The myth goes like this. Seasoning cast iron can seem intimidating, but we’re breaking it down to make it easy for anyone. Cleaning Cast Iron with Salt From the salt box rather than a shaker, add a light layer of salt to cover the bottom of the pan. Freshen up the coffee pot: Add a cup of crushed ice, a tablespoon of water and a few teaspoons of coarse salt to a room-temperature glass coffee pot. Dry with a kitchen towel or use medium heat to dry it. Use a folded kitchen towel to scour. When you think it’s completely cleaned, rise out all of the salt and oil. Then, rinse your skillet and dry. Submerge the skillet in water for 30 minutes. Removing the food and then heating it over low heat sterilizes and cleans the skillet so that it’s safe to use next time. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. Next, cut a large potato so that it has a flat side you can use for scrubbing. When it is a question of rust or cleaning a cast iron skillet with burnt-on food, the usual rules can bend a little. The best kind of salt to use is going to be larger, like sea salt. You’ll also learn how to clean and season cast iron, and LOVE your skillets and dutch ovens. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. If you cut it so a small tip is flat, it will just take you longer to clean with. Add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar. One popular and effective means of cleaning cast iron cookware is to use salt. and it made a mess. I get a lot of questions about cooking with and cleaning cast iron skillets. The most important thing to remember with a cast iron skillet is to keep it dry. 5 Cast Iron Skillet Restoration How to clean a rusty cast iron skillet is a little more complicated. Take a second paper towel or cloth, dip it in oil, and wipe the cast iron until it is clean. You will love using your cast iron skillet! I was so bummed thinking it might be ruined but I am happy to say I was able to completely restore it using these steps. By this step, the entire pan should be shiny and black. Start again by cleaning off burnt or stuck on food and then follow the directions detailed below. The oil bonds to the cast iron creating a hard, durable, non-stick coating. Store your skillet in the oven to keep it away from moisture. Depending on the condition of your pan, you may want to rinse the dirty salt out and start over with new, clean salt as you continue the process. Clean Cast Iron and Carbon Steel Cookware with a Salt Scrub. If you notice that it’s too dirty and no longer cleaning very well, rise the dirty salt out and start the process over with new salt and oil. Whether you use soap or just oil, keep your skillet dry so that it lasts longer without rust. However, you can use a brush – in fact, they make cast iron skillet brushes. Using soap on a cast-iron skillet won’t remove the seasoning from it. You can use soap and even a brush to clean it if you want. Then use a bunched-up paper towel to scrub the bottom of the pan with the salt. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Here’s one do: Do follow these steps and you’ll be able to keep your skillet clean, rust-free, and well-seasoned. How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet: 1. Rust is the enemy here. . As you can see it was really bad. References. Get your FREE EBOOK and Check Out The Printables Library. If you can get all of the sticky stuff off just by scraping, then more power to you! People say “don’t use soap on a cast-iron skillet” because dish soap cuts through grease and could remove the seasoning from your pan. Not only that, but they are some of the longest-lasting pans you will ever use. How to Maintain a Cast Iron Skillet. If your skillet hasn’t been seasoned yet, rub it with oil and heat it. To finish cleaning your cast iron you’ll want to ensure you rinse all the soap off and dry it as thoroughly as possible. Make sure you put a protective covering over the iron (like a plastic bag) to prevent dust from settling on the machine between uses. This works especially well for getting melted plastic off of the hot surface of an iron. http://www.ebay.com/gds/Top-5-Organic-Ways-to-Clean-an-Iron-/10000000178571770/g.html, https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-clean-the-bottom-of-an-iron/, http://www.topcleaningsecrets.com/house/how-to-clean-a-steam-iron.html, https://steptohealth.com/12-uses-aluminum-foil-didnt-know/, https://www.mollymaid.com/cleaning-institute/laundry-rooms/how-to-clean-an-iron.aspx, https://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/cleaning/laundry/clean-iron, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Spend a minute or two ironing the salt, which should clean the bottom of the iron completely. We looked at other websites, reader letters and comments, and chat rooms. Use the scraper to remove any obvious bits of food that remain and then rinse. All you need is some salt, oil, and a potato. If you are cleaning a rusty skillet, wipe it out quickly with a paper towel. Make sure to scrub in circular motions. Just use the menu to find the Cleaning and Organizing articles on the blog and read as much as you want. Stuck-on food . The safest way to clean a cast-iron skillet is with simple ingredients. It’s almost enough to scare a cook off from cast iron completely! By using our site, you agree to our. % of people told us that this article helped them. