How to Care For Your Cast Iron Cookware

Equipment expert Adam Ried shares tips on caring for cast iron.

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[floief]

Yep, my favorite frying pan is Grandma's ancient Griswold. The bottom is absolutely flat....perfect for eggs or frying chicken. After I use if for gravy making I put it in the sink, wash it with a dab of dish liquid, wipe it dry and set it on a medium-hot burner. When it's all dry I wipe it with a little drop of oil, let it cool way down and it's ready to cook again. Grandma left me 3 of them and some day my daughter will have them.

[joyceknepper]

I’ve been using coarse salt and a paper towel forever. Now I’m going to start rinsing with water as well, then throughly drying on the range. Of course I’ll use a drop of oil as well when it’s dry. Thank you for the extra tips. Cheers!

[susanmcknight]

I'm 67 years old and I do what my grandmother always did .Depending on what I've cooked in my cast iron .I either just wipe it out or I wash it and immediately throw it in the oven or on the burner to dry .I don't add oil to keep it seasoned and store it on the stove or in the oven .You can fry something and then turn around and bake a cake in it. You really don't need to add oil afterwards .Every time you use it the oil you use to cook with seasons it .in all those years of my grandmother and then myself using the same cast iron they still look like they did when they were new.

[patkern]

I've had a long term love affair with cast iron pans but using one as a heat tamer is new to me. Thank you for sharing that great tip! 👍

[luvluv]

I use salt. I also season after each cleaning! Glad I'm doing it right. Tricks are really handy!! It also leaves a delicious crunch when cooking in cast iron. Yum yum

[Geoduck.]

Thanks Adam. I've used a nylon scrub pad for the past 30 years and it doesn't work very well. Broke down and bought the scrub brush and chain mail thingie. WOW! So helpful.

[johnhpalmer]

All good tips Adam. When I clean mine, I will use the most basic, non anodized salt and use it as an exfoliate to help loosen up food gunk, but don't scrub hard either. Then if needed, a nylon scraper used for cleaning up is sometimes utilized, and have also done the deglazing method whereby a bit of water, brought to a simmer and a wooden flipper is used to scrape, works great, then rinse out, wipe dry with a paper towel, then on the burner on low for a few and then wipe with a small amount of canola (usually) oil with an old soft underwear that's worn out to spread it around, then let cool then hang. Other tips, as you show, I use often as well.

[tannenbaumgirl]

Been using the "Ringer" for years for all my cast iron cleaning....gas stove cast iron grids, grill, cast iron pans.

[Cardifftoyboy]

Top man Adam. Many thanks for your efforts to make our cooking experiences a pleasure.

[astrotog]

Thank You! You have given me straightforward information on how to clean and season my cast iron. Your method is by far the easiest I've ever seen.

[sbwhddv]

I admire the current staff at ATK. All of you create concise informative content. Thank You!

[AlvaTheSpurned]

great video! definitely love cast irons. I picked up a Field company no8 and its perfect

[michaelham]

For scrubbing off residual food from my cast-iron skillets, I have found two other good scrubbers: a coiled nylon scrubber and a coiled copper scrubber. Both seem somewhat gentler on the seasoning than the chainmail scrubber, but I do use that as well.

[kristaself]

Love my cast iron skillet. I use the salt and oil method to clean also. Plus I also add the little bit of oil after each use.

[annek]

I am 75 and have been cleaning the pan the same way my mother did and her family! I scrub with soap and water and rinse well. I wipe dry and then then put it on a burner to dry. Then as it heats well, I take a sheet of wax paper and wad it up and run it around the inside of the pan! The pan has never rusted or presented an issue in all the years I have been doing this!
Just a note, while it does give the pan a slight sheen from the wax paper it has never effected the flavor of anything cooked in the pan! I do not add any additional seasoning either, 8

[marysullivan]

We have my great great grandmothers 100 year old cast iron pan we brought it back to life and it is perfect .

[discod]

Kosher salt works fine. I would warn against those chain scrubbers. I used one gently, and in not only scratched off all the seasoning, and gouged deep scratches in the pan.

[avidrdr]

I'm a 4th generation owner of a particular cast iron skillet, which had been abused with soap on the inside and a crusty buildup allowed on the outside for decades. While I was preheating it to "hot", the creosote-like buildup on the outside caught fire. Big flames! The only way I would ever use it after that was after burning it on a bonfire for a few hours. Afterwards I washed it, up side down (the outside only) with soap and water. I washed the inside as well as I could with a rag, salt and hot water only, dried it and while it was warm I used a ton of paper towels, with a high smoke neutral oil, wiping the inside until it was completely cleaned of soot. Now, when cleaning it after use, it's soap on the outside only and the inside gets a spatula and/or a chain link scrubber initially, then paper towels with salt and oil or salt and water (hot or cold, depending on what's stuck) Anything that gets harder when it gets hotter, like eggs and cheese, is more easily cleaned with cold water. Spaghetti sauce is the worst and cries out for soap. Nope! Instead, fill it with water, let it boil until half has evaporated, let it cool to warm (not cool), pour it out, then rub in a good coat of oil and salt. Wash it again with hot water and salt until the sauce is gone. Repeat as needed. Like I said, tomato sauce is the worst! Experimenting with different combinations of water, salt and oil, heat and cold to clean different stuff out of cast iron is a learning process. Not every method works with every food. No matter how it's cleaned, the final step should always be a thin coat of oil. When I stack the clean ones, I put a paper towel between them. I have 5 treasured cast iron pieces with interiors as slick as glass. The outside gets soaped, but soap on the inside will get you banned from my kitchen.

[marienhornyak]

I no longer make lasagna in a pan - cast iron lasagna is amazing! And cinnamon rolls in cast iron? Scrumptious!❤️

[quintessenceSL]

Been using mine primarily for baking recently.

Pan pizza is better than using a stone, and quiche has been hassle free.