How To Clean and Season Cast Iron

Cooking with good seasoned cast iron is smooth non stick lovely experience! Cleaning a well seasoned cast iron is almost just as fun as cooking on it. Food just wipes out of the pan and its clean. To get your cast iron to be this easy to clean and cook on takes work but the end result is well worth it.

What Does It Mean To “Season” A Cast Iron Pan?

Seasoning a cast iron pan is the process of heating oil into the pan to create a layer of protection making the pan non-stick and easy to clean.

Without a good seasoning on your pots and pans your food will stick to the pan and it will be very difficult to clean and cook with. You might also experience your cast iron rusting if it doesn’t have the protective layer of oil seasoning you pots and pans.

What Oil Should I Use To Season My Cast Iron?

You can technique use any oil but there are some that work better than other. Linseed/flax seed oil is the best for seasoning and cleaning cast iron pans. I use avocado oil to cook with so instead of buying multiple oils for different reasons I just use my avocado oil to season and it works just fine. Olive oil, grape seed oil are also good for season your cast iron pans.

Do not use butter or margarine, lard or meat fats. Those oils and fats are too saturated and don’t give the nice clean thin layer that we are looking for. Some might say that coconut oil is not a good oil to use because its a saturated fat but others say its a wonderful oil to season your cast iron with. I have used it and had not issues, coconut oil has worked great for me.

Why Does My Pan Get Rusty?

You might notice you cast iron pan has a little or a lot of rust on it, this is due to excess moisture. Your oil coating is supposed to repel any extra moisture on your pan but if you are not oiling and drying it properly you will not repel the water and you pan will rust. Make sure, after you cook with your pan to oil the inside and outside, handle and all and dry with heat on the stove top.

If you have rust on your cast iron pots and pans clean with the salt scrub and re-season in the oven.

How To Wash Cast Iron

Rinse With Hot Water

Wash like you would wash any other dish. Use hot water and soup if needed. Use a rag or sponge to get food off you pots and pan until its perfectly clean. The important part of cast iron is not how you wash it but how you dry you it.

Avoid scraping the surface with rough sponges or steel wool. This often chips the seasoned layers already on our cast iron.

Do not wash in dishwasher.

Can I Use Soap On Cast Iron?

Yes, you can use soap. Although we want to get the old dirty grease and food out we don’t want to remove the embedded oil seasoning. It is not recommended to use a lot of soap on cast iron because soap is a de-greaser and we want to keep our pots and pan well oiled.

How To Dry Cast Iron

Wipe Down With a Towel

Just like any other dish, wipe it down with a towel or paper towel to get till dry.

Oil Your Cast Iron

Pour a little bit of oil on you pan and wipe with a paper towel the whole pan, inside & outside, the handle and all with a little bit of oil. Repeat with new paper towel until it comes back clean.

Heat on Stove Top to Dry Completely

Place on the stove and heat it up just until it starts to smoke. Turn off the heat and let cool before putting it away.

How To Deep Clean Cast Iron

Clean You Pan Normally

Clean your pan by rinsing it in hot water and drying it. Then apply a salt scrub.

Salt Scrub

Pour in a couple tablespoons… maybe 1/4 cup of salt into the pan with a little bit of oil and scrub the salt all around with a rag or sponge. If you pan is real dirt the salt will turn black pretty quickly. Rinse the salt out, and repeat the salt scrub with fresh salt a few times till the salt looks clean or clean enough when scrubbing. Depending on how dirty you could repeat this process multiple times. Once clean its time to season your pan.

How To Season Cast Iron

Cover your pan from top to bottom, handle and all with a thin layer of oil and place upside down in the oven at 500 (or the highest your oven goes) for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and let the pan sit there a cool down in its own time in the oven.

For a really good seasoning you can repeat this process of oiling, and baking multiple times till you have it at your desired seasoned state. Or you can just