The Best Way To Clean and Season a Cast Iron Skillet | Epicurious 101 

add water and boil it for a minute and then wipe clean.

If you let food dry on your pan by mistake, just add 1L of boiling water and cover for 10m. Then you can wipe it out with your soft sponge effortlessly. After you rinse it out you can set it aside and next time you do dishes, you can give it a gentle wipe out with your damp dish cloth that was in the dish water. That's as much soap as you'll ever need to remove fish oil. Then rinse with hot water and air dry as you like - either on top of the stove, or inside. Show your pan some love. If you fried fish, deglazed the pan with wine, or made a sauce in it, then once it's dry it's a kindness to treat it to a light coat of oil. Instead of burning down forests, just use a silicon brush to spread a couple drops.

Can't you use vinegar to clean the rust?

Why use vegetable oil or crisco which is hydrogenated cottonseed oil to season? Youre just making a toxic layer of oxidized vegetable oil. Wouldn't animal fats be better for seasoning?

@@hmu958 the best oils to use have both high iodine content and a high smoke point, which polymerises into a more durable temper. Olive and Flax (linseed) are ideal. Regardless of which you use, all tempers are inedible. Just like the scorched black lines on your BBQ steak is inedible, toxic, carcinogenic. But you're not eating very much of the temper, or those black lines. There's lots of foods we eat which have small amounts of poison in them. Like fresh fruits, which contain alcohol, arsenic, etc. Instead of freaking yourself out with whether every molecule of what you eat is safe, you're better off picking your battles and aiming for eating a majority of healthy foods, and letting your body deal with the less-than-ideal bits the way that it was designed to via millions of years of evolution. Be safe.

It owns you now

Like a little metal baby... that never learns to clean itself.

Labor of love huh'... But, love me, love my dog, and my cast iron!

lol

Tell me you don't know or understand cast iron without telling me lol

Thanks for all the instruction over the years. You've taught me a lot.

100th like. lol

Next up - How to clean and care for your carbon steel pans.

What's what your thoughts on using grapeseed or flaxseed oil? How do you fix flaking seasoning, and uneven seasoning?

You are the most adorable guy on earth

The only thing I use my insta pot now is for cooking rice. 1 cup of chicken stock per 1 cup of rice. Turn it on manual high for 3min, then let it sit for 10min after it's done cooking. Release, dump in a big bowl with a cover. Put it in the fridge of I've got killer rice all week for whatever.

That's really nice!❤️ It helped me too

That is exactly what I use 😉

Not good idea to use fruit oil as they have a lot of fibre and will have oil build up.

@@hotingpong they also attract more molds and bacteria because of the cellulose

Also when using liquid oil it is very important to wipe off all excess oil, before the oven

What to do. I'm really scared to use crisco. Isn't that really bad for health? I wonder how much of it will seep into food. Anyone know any alternatives

👍🏾 well done

My landlord uses her grandmother's skillet daily. Amazing how they last.

When you season cast iron for storage and you not gonna use it let say for 2 months do you have to do any maintenance like reseasoning it every week or something?

@@Voltomess no, in his example where he uses crisco it doesn't go away. Oil doesn't evaporate.

95yr old grandma cast iron cornbread? Damn I bet that's some of the best cornbread ever. Bless your granny.

Looking for this comment!

lol

Idontgetit

Oh man then he would love living somewhere with snowy winters. Whenever I run out of ice melt I use whatever salt I have in my kitchen before going to the store

Is it only koshers salt or any salt ok

E

Blue dawn is included in that list of safe soaps to use. I personally only soap if the pan has been cooking something fairly pungent, or after 3-4 things. Hot water and a good scrub does it good.

@@drpackage I only do it more frequently because I have several friends and family members with dietary complication. One can't have gluten, one can't do red meat, I can't do dairy(not really important to this one but still)

Thanks for the information.

Even modern soaps should technically be safe to use, as if the soap goes through proper saponification there should be no lye left. The fear of using soap comes from before there were market options or detergents like Dawn. People would make their own crude soap out of potash (ash from the fireplace) and used cooking oil so of course proper saponification was questionable at best.

I also learned soap was forbidden because decades ago seasoning was done with lard and not vegetable oil.

POLYMERIZATION!!!

