My epiphany about cleaning cast iron came from a burnt grilled cheese

I've been scrubbing my cast iron skillet with soap and water for years, thinking I was doing it right. Then my buddy Dave saw me drying it on the stove and said "you're basically begging it to rust." He showed me how he just scrapes it clean, wipes it with oil, and heats it for 2 minutes. It took me 6 months to finally try that method and now I haven't had a stuck egg in weeks. Anyone else get handed down tips that completely contradicted what you thought you knew?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.parker25d agoOG Member

Wait, did you say chainmail scrubber? Like actual chainmail? I've been using a plastic scraper that came with a spatula set and it works okay but now I'm wondering if I need to level up my gear. My grandma used to clean her cast iron with salt and a paper towel and I always thought she was just being old school but now I realize she probably knew exactly what she was doing. She also had this thing where she'd never let me touch her pans because she said "my pans have more seasoning than your whole kitchen" which sounds harsh but honestly she was right. I tried the salt thing once and it worked pretty good for stuck on bits, but bacon grease has been my go to lately because it smells amazing while you're heating the pan back up.

blair_nguyen25d ago

Dave from work told me the same thing about my cast iron pan. I was scrubbing it with soap and a scrub daddy every night and wondering why my eggs kept sticking. He told me to just rinse it with hot water, wipe it dry, and put a thin layer of crisco on it before storing. Took me a few tries to get the oil amount right, but now my pan has this deep black coating that makes everything slide right off.

viola_lopez3025d ago

Yo I feel this so hard. My first cast iron was a complete mess because I was treating it like my non-stick pans. I used soap every single time and even left it soaking overnight once. Took me forever to figure out the whole "wipe off the excess oil like you made a mistake" trick. Now I just hit mine with a chainmail scrubber if something sticks, rinse with hot water, and wipe it down with a little bacon grease. Night and day difference.