Cast iron skillet cleaning and seasoning

[Mommiesbiz1]

One of my favorite dishes is a pineapple upside down cake made in a cast iron skillet. It is so hard to find cast iron skillets these day, but the ones I do find at yardsales and auctions look sort of rusted. My mom told me to clean it and season it, but she could not remember how. Does anyone know how I can clean and season cast iron?

 

[jennywren]

To season a cast iron skillet, first you have to clean it really good with warm soapy water and a stiff brush or a scouring pad especially if their is rust. Get it clean down to it's base metal. In the meantime have your oven preheated to 325.

Once it is dry apply a thin coating of vegetable oil or shortening to both the inside and the outside of the pan.

Put the pan in the oven upside down and put a pan or aluminum foil beneath it to catch any drips. Let it go for an hour and a half then turn off the oven and allow it to cool completely.

If your pan starts looking dull or food is sticking it is time to re-season!

Now when I was my cast iron , I never use soap and dry on a burner on low. After it is dry I lightly coat the inside with shorting.

 

[limcid]

Is there a point where a cast iron skillet is no more good? I've seen these in thrift stores and such, but I always feel like they're no good.

 

[Happyflowerlady]

Is there a point where a cast iron skillet is no more good? I've seen these in thrift stores and such, but I always feel like they're no good.

Cast iron skillets are always good, but by the time they end up in a thrift store or yard sale, they have probably been neglected to the point where you need to go through the seasoning process, and if you are getting it from a thrift store or yard sale, that is just a good thing to do anyway, since the heat will also disinfect the pan, and then it should be as good as new again.
They are very expensive to buy when they are new, so restoring an old one is a great way to have an awesome pan, at a small price. Since it is all cast iron, it can be used as a baking pan, as well as stovetop cooking.
When I was a girl, my folks always took one along when we went camping, and I loved eating fresh caught trout fried over the campfire in the cast iron skillet.

 

[jennywren]

I remember going to a friends fathers fay celebration. They had a big bonfire and made sausage, bacon and eggs in a huge cat iron skillet over an open fire. It was delicious and very rustic cool. I fell in love with cast iron long befoe this though. It is just one of the many uses. You can use cast iron corn pones to make corn on the cob shaped corn bread.

 

[limcid]

Thanks for the info. I will keep my eyes open for cast iron pots and pans because the new ones definitely cost more than I can afford to spend right now.

 

[brittany]

I was taught to clean cast iron pans on a stove. I first heat them up. I was told you shoud not use soap because it supposedly can mess them up. I think it does make food stick a little more if not oiled enough. Anyways, I run mine under very hot water. I scrub it clean, then oil it. I then turn the gas on my stove on low, and let it heat up for about a half an hour. It does the job for me, and my cast iron pans are in good shape.

 

[orclev]

I will not let soap touch my iron skillet when I am cleaning it regularly, since that will remove the seasoning. I try not to scrub too hard, either. I use hot water and a sponge. Usually if I let it soak for a few minutes first, everything will come off of it just fine, but if there is a little bit of food that's being stubborn, sometimes I will add just a bit of oil to my sponge, and that gets it right off! I don't know if that is an accepted practice or not, but it seemed like the most logical thing to do since I can't use soap. I always oil it up after I've cleaned it, as well. I haven't had to re-season yet, but I did only just get my skillet about a month ago (and it came pre-seasoned).

 

[NThomas]

I am so glad I found this post. I have a cast iorn pan that need to be seasoned I could nevr find anyone who knew how to do this. I have only cooked in once and then someone soaked in in hot soapy water and it was in need of attention tha i did not know how to give. Thanks you for the helpfull information.

 

[Vivianna]

Wow this thread really brought back memories, my grandmother has a set of beautiful cast iron cookware. I didn't really understand why she took so much time cleaning and oiling this pans. She is the only woman I know that has stainless steel, non stick, cast iron, all shapes and sizes, she has enamel I mean she has pots and pans in cabinets and hanging its beautiful. As I got older I understood that you need the different tools for different jobs. Cast iron is awesome and should be taken care of properly.