A person of culture I see.

i do that too. soften the food,scrape with wood. wood spatula better.more wide

I always just simmer a bit of water in it, which is the same sort of concept but I've always found it a bit better, especially for more stuck on stuff.

You can just use your spatula to scrap with too! My Grandma taught me to sprinkle some salt in as it soaks up some oil and will get bits off the pan. Often that is all you need to do.

I'm a big fan of doing this, but instead of using a spoon I use an escobeta (aka root brush) instead. It works great, has a little bit of scrubbing power and doesn't damage the seasoning.

Yup, as soon as I take out my food I add a bit of water, put it right back on the flame and scrub all the gunk off. Easy peasey

You can still get the old style from Smithey or Lancaster and some others.

What grain would I use? Leaving Teflon behind and now buying new C.I. Its a bit frustrating without smooth. TIA

You dont need to do all that. Season it naturally over time. Any real cook doesn't need that lazy shortcut lol

⁠@@blackdirtloverreal cook? Chill we’re all here trying to learn to care for our iron babies I wouldn’t go around throwing those words “real cook”😂

Lazy short cut? Sounds like a dofus who doesn't understand cat iron at all... they quit making it smooth because it's cheaper. A smooth pan is always a better surface to start with.

Yeah that’s literally what frank said you can do…

@@Guavamente I'm specifically referring to 3:00 where he hand dries it, then the next scene is oiling it for seasoning.

@@phunkydroid ah gotcha. yeah thats like a normal thing man

Yes 👍 I follow the same!

@@phunkydroid My dear, late, friend taught me that years ago, she used cast iron pots and pans for all her cooking for nearly seventy years.

Wash the cast iron first. Turn the pans over on the burners. Set them to 'warm.' When you've finished the dishes the pans will be dry and you can leave them to cool.

I’m using mine as well on a weekly basis, 25 years and counting. Also have a stew pot which my dad bought for mum same year I was born 1976. Still looks like new. I’ll probably hand them down.

what did your first son do to lose the oven inheritance

@@randylahey2242 My eldest son is wholly uninterested in cooking.

Wow! Amazing. How do you maintain it after using it? Do you ever have to re-season it?

I use a wooden spatula too

I like the tip of using a wooden spatula for heavy duty scraping. I will have to buy a wooden spatula and stop scratching up my pans.

After cooking, throw in a couple tbsp of water while hot and that will loosen the residue up a huge amount. I always use a flexible metal spatula, it hones the surface smooth with use, but requires a premium pan that comes smooth, or sanding a cheap one smooth. I dont cook messy things, like stir fry, tacos, or sauces in them. Steaks, bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, pizza, ect work well, stainless steel is better for messy jobs. Anything with sugar should never go in cast iron (including sweet breakfast sausage) - too much work to clean up. Plus never ever let guests use or wash your cast iron. They will cook something sticky and acidic and then put it through the dishwasher on you.

I actually often reheat an empty dirty pan on the stovetop to smoking point just so I can clean it like this, with water to loosen the softened grease. Once I've rinsed and wiped out the residue, I dry it with the residual heat from the burner. It works for everything except something high in protein, like eggs. For eggs, I soak in cold water briefly and then use a scraper to remove as much residue as possible before washing with a slightly soapy cloth. My pan is always beautifully seasoned. It's wild how over complicated people make this seem. As if our great grandmothers were wasting a bag of salt every time they cleaned the pan!

You're*

People die when they are killed.

Exactly this. I prefer to use Grapeseed oil because it creates a tougher layer, and I heat my oven to 450 and bake for 1 hour then let the pan cool in the oven for at least 1 hr.

You shouldn’t use processed seed oils they are terrible for your health

Not strictly necessary. You can stay below the smoke point and not end up gummy, you just have to keep it hot longer. I've done it. Ideally, do a bunch of iron at once, and chuck a pizza stone in there too, so it stays hot longer after you turn the oven off. The argument about processed seed oils, in the meantime, ignores the fact that after seasoning you will not be *able* to ingest the oil. The whole point of seasoning is to cross-link it into one thin molecule as wide as your pan.

My husband's grandmother always dries her pan in the oven after cleaning.

@@Moose1207 so don’t use avocado oil? Cause my oven can’t go over 500!