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. If you used it to cook, remove all the food, rinse it out, and then dry it completely. 3 - Method #3. Instructions for cleaning a cast iron skillet often include a lot of don’ts: Don’t use soap, don’t use steel wool, don’t put it in the dishwasher. Potatoes are used because they are great for cleaning up rust. Remove from the water. You might have heard the many things not to do with cast iron: Do not put it in the dishwasher; Don’t use steel wool; Don’t use soap. It’s perfectly removing rust from cast iron skillets. Did you know that it can actually fortify your foods with more iron? Cast iron’s ability to hold high and even heat for an extended period of time made it ideal for cooking over an open flame. This method is best for pans that have food that is really stuck on, or if you cooked something smelly in the pan (like fish). Learn the secrets to Removing Rust From Cast Iron without toxic chemicals or harsh treatments. We will work together to declutter your bedroom in 3 days. Heat the pan over low heat for a minute to dry it completely. Take half cup salt on the pan. It’s completely safe to use soap on your cast iron skillet. How To Clean A Cast Iron Skillet. Be sure to wipe off the bottom of the iron with a clean rag after putting the ammonia on it so that you don’t transfer the pungent ammonia smell to the next thing you iron. ", 12 Bad Cleaning Habits That Are Easy to Break, Clean Your Front-Loading Washing Machine in 6 Easy Steps, The Best Way to Keep Your Hardwood Floors Clean, Oil (vegetable, olive- even Crisco works! Here’s how to do it right. But when cleaning cast iron, you are rinsing off all of the salt, so there is no time for rust to develop. The most frugal option is the potato since almost everyone has potatoes in their pantry. Sprinkle liberally with kosher salt and scrub with a wet paper towel. This step is also known as seasoning your skillet. Cast iron skillets are kind of kitchen super heroes. The iron skillet is however susceptible to rust and when this happens, people yearn to know how to clean a rusty cast iron skillet. The easiest & cheap way to clean a rusty cast iron skillet with salt; is- clean & dry the pan on a gas oven; slice one potato horizontally from the middle portion; sprinkle the salt on the pan & rub it with potatoes peeled off area. Remove the salt and rinse the skillet with hot water. I hope you found something helpful here! To remove stubborn bits of food, pour 1 cup coarse kosher salt into the still-warm skillet. The most common method of seasoning cast iron is baking it with a thin coat of oil. Scrub the pan with a paper towel or dish rag. You can also use sea salt or kosher salt. If you wipe out all the old food, rinse it, and then season it correctly over low heat, it is safe to use again. While cleaning cast iron with salt is recommened, seasonsing with it is not. The last one is a myth – and I’ll answer it at the bottom of this post. Using salt – For really tough bits of food, you can use salt. You can use coarse sea salt, cornmeal, etc. Please consider making a contribution to wikiHow today. Once the pan is clean, rinse with water and pat dry. If you have a huge mess on your hands, like burned on food residue, you may need to do a little dry scrubbing. If the salted paper towel doesn’t work, you can try pouring a bit of salt on a small cotton towel and repeating the process. You want enough salt to almost completely cover the bottom. For really tough to remove food, try using oil and salt. Maybe it’s because I live in the Carolinas. Clean Cast Iron Skillet With Salt and Potato: For cleaning iron skillet, kosher salt is such an ingredient that teaches the best way to clean cast iron skillet and restoring cast iron and other metal appliances like new. Then, pour a small amount of oil into the pan and then rub it with a paper towel until the bottom and sides are coated. At this time, the majority of cooking was done in a hearth. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. This will make the work so much easier. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 28,625 times. Cleaning Cast Iron after Every Use. Cast iron is not something that you can just throw in the dishwasher. Now that you know exactly how to clean your cast iron skillet, here are a few questions I wanted to answer. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. But first, I want to share exactly how to clean a cast-iron skillet. And lastly, you can sign up for my FREE 3-Day Declutter Challenge. This will help keep your iron cleaner over time and help protect it from corrosion and humidity. This is particularly helpful if you are trying to remove something waxy that is stuck to the bottom of your iron. 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