 

[dustysmommy2013]

I have not read all the posts before me so I apologize if this is a repeat. I found the way to season my skillet online. I rub olive oil into it and then bake it in the oven for 2 hours at a time. I do that 3 times on each occasion that it needs to be seasoned. I love my cast iron skillet and very much think it should be a staple in any good cook's kitchen!

 

[justme4910]

the easiest way to clean one,is to build a small fire and turn the skillet upside down,and let it stay in the fire for a little bit. especially if the cooking surface is rough and only use wood that you would eat off in a smoker,like hickory,oak, apple,don't use any soft wood like pine,cedar and such,they will leave a resin behind

I never use any soap,the cast Iron will absorb the soap and may leave a bad taste to the food,when a Iron skillet is consider seasoned,it is the fat that has been absorbed into it and stuff doesn't stick then,I've seen it said not to use oil in them,as to why I don't know,use shortening or some lard when seasoning them

here is a link to Lodge,they make cast Iron skillets

https://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/seasoned-cast-iron-use-and-care.asp


here is another link to cleaning one and it has a way to remove rust,I have one that I need to do like this to remove the rust

http://www.wikihow.com/Season-a-Cast-Iron-Skillet


they did say to use a stiff brush and soap,but that is just before you season it,hmmm now I have to find something to place the iron skillet in to remove the rust lol


ok I've got a skillet soaking in half white vinegar and water,the first picture is after i scrubbed it with a brush and soap,I have to soak it for 3 hours,then season it,I will let you know how it works out

 

[justme4910]

here are some prices on the from Lodge,I'm not sure what they are at retail places and I do live in the States,so I'm not sure what the cost is over seas

https://www.lodgemfg.com/prodcat/skillets-and-covers.asp

here is another video about cleaning them

here is part two

I've never seen one of those scrapers

and I would like to have that pot holder he is using too

 

[justme4910]

here is the skillet after the vinegar soak,it looks like some rust is still on after the soak,but the picture isn't coming good thru good for some reason,from looking at it,the rust is gone,I did have to use a scouring pad,but it was an old one and didn't have any soap in it,I'm going to do some seasoning on it,once it has cooled down from drying it out and will post another one then

 

[ChesterV]

Unless a pan has been rusted where it leaves an indentation in the metal, then it should still be good.

You can either use a wire scrub brush to scrub all the rust off, or if you know how to peen and use a peen gun, then you can peen the pan.


One old fashioned way to season any cast iron skillet or pan, is to fry bacon in it.

 

[justme4910]

I'm not sure what happened,but the shortening I used turned brown on the big skillet,I have a smaller one that I'm using some corn oil on and we will see what the difference is I guess.but it did get rid of the rust and it had a bunch on it,the brown is from the shortening I used,I guess,it looks worse in the picture than it actually is and it is a little sticky,but nothing bad

 

[justme4910]

Unless a pan has been rusted where it leaves an indentation in the metal, then it should still be good.

You can either use a wire scrub brush to scrub all the rust off, or if you know how to peen and use a peen gun, then you can peen the pan.


One old fashioned way to season any cast iron skillet or pan, is to fry bacon in it.

what is peening ? I haven't heard of it and your right on the bacon,I even fried some in a cast iron dutch Oven that I use to have,that was my magic chili maker lol

 

[justme4910]

ok I looked it up Chester and I know what you are talking about,i don't know if that would work with cast Iron,but it was just surface rust on my skillet

 

[justme4910]

here is the picture on my small skillet,it has the same brown looking color on the cooking surface and I use corn oil on this one,I will let ya'll know how well they do after I have fried some bacon in each one

they do look a lot worse in the pictures,i guess it just shows the grease better,I will take a nylon scouring pad to them,before I cook anything in them first and see how they do

but the half white vinegar and half water does clean them pretty good

 

[justme4910]

if i had to do it over,I would use a lower temperature,instead of 350 degrees Fahrenheit,I would go with around 250 instead.of course I'm just guessing

but with some scrubbing and frying some bacon in them,they are ready to go