How much oil do you use? And what oil olive oil? I've been trying to use a cast iron and everytime I cook burgers the cast iron looks dry when i flip the burger is it because my seasoning isn't good enough? I didn't use enough oil? What's the cause?

@@zoulzopan olive oil has a low smoke point and isn't good for high heat. A properly seasoned pan will be non stick

@Jim Espenoza I'm on my first cast iron pan, so I've been watching & reading several tutorials, and they all seem to disagree / contradict, making me more confused than ever. So I'd like your opinion on 2 things: 1. Most said to never use paper towels, b/c they leave lint, which will eventually cause problems. Yet Frank uses them. What is your take? 2. Most said to never use steel wool, b/c it'll scratch. Yet Frank uses chain mail, although he did say it could mark up the pan. What is your take?

@@debilyn4c1r I have a chain mail that I use every now and then. Only when there’s something that won’t come up with a towel. I chopped up old shirts to wipe it down with. Paper towels will leave lint behind, while it won’t hurt your pan, you don’t want pieces behind to cook in to your food. Whenever I cook something that gets stuck on (searing meat), I will put water in to the pan and let it sit for 20 minutes. The pan doesn’t have to be hot, it will break down those bits and make cleaning it out much easier.

@@debilyn4c1r I guess there is more than 1 way to do just about anything. I've been using a cast iron pan for years and I do a lot of what Frank does. I use Crisco to season and every once in a while if I see a dull spot remaining on my pan I will add another coat of seasoning in the oven. Heat at 375 for an hour. Cool down completely in the oven and repeat if necessary. For cleaning, I wipe out grease and loose stuff with paper towel. Never had an issue with lint. I do make a wad of the paper towel so none of the torn edges touch the pan so perhaps that's why. You are also washing the pan so lint should wash away anyways. Then I run the pan under hot water to loosen things up. Let it sit in hot water a few minutes if warranted. Dump out the water and give a heavy sprinkle with salt. Not as much as Frank. Then I scrub the stubborn bits with one of those blue scrubbing sponges meant for non-stick pans. I keep one in a dish by the sink just for the cast. They aren't abrasive enough to hurt your seasoning. I rarely use soap because I also heard it is bad. Glad to see in the comments it isn't. Once clean, I rinse it off and dry with paper towels. Then I place it on the burner on medium heat a few minutes to dry out the pores in the iron. Turn off the heat and while still warm, I put a super thin coat of Crisco on the cooking surface and rim. Quickly wipe away any excess. Let it cool and put away. I keep a small tub of Crisco just for my pan. IMO Frank put way, way too much Crisco on the pan when he was seasoning it. I coat my pan then wipe it off with paper towels. If you can see the oil residue on your pan it's too much and you risk it leaving sticky spots behind. Better to put many thin coats on then a thick one that doesn't bond. You will also see people on the internet saying to use grapeseed oil or flaxseed or fancy store bought seasoning pastes. Crisco worked for our great grandmothers. It's cheap and it works just fine.

If you like to cook, you should really consider getting one. Inexpensive and really a pleasure to work with.

except when seasoning is chipping off ? I havent see anyone or any study about that btw..

​​@@btbbass1984It is literally oil.

@@doug1066 Polymerized oil and carbon, hardly toxic especially in such small amounts. Better than the mystery chemicals used in Chinese non-stick crapware

Thanks!!!

i do the same to clean my pan, basically deglazing the pan, but not intending to make a sauce XD

@@theonlymegumegu this "deglazing action" also works on wood stove glass. Heat up the stove then use a wet rag to steam wipe away the creosote from the glass. No fuss no muss no chemicals.

Use ashes (cool not hot) from a previous fire on a paper towel to clean glass on wood stove! Works perfectly!!

I do the same thing it always work perfectly! The salt method looks painful

That’s the exact same way I’ve done mine the only time I’ve ever used soap was when I was preparing to re season

Same here , sometimes I do favor scraping pan bottoms wirh something made of wood , spatulas etc.

Zactly

This is how I was taught to do it. I don't use a plastic spatula but the metal one. Put it under the hot water, swirl it, dump it and wipe away with a paper towel.

A solid metal spatula is better

A wooden spatula might be better. Wood won't scratch off your seasoning like metal can.

