How to Clean Cast Iron Skillet

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being your mother

It's the tried and true cook who loves to cook with the  cast iron skillet.  If this is you, you'll want to know how to clean it, if you don't know already. Personally, I had a lot of trouble keeping my skillet from building up that yucky rust. Here's a review on how to clean a cast iron skillet.

Many people use a cast iron skillet to fry or saute onions, eggs, meat, potatoes and even french toast.

Many professionals believe that the iron skillet is one of the best cooking pans. It's user friendly. You can use iron cookware on the stove, in the oven or on the grill. It's very forgiving if you take care of it.  Before you give up and toss this wonderful skillet. Here are a few tips.
1. Be sure to rinse your cast iron pan in hot water immediately after you use it. It's important to use soapy water because of the concern from bacteria. Although many new cooks think that running hot water over the skillet is enough to clean it, it's usually not enough to get rid of bacteria. You want to run hot soapy water over the pan to be sure to kill any live bacteria on the pan's surface.

2. While running hot soapy water over your pan, do not scrub. Hard scrubbing can remove the seasoning. Submerging the skillet into the hot water has the same bad affect. Do not submerge iron cookware, do not leave an iron pan sitting in a sink full of water, and do not leave water inside the pan.

3. Once you've cleaned your cast iron skillet, dry it completely. Use a paper towel. If you fail to dry iron cookware thoroughly, it could rust. So to be sure, after you wipe it dry, set it on the low setting on stove for a minute to dry up any remaining moisture.

4. If you feel that you may have damaged the seasoning on your iron skillet during the washing process, very lightly put olive oil on a paper towel and wipe the pan with the  oil. Then heat the pan for a couple of minutes on the stove or in the oven. This helps restore any lost seasoning.

5. Once your cast iron skillet is clean and dry, store it without the iron lid to stop moisture from collecting which can cause rusting. Put a paper towel inside the skillet to absorb any moisture as a precaution.

The beauty of a cast iron skillet is that is acts like a non-stick pan. If food does stick to your iron pan, you probably need to re-season it. Remember that a fully seasoned cast iron skillet needs time and use to become truly non-stick. If you have to re-season, give you pan time to build the "seasoning" back up.

A cast iron skillet is a cook's friend. It's forgiving and easy to use. But you need to maintain it. Learn how to wash and clean your cast iron skillet and it will serve you well for many years. Happy cooking.