How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet

For amazing heat retention and dispersal ability, cast iron cookware is favored. More often than not, people are using cast iron skillets to cook their food as it ensures even cooking. Whether you wish to sauté or stir-fry your food, skillets, pans, woks, and griddles are perfect means. While cooking, many a time, the food absorbs little bit of iron from the skillet and that in turn, benefits our health. And to make sure that your skillet is cooking food evenly and on a controlled temperature, you need to clean it properly after each use. In the following article, we will be going over the directions on how to clean a cast iron skillet properly.

Cleaning the Skillet

It is advised that in order to get the best usage out of your skillet or any cast iron cookware, you should always perform cast iron seasoning. This protects your cast iron from rusting too quickly and increases its life as well. But since the issue with rusting, nowadays, you can easily find enameled skillets and cookware that don't require this layer of protection. However, if you do have an older skillet and wish to clean it, read the following steps on how to clean cast iron skillet.

Clean Rusty Skillet
First of all, gather the materials - dishwashing soap, hot water, copper mesh scouring pads, and scouring powder. In a bowl, mix hot water with scouring powder. Dip the scouring pads in it and scrub the skillet properly. Use pressure as you do so to make the rust pockets in the skillet smooth. After you scrub off the rust, with hot water and dishwashing soap, wash the skillet thoroughly. Rinse as many times as needed to wash away soap. Leave the skillet in the sun to dry completely. Once the rust is gone, you can season the skillet before using it again. And that is how you can remove rust from the skillet. If the rust hasn't gone deeper than 1/8'' from the surface, then we can probably save it with this method.

Clean Rusty Skillet with Salt
For proper care, follow this second method to clean it thoroughly. Here's another method to clean the skillet with salt and remove rust. For that, you'll require - dishwashing soap, salt, paper towels, vegetable oil, and steel wool scouring pads. Pour at least 2 - 3 tablespoons salt (if the skillet is big, pour more salt) and 2 - 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in the skillet. With the steel wool scouring pads, scrub the skillet with pressure. If you require more salt and oil, do so but make sure you scrub the entire surface. In the end, wash the skillet with dishwashing soap and then rinse under hot water. Leave the skillet in the sun to dry completely.

Seasoning the Skillet

You can learn how to season a skillet at home as well. To do so, you need to coat the surface of the skillet with vegetable oil. Make sure the entire surface is coated well. Turn the oven on at 250º F and place the skillet inside it. Leave it inside for at least an hour. When 30 minutes have passed by, remove the skillet from the oven and again coat it with the vegetable oil (do this step very carefully). After an hour, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool down a bit. Then, use paper towels to wipe the skillet completely and rinse it under hot water. Turn the stove on over low heat and dry the skillet. And that's it. All you have to do then is store it as you normally do.

I hope this article for informative and you found the answers you were looking for. Make sure you wear rubber gloves at all times while cleaning the skillet.