@@Gutslinger Wood or plastic is too soft to remove burnt gunk, it needs to be metal. And don't worry about the seasoning

Older Emeril copper core stainless steel pans might be a better option for any climate. They hold heat just as well and disperse it evenly, they don't need to be seasoned, they do not rust and look good when you serve things in them. Get older ones off of Ebay with the thick copper disc in the bottom. My family has had a set used daily for over 16 years, and they still look new. You can buy them used.

Preseasoned pans are heated at very high temps for very short period of time, because it's more economical, even though less effective. Heat the pan to 200°, coat right over the factory seasoning with a very thin layer of Crisco at 500° for an hour. Let it cool in the oven, and repeat. That will cause polymerization of the oil and create a much better finish.

@@firedo_g6268 I have a pre seasoned pan , should I do ur method before the 1st use or is this something u do after each cook.

@@michaelastuto8003 Just before the first use. Also, always heat your pan till you can feel it in the top of the pan edge, THEN put your oil in it and food will be much less likely to stick to the pan.

That’s basically what I do… But I try not to use soap. I just take the pan to the sink and use some really hot water and the scrubby side of the sponge and get all the gunk out and then I’ll Dry with a paper towel and put it on the stove to evaporate the rest of the water and heat it up again and then put a little olive oil on it and spread it around. Give her a few minutes and call it a day.

Yeah same, if I can get away without washing with soap, I will. But I always take it back to the stove and wipe in a little oil, heat to just smoking, and leave it to cool overnight. Wipe out any excess and back into the cabinet with its siblings!

Olive oil works really well to. Kind of deep fries everything right off.

Did should have recieve a like from epicurious

Never soak cast iron with water or in water. The best thing to do is to put the hot water in the pan and then use a plastic or wooden spoon to deglaze the pan, rinse it and season it.

What about deglazing with a little vinegar? Overkill? Good idea? Bad idea?

Vinegar will strip the seasoning. So it's a bad idea.

This is EXACTLY how I do it. And you're the first person I've seen in the comments. It works great for me. I'm not sure how "seasoned" my skillet is... but it cooks food great and tastes great.

Truthfully the most dangerous things in the kitchen are using a sponge to wash dishes with ,they hold bacteria really well, even if you "sterilize them, and bagels! You read it right bagels, held in the hand or slipping off the cutting board while slicing,,,About using a cast iron pan for defense?? Uhuh! A wooden rolling pin and a strong arm, now that is defense! Honestly I have seen all of those "side effects " while working as a RN in Emergency Departments, many times over. Watch those bagels!!!

Technically speaking the kitchen, or more to say a professional kitchen is the most dangerous and hazardous places to work, blades and sharp objects, flame and heat, hot water, steel tables and countertops The perfect setup for the next final destination movie.

😮❤

I'm getting used to them.

I do not recommend this video for seasoning advice, as it will result in uneven and incomplete seasoning. The proper way to season requires you to wipe away as much oil/crisco as possible before putting it in the oven, which he does not do in the video.

I'm probably an idiot, but when I bought my relatively inexpensive cast iron pans I used sand paper to get all the rough bits in the pan out. I then use Crisco to season and go through that process a few times. I just figured the flat surface is better to cook on than the rough surface they come with.

I season about once a year for my pans. I can fit 3 of 5 in my oven at at time so there is a rotation between the 5 I regularly use. My main pan is crazy good looking at this point having been seasoned and used for about 15 years. Given my father accidentally washed it with soap twice in that time(huge fight ensued as a result).

@@deep6188 I think the roughness creates that char marks like a grill. I usually use the cast iron to grill chicken and make pancakes and even pizzas turn out great since you can transfer it straight into the oven.

One thing I was taught that works REALLY well is to take the plastic circular lid off of a spice container. You can then use the hollow side of the lid to scrape off any burnt-on gunk from the pan. Works much better than salt or any brush for me as it's really firm and doesn't scratch the pan. Just make sure to clean and dry the lid really well before you put it back on the spice container.

And I guarantee it’s cheaper than using salt to clean it Every time 😂 great tip! I’ll have to find one

I've never oiled the back either. Next time when I freshen up the pan.

Exactly!~!

Amen. I was horrified when he showed that pan.

