How Long To Wait To Clean Your Cast Iron Skillet

Knowing how to make clean a cast iron skillet the right way will aid to ensure this essential melt's companion lasts for many years to come. Indeed, skillets are oft passed down from ane generation to the next, bearing testament to their durability and performance. This advice will likewise work for other cast iron pans with an exposed surface.

See: How to clean cast atomic number 26 – remove rust, reseason and refinish

A cast atomic number 26 skillet is a versatile pan that can be used for cooking everything from pancakes and omelettes to meat and vegetables. 'Cast fe skillets and pans are excellent for cooking equally they rut food evenly whether on the stove or in the oven. If you buy a skillful quality one and await after it well, it can last yous for life,' says James Devonshire, head of the Cookery School at Daylesford.

As long as your skillet is properly seasoned – using oil and oestrus – it will be the ideal non-stick cooking surface and seal food beautifully. Nevertheless, while it is desirable to build up the pan's seasoning over time, over-zealous cleaning tin easily strip it.

'If yous want amazing flavors for your steaks and roasted vegetables, take a "less is more" approach when cleaning a cast iron skillet,' says James Robinson, Guess and Stellar product manager at Horwood, a heritage kitchenware specialist. 'This will permit for residual flavors to build and give a desirable seasoned, chargrilled flavor.'

See: Best non-stick frying pans – top pans for cooking fish, eggs, vegetables and more

What is the easiest way to clean a cast iron skillet?

How to clean a cast iron skillet Skeppshults

At that place are differing opinions on how to clean a cast fe skillet, which can leave you feeling confused.

Some chefs fifty-fifty swear it'due south best never to 'clean' them at all. 'Rather than washing, I recommend you wipe out any residue, rinse with hot water, dry with a soft cloth and oil it,' says Daylesford'due south Devonshire. 'The but time yous tin can apply washing upwardly liquid is before first use or before seasoning.'

'Soap can dry out the iron; you desire to keep the moisture of the oil in the iron because that'southward what makes information technology naturally non-stick,' adds Viola Torneport, store and online manager at Swedish cast iron cookware adept Skeppshults.

However, Paul Bender, resident chef at renowned French cast iron cookware make Staub, believes washing the skillet in a basin of hot, soapy water won't do any harm – although it's best non to overdo the soap unless you plan on reseasoning.

'For stubborn nutrient that is baked on, soak the bandage fe skillet once it has cooled, and so launder with soapy water before rinsing,' he says. 'Don't use a scouring pad or metallic scrapers to clean your cast atomic number 26 skillet, though, as these can be too harsh. Instead, utilise a soft sponge or textile.'

I thing all the experts agree on, is to never wash a cast iron skillet in the dishwasher, as information technology will strip the surface seasoning.

You also need to be careful not to immerse a hot pan into common cold water. 'Never daze cast iron by taking it from a hot temperature to common cold,' says Bough. 'And don't take it from cold to hot too apace, either – always rut cast iron slowly at get-go.'

Afterward rinsing, wipe the skillet with a towel and then dry out it on a low heat on the stove. 'Never get out a cast iron skillet to air dry out as the h2o will dry out out the iron,' says Torneport.

'To avoid any rusting, and ensure your cast iron skillet is ever ready for action, you lot tin can regularly coat-brush it with vegetable oil,' adds Robinson.

See: Cleaning tips – our essential guide to keeping your home spotless

How practice you deep clean a cast iron skillet?

You should deep clean a cast iron skillet when nutrient has go badly burned on the surface. 'Soak in hot, soapy h2o and utilize a plastic brush to scrub thoroughly, then dry out thoroughly,' says Horwood's Robinson. 'Reseasoning is then essential.'

When soaking, cheque on the skillet regularly and practice non leave immersed in h2o overnight.

'If soaking hasn't worked, and then simmer gently with bicarbonate of soda dissolved in warm h2o,' adds Staub'due south Bough. 'Once cooled, rinse and launder with soapy h2o.'

