It's important to not use anything too aggressive such as steel wool, sponges or other abrasive cleaning methods as these will strip your seasoning. For particularly difficult to clean messes, fill your pan halfway full with water and heat over the stove.
Nothing. A well seasoned cast iron pan will not be hurt by detergents or a scrub brush. The only thing that will hurt a properly seasoned pan is steel wool.
Extreme temperatures can ruin cast iron Per Cast Iron Community, the cowboy cleaning method can outright ruin your pan. That level of extreme heat will not only permanently warp the metal, it can change the compounds of it and cause orange spots that are incapable of holding seasoning.
``The dose makes the poison.'' Using steel gently in a way that removes very little seasoning is fine. But you absolutely can scrub to hard (or scrape too hard) and mess things up.
After you've used your skillet, use a sponge to scrub it with water. But don't let it soak in water, as this can cause rusting. If it still needs a bit more attention, add some kosher salt to the pan and scrub with a damp sponge. The salt acts an abrasive cleaner without disturbing the seasoning.
Cooks for generations didn't use soap on cast iron pans because the soaps were made with lye and vinegar, two ingredients that will absolutely strip the seasoning and can even damage the pan's iron. Today's aerosol oven cleaners are often made with lye or sodium hydroxide.
They are most likely carbon deposits. This happens due to overheating of fats and oils.
The vinegar solution will dissolve the rust, but once that's gone, it can penetrate further and start eating away at the original cast surface of the pan, the ultimate death sentence for your skillet.
If a crack appears in your cast iron pan, it's time to ditch it. Even a hairline crack will expand and contract when heated and cooled, and ultimately the pan will split—a potentially dangerous situation if it happens during cooking! Plus, cracks are difficult to clean and may harbor bacteria and rust.
Common cooking oils like olive oil will gradually produce seasoning, but won't be as effective as grapeseed oil. Canola, other vegetable oils, and shortening are a little better.
How to clean and store a cast iron pan. Most of the time all you may need to do is to wipe the pan clean with kitchen roll without even needing to wash it. If there is food stuck or burnt to the surface, then scrub it off with a Brillo pad and wash it in warm water.
If cast iron is left in the sink to soak, put in the dishwasher, or allowed to air dry, it will rust. It can also happen when you store your cookware in moisture-prone environments, such as a cabinet near a dishwasher, an open cabinet in a humid location, or stored outside.
It's important to not use anything too aggressive such as steel wool, sponges or other abrasive cleaning methods as these will strip your seasoning.
Cooking with a cast iron pan that has a little bit of surface rust on it isn't likely to hurt you. If your pan is seriously rusty or has visible rust flakes, you shouldn't cook with it until the rust is removed and the pan is washed and re-seasoned.
To clean the cast iron skillet, rinse it first under hot water to remove any excess food or residue. Then, use a wet, clean paper towel to wipe out the inside of the pan until it's fully clean. Easy enough!
You should only need to fully re-season your cast-iron cookware one to two times a year, but you may also want to give it some extra seasoning love anytime you cook something that requires a heavy-duty cleaning.
Non-stick utensils often have harmful PFAs/Teflon coatings, which are harmful and can damage your health over time. In contrast, cast iron utensils provide an excellent cooking surface, are 100% natural, and add essential iron nutrients to your food. Cook healthy, eat healthy!"
Will Soap Ruin Cast Iron? Using soap will not ruin your pan. It is totally fine on enameled cast iron, and on plain cast iron, too. It's not going to destroy your seasoning.
The Lodge 10.25-Inch Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet has proven time and time again to be the best overall cast iron due to its unrivaled consistent heating at a stellar price.
Since olive oil is such a pantry staple, many people naturally wonder if they can use olive oil to season cast iron. You can use olive oil to season cast iron, but you need to choose a high quality extra virgin olive oil, which should have a smoke point close to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.