Great comment. This is the easiest method and really makes keeping cast iron well-seasoned and clean, with little fuss. I use grapeseed or safflower seed oil for the quick re-season, but really anything with a high smoke-point makes for a great seasoning oil.

I use this method also. And the avocado oil works great. Nothing sticks to my pans!

Cool, you do it wrong... And you taste every meal you've ever made because you don't use soap... But at least you're confident enough to admit that you do it incorrectly on the internet lol

@@godlygamer911 special needs person detected

@@godlygamer911 the way he does it is standart, frank is right and if you do it properly you can use soap but for most aplications you wont need too.

@@godlygamer911 It doesn't leave a lingering taste of every meal made, and you don't risk ruining the seasoning (which has happened when my mother-in-law visited and cleaned it with soap and water and didn't re-season it).

@@godlygamer911 There is more than one way to clean a cast iron. They're not wrong. So rude.

IKR, I always thought you had to apply oil, wipe off oil, cook high hot and long, repeat 99 times.

@@bendadestroyer because that is what you have to do. This guy put on way too much crisco the result would've been sticky/uneven. If you don't believe me you can try it yourself with a non seasoned cast iron. There's a reason why the tutorials are long and complicated that's because it is.

@@bendadestroyer i’ve had two skillets for years now and I only season it once in a while. I simply seasoned it a few times when it was brand new and just cooked normally with it from then on. People just make it out to take a lot more effort than it needs to. Remember that as cook with it, the oil from your cooking also turns into new layers of seasoning. Just make sure to wash your iron with hot water and light soap after cooking and never leave it soaking in water for too long or it’ll rust.

@@zoulzopan confidently incorrect.

@@TheRaptor700Rider you don't have to believe me you can do exactly what this cheff did yourself. Trust me I've done it and it did not come out good.

Oven cleaner? 😬 On porous metal? Yikes. Vinegar apparently works.

He ded 🙁

@@Gutslinger never stripped cast iron in bulk I take it? Oven cleaner is the professional method, works better than anything else.

cast iron doesnt warp from temperature shock. youre thinking of carbon steel. cast iron may CRACK, though, from temp shock. cast iron is brittle but not malleable. carbon steel is the opposite.

@@AnythingLoud Yes, crack, not warp. But if I corrected my grandma who told me that I'd get slapped ;)

Just a tip- flaxseed oil is one of the worst oils to use if you’re using the skillet for cooking because it has a very low smoke point and tends to chip and flake off very easy. Now, if you are using flaxseed oil to season it just to make it look black and pretty to hang up as a decoration then that’s fine. It does look nice. Just wanted to share this info because it has happened to me and many other folks. Crisco works just fine and is inexpensive. Good luck 🍀

Yeah, I have one that I have only used for cornbread because I know it's only going to leave some crumbs and not make a huge mess. I've just been afraid to use it for anything else because I'm afraid that I'm going to screw it up

Unless you break into his house.

@@v.crowley Oh I don't mean I had a problem with the pans I seasoned going rancid, I'm recommending it because it has a property that I find very appealing as a general choice for storage, particularly if someone doesn't use them often. It's just something kind of neat about coconut oil that I think makes it a superior choice for a lot of applications.

It does depend on the oil used - what's most important is that you get the pan PAST the smoking point for your oil to cause the polymerization

An hour is more than enough.

This is great advice! Boiling waters will break the bonds by reheating the polymer layer, works great. I do this immediately after removing the cooked contents.

Kent Rollins has quite a few videos on cast iron seasoning.

It's unnecessary. Unless you're suoer aggressive in your cleaning your actual seasoning is fine and you're just oiling it lightly to fill any imperfections. The thin coat will polymerize with the rest the next time you cook which further develops your seasoning. I usually apply oil while they're warm because it spreads easier but nowhere close to the smoke point. I've never had oil go rancid either

Honestly I never put any oil on my pans after each use. I don’t see the point? If your pan is properly seasoned and you fully dry it after using (leave on a burner for a few minutes) you should never get rust. Why is your pan rusting if it is seasoned? To me the idea of leaving a layer of “raw” oil on your pan is kind of gross.

@@yrureadingthisname How else is it going to collect dust particles for flavor if it's not oiled?

@@Gutslinger lol I just really need a nice sticky, gummy film to build up on my pan I only use twice a year.