, but it still works. I suspect a bit of sanding would help, but I already seasoned them.


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## mpeel (Nov 20, 2001)

This thread is very interesting. I have a cast iron skillet I inherited from an aunt that is a brand I have never heard of but it is old. I cannot get it to season for anything. I have no problem with my Lodge or the ancient stuff I inherited from my MIL. But this one won't. So, I use it for tomato based stuff. It doesn't stick much with sauces, etc.


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## Lady Lilya (Jan 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mpeel* 
This thread is very interesting. I have a cast iron skillet I inherited from an aunt that is a brand I have never heard of but it is old. I cannot get it to season for anything. I have no problem with my Lodge or the ancient stuff I inherited from my MIL. But this one won't. So, I use it for tomato based stuff. It doesn't stick much with sauces, etc.

Ahhhhh, a mystery! I would love to know what its brand is. What does it look like?


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