Useful cast iron tips
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Caslon
Executive Chef
When done frying some foods, there's often some food that's hard to scrub off using hot water and scrub brush. However, if you simply put some hot water in the pan and let it soak for just 5- 10 minutes, my gosh, the stuck on food residue wipes out quickly.
silentmeow
Senior Cook
I usually boil some water in the skillet, it seems to release the really stuck on stuff. I just realized that I usually have to do this after my darling daughter visits. Coincidence? I'm beginning to think not!
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Making a pan sauce turns that stuck-on stuff into some really good eats and pretty much cleans the pan in the process!
Making a pan sauce turns that stuck-on stuff into some really good eats and pretty much cleans the pan in the process!
I have noticed that too. Well, I wouldn't quite say it cleans the pan, but it sure makes cleaning it easy.
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GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I just meant that you don't have the stuck-on stuff to scrub off, since it's in the sauce.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
Most important CI tip: Don't konk SO on the head with it. You may crack the pan and render it useless.
. On the other hand, it's sometimes the only way to get through to teens.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
. On the other hand, it's sometimes the only way to get through to teens.Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Sorry, didn't mean to contradict you.
It really makes a difference with enamelled cast iron, since I can't use a tough/harsh scrubber.
I just kept visualizing those really dirty looking pans in which I had made pan sauce/gravy. I usually use my enamelled cast iron with white insides, so they really look grotty when I have made pan gravy. But, oh man, I am always really pleased at how easily they wash up. Gives me a giggle that because I made a tasty gravy, clean up is easy.
It really makes a difference with enamelled cast iron, since I can't use a tough/harsh scrubber.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Another way to clean off all that built up carbon on the outside is to place the pan directly on the hot coals of your BBQ after you have finished cooking. Then using a sharp utensil, scrape it all off. Comes off like a dream. 
Caslon
Executive Chef
Do people with woks clean out the carbon build up? I used to never clean out my wok. I've seen professional woks in kitchens that look as if they never had or ever will get a carbon removal cleanup. Is that because woks are stainless steel or something?
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Woks are mostly carbon steel. properly seasoned they should look black but not with a thick build up.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Most woks are carbon steel. When properly seasoned, the surface should be black and smooth with no build up
roadfix
Chef Extraordinaire
My CI tip is don't buy CI that is too heavy for you to handle.
SFsc616171
Assistant Cook
Wok cleaning and cast iron cleaning are pretty close.
Cast iron cooking bakes IN the nonstick, whereas manufactured nonstick bakes OUT.
There is a belief that the wok, with all that has been cooked in it, imparts life to the pan.
I refer you to "Breath of A Wok", or Grace Young YouTube videos for more on this.
Both are cleansed with brush and water, only.
Cast iron cooking bakes IN the nonstick, whereas manufactured nonstick bakes OUT.
There is a belief that the wok, with all that has been cooked in it, imparts life to the pan.
I refer you to "Breath of A Wok", or Grace Young YouTube videos for more on this.
Both are cleansed with brush and water, only.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Oh how true. Now at my age, a simple 8-10 inch CI pan is about all I can lift with food. Not worth the purchase. Remember as you get older, the pan gets heavier. All by itself.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
I don't want the CI tip. I want the CI rib steak. (I can just see P.A.G. rolling her eyes right now.)
Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
My cast iron pans mostly take care of themselves. At worst, I add some water to the pan and bring it to a boil, then pour it out and use an old plastic scrubber that is near end of life (because the heat will ruin it). By now the pan has cooled off a bit, I run warm water over the pan and scrub it for a while.
Then I dry it off with a rag and let it sit until the residual moisture evaporates and put it away. So what if it still has some stuff on it? If it didn't scrub off then it will either cook off in the future, or it won't. Either way, makes no difference. At least not to me.
Clean the outside? Why?
My usual every day cleaning is to let some water sit in the pan after cooking, then run a plastic scrubber over it and put it away. Cast iron: the original non-stick cook pots and pans.
Then I dry it off with a rag and let it sit until the residual moisture evaporates and put it away. So what if it still has some stuff on it? If it didn't scrub off then it will either cook off in the future, or it won't. Either way, makes no difference. At least not to me.
Clean the outside? Why?
My usual every day cleaning is to let some water sit in the pan after cooking, then run a plastic scrubber over it and put it away. Cast iron: the original non-stick cook pots and pans.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Greg, as the gunk builds up on the outside, you can take your CI and put it on the hot coals of your grill when you are done cooking. It will burn off all that gunk. Or at the least soften it so you can just scrap it off. Just put the CI item on the coals and put the cover on. Let the heat do its work.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Greg, I clean the outside of all my pots and pans because they can get slippery with grease, making them difficult to hold on to. That can be dangerous.
Being a guy, you likely have much more hand strength than women, so this might not be a problem for you.
Sent from my VS840 4G using Discuss Cooking mobile app
Being a guy, you likely have much more hand strength than women, so this might not be a problem for you.
Sent from my VS840 4G using Discuss Cooking mobile app
Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
Greg, as the gunk builds up on the outside, you can take your CI and put it on the hot coals of your grill when you are done cooking. It will burn off all that gunk. Or at the least soften it so you can just scrap it off. Just put the CI item on the coals and put the cover on. Let the heat do its work.
I saw that quote. I cook on natural gas. Build-up of any sort has not been a problem for me. But I'll keep the coals suggestion in mind.
It seems reasonable that the gunk on the outside of the pan is carbon, and carbon is the non-stick surface, and hot coals are hot carbon. It would probably help to do the same thing but with the cooking surface down as another method of restoring your cast iron pan.
CI pans amaze me since they've been around so long, hundreds of years, and yet they perform in many cases as well as modern high-tech non-stick surfaces.
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