cleaning cast iron.

[Weldor]

What's your go to method for a good thorough cleaning. I'm in the process of moving and paper wrapped all my cast iron but it still gets pretty dusty and I would like to start with a clean and fresh set in the new place.

 

[Macintosh]

Follow “cast iron chris” on instagram.

I use (GASP) soap and water and a steel scrubbie to clean cast iron. Then I season with a light coat of oil. Mostly I just use a couple of them frequently without cleaning at all until I dont want a flavor exchange ie until I dont want my grilled cheese sammich to taste like onions, etc. This keeps them non-stick ime.

 

[S-3 ranch]

YouTube cowboy Kent

 

[DangerRanger]

Dawn.

No lye in modern dawn, least not my bottle

 

[MT_Fin]

Dawn dish soap and a scrub daddy (or whatever sponge you use). Heat up once rinsed and then thin coat of oil and back on the shelf for next time.

 

[menhaden_man]

If it’s oiled well I just wipe it with a rag and call it good.

 

[elkguide]

Salt or a stainless steel scrubby.

 

[TxxAgg]

Coarse salt works really well

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Whatever Cast Iron Chris says to do.

Even bought a cheap pack of handkerchiefs like he uses. Doesn’t leave particles like paper towels, very inexpensive.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Lodge makes a chain mail scrubby with a rubber structure in it. I just use that and water. Then heat it to evaporate off the water and give it an oil wipe (often bacon grease) if it needs some.

 

[bcv]

I never use any type soap.
Mine are seasoned slick.
Chainmail scrubber under the water coming out of the sink, heat pan to evaporate water, then coat with rendered tallow.

 

[LongWayAround]

I boil a little water , dump it, and scrub with table salt or coffee grounds. Hit it with a little oil.

 

[vermeire]

To clean some dust off I'd just use water and sponge with maybe a little Dawn. Now you mention a "clean and fresh set"; that sounds like stripping off your seasoning and starting new. That would take soak in some lye or oven cleaner. I prefer the lye but there are other tutorials out there. The lye can be found as Roebic Crystal Drain Opener. If I remember right, the ratio is 1 pound in 5 gallons of water and you basically let it soak for about 2 weeks. I use an 18 gallon tote about half full; pans fit well in the tote. The lye dissolves anything organic and the pans come out a light grey color. They need seasoned immediately after you rinse the lye solution and any organic remnants off. If your pans have any rust on them that will need additional attention.

Most of my cast iron knowledge is from: https://castironcollector.com/

 

[Jpsmith1]

If just cleaning dust off is your goal, any basic cleaning method will work. Soap doesn't harm the polymerized oils that are seasoning and, if soap harms your seasoning, your pan wasn't seasoned it was just greasy.

If you want to strip or remove that seasoning, lye or yellow cap oven cleaner methods are good for a couple pieces. For a larger collection, it might be worth making an e tank.

 

[TaperPin]

If stripping down to bare metal, old school oven cleaner is lye. Just put a pan in a garbage bag, spray the heck out of it, let soak a day or two, rinse with hose and repeat if needed.

If they are stripped to bare metal, going over them with a random orbit sander to take off the high points is well worth the effort before seasoning.

Restaurants quickly season pans by baking them at 450 to 500 degrees for 30-60 minutes. Many of the lower temp traditional ways seemed to make sense for a lot of years, but I see people all the time with mushy seasoning and it’s all I can do to not suggest they ignore what grandma taught them years ago and just give em a good bake.

 

[Weldor]

Good info, Thanks Guys. Learned a bunch.

 

[Jpsmith1]

If stripping down to bare metal, old school oven cleaner is lye. Just put a pan in a garbage bag, spray the heck out of it, let soak a day or two, rinse with hose and repeat if needed.

If they are stripped to bare metal, going over them with a random orbit sander to take off the high points is well worth the effort before seasoning.

Restaurants quickly season pans by baking them at 450 to 500 degrees for 30-60 minutes. Many of the lower temp traditional ways seemed to make sense for a lot of years, but I see people all the time with mushy seasoning and it’s all I can do to not suggest they ignore what grandma taught them years ago and just give em a good bake.

I strongly recommend the higher temperature methods for seasoning. Taking the oil past its smoke point results in a good, durable seasoning layer.

Power tool recommendations always make me cringe. I'd recommend against it if what you have is a vintage piece as you may be damaging or ruining something that cannot be replaced

 

[HiMtnHntr]

With a well seasoned pan I generally just use water after cooking. Wipe it down with bacon grease. If it’s bad I use a bit of soap, rinse real good, coat with grease and bake in the oven at low temp a while.

 

[Dukhtr3]

No soap. How water on hot pan and scrub clean. Dry pan on burner and reoil for next time. I treat my Blackstone the same way.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[TaperPin]

Power tool recommendations always make me cringe. I'd recommend against it if what you have is a vintage piece as you may be damaging or ruining something that cannot be replaced

You’re not wrong - it would be a shame to damage a good antique pan. One of the things we love about old pans is how nice and smooth they were finished at the factory. For anyone who didn’t know that more effort used to be put into the final finish, this old pan with the seasoning stripped off shows how smooth they used to be. They feel so good in the hand, I’m ruined and have to spend an hour smoothing off any new lodge pan that follows me home.