How I Clean a Cast Iron Skillet
There is not necessarily a “right way” or the “wrong way” to clean a cast iron skillet. In this article, I will provide the routine I use for cleaning my cast iron. Everyone does this a little differently, but as long as you keep your iron clean and oiled, it should last you forever. But my skillets stay in good shape, and it works for me.
Here are the basic steps I take, which are based on instructions provided by Griswold and Lodge for caring for their skillets.
Step by Step: How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet
- Wipe out any excess food or grease with a paper towel.
- Boil a little water in the skillet briefly to deglaze it, and break loose any stuck on food. I just heat the water until it just begins to boil, then dump out the water. Be careful before going on to the next steps since the pan is hot. Never put cold water into a hot iron pan. This step can often be skipped if you don’t have any stuck on food.
- Hand wash the pan with warm water and if necessary a little soap. A plastic scraper or a chain mail scrubber can also be used if needed. Soap can be a controversial topic, but a little mild dish soap, such as Dawn, will not hurt a nicely seasoned pan. The use of soap is actually recommended by Lodge and many other cast iron manufacturers. I often use some abrasive scrubbing sponges with the soap to make sure I remove any remaining stuck on food or grease.
- Dry the pan immediately. I warm it up on a stovetop burner just to evaporate any remaining moisture.
- Apply a very thin coat of oil on the pan, and wipe away as much of it as you possibly can.
- Put the pan over low heat on the stove top, like you are preheating it to cook. Allow it to simmer without burning. This last part will dry that thin coat of oil so the pan doesn’t get sticky or rancid if you don’t use it again for a while.
Common Questions
What oil should I use on my pan?
When oiling a pan, I put a little Crisco on a pan that is just warm enough to make it melt. There are many options out there, but this is a common product that is inexpensive, and it works well for me.
Can I use soap on cast iron?
Yes! It does not hurt to use little mild soap to clean a cast iron skillet. This is actually recommended by most of the manufacturers in their cleaning instructions.
What’s wrong with my pan? Did I ruin it?
I see this question asked in online forums a LOT. Often the answer is “it’s fine, just keep cooking.” People restore pans that have been hanging in a barn for 50 years, or even buried in the back yard. It’s iron. But most of the time this question is asked about a pan that doesn’t even need to be restored.
When you cook with pans, they may not look uniformly black and oily after every use. Sometimes you get a little darker color where the food cooked. Sometimes you get a little too much oil on when you coat/heat it after cleaning. It can have dark spots, or a mottled appearance. I’ve even gotten lazy and left a pan on the stove top until the next day before cleaning, and it gets some light spots. If it’s not rusty, cook on! It will even out.
My skillet rusted, how do I fix that?
This depends on how much rust we are talking about. If you didn’t get your pan completely dry after cleaning, and got a little surface rust, use a Brillo pad to lightly scrub that area. Then dry it and re-oil/heat it per the instructions above. If it’s worse than that, you may need to restore/reseason it, which is beyond what I am covering in this article.
Can I cook foods with tomato sauce in cast iron?
Yes. Some people say not to because they hurt the seasoning, but I’ve never had problems. Don’t leave tomato sauce in a pan after you get done with your meal. Cleaning followed by oil/heat as in the above steps will keep your skillet in good shape.
Does seasoning make my cast iron skillet non stick?
No. Not in the traditional sense of non-stick cookware. Seasoning protections your pan from rust. It helps to keep it non-stick, but food will still stick if you get the pan too hot, if you don’t use oil for cooking, etc. Technique is important too.
Do I need to use salt and a potato?
I’ve never done this. Some people swear by this as a way to clean a skillet. Before we had modern scrubbing sponges, this was a way to rub the pan with an abrasive (salt) to remove food. With the cleaning supplies we have available now, this just wastes a potato and salt, in my opinion.
What should I cook in my skillet?
Once you are comfortable with the proper steps to clean a cast iron skillet, you can cook almost anything. I still use stock pots for boiling pasta, rice, etc. But almost any kind of food can be cooked in cast iron. Check out some of our recipes here on BBQandCastIron!
For reference, Lodge provides instructions for cleaning on their website.