When scrubbing your skillet, be careful of dissentious the sink or worksurface underneath – place on elevation of an onetime towel to avoid scratching.

How to clean a cast iron skillet with salt

Many home cooks will make clean a cast atomic number 26 skillet with salt, every bit it acts as a gentle abrasive. Simply sprinkle on coarse common salt while the pan is still warm and apply a damp sponge, kitchen towel, or even the cut side of a tater, to clean information technology the surface.

Once the pan is clean, empty out the common salt, rinse, dry and apply oil.

How to clean a rusty cast iron skillet

While the appearance of rust on your cast iron skillet tin can seem troubling, information technology is easily removed with a bit of elbow grease.

Skeppshults' Torneport advocates using steel wool on tougher surface dirt and rust spots, which will go the surface looking like new again. Yous can also employ fine sandpaper.

Later on removing the rust, give the skillet a good wash in hot, soapy h2o, and then reseason the surface.

How do you reseason a cast iron skillet?

It's important to reseason a bandage iron skillet after a thorough cleaning, as it volition protect the surface and ensure food doesn't stick to it.

Seasoning is basically a broiled-on layer of oil. The skillet should have a blackness, glossy terminate, then if this is looking worn or grey and then you need to reseason.

'To reseason your cast iron skillet, just coat the pan with a thin layer of vegetable oil, heat in a hot oven at 400°F/220°C for at least 10 mins and leave to cool inside the oven,' says Horwood'due south Robinson.

Daylesford'due south Devonshire recommends placing it upside downward on the rack inside the oven, as it volition assistance any excess oil to drip off onto a baking tray or slice of foil. He seasons his skillet for an hour in the oven.

You tin can also reseason a skillet on the hob top. Simply apply a light oil coating and estrus the skillet for a couple of minutes. It will start smoking, and when this dies down it's ready. You may need to repeat the process if you are restoring the pan.

The choice of which oil to reason your skillet is also worth a idea. 'The oil doesn't need to exist fancy. Use what you have – such as vegetable, sunflower or groundnut,' says Devonshire.

However, traditional cast iron cookware manufacturer Netherton Foundry claims flax oil is the best to use for seasoning.

Can yous ruin a cast iron pan?

Information technology'southward difficult to permanently ruin a cast iron pan, as fifty-fifty if the surface becomes badly stained or rusty, information technology tin can be restored.

Yet, information technology is possible to cause a skillet to buckle by dropping a very hot pan into cold h2o. You should also take care to warm up gradually and use a hob ring the same size as the pan base, as an undersized ring could warp a big pan.

Also, putting a cast iron skillet in the dishwasher could damage the handle if made of wood or another material.

How to keep a cast iron skillet in good status

Too equally properly cleaning and reseasoning a cast fe skillet, at that place are other steps you can take to look afterward it, so it will serve you for years to come.

'When cooking with a bandage atomic number 26 skillet, use plastic, wooden or silicone-coated tongs, spoons and spatulas rather than metal utensils,' says Staub's Bender, who warns these utensils could damage the surface.

'Too, avoid stacking cast iron skillets inside each other when storing, as this tin chip the enamel.'

Every bit editor of Period Living, Great britain's best-selling catamenia homes magazine, I love the charm of older properties. I alive in a rural village just outside the Cotswolds, then am lucky to be surrounded by beautiful homes and countryside, where I enjoy exploring. I am passionate about characterful interiors and heritage-inspired designs, just I am every bit fascinated by a business firm's architectural elements – if I spot an elegant original sash window or intricate stained-glass front door, it fills my heart with joy. It's and then important to me that original features are maintained and preserved for hereafter generations to savor. My other passion is my garden, and I am slowly building upwardly my planting knowledge, and becoming more confident at experimenting with growing my ain. Every bit well as editing Menses Living, I am also co-editing the Country Channel of Homes & Gardens. In my previous roles, I have worked on Real Homes and Homebuilding & Renovating, writing about modern design and compages, so my feel is wide – but my heart belongs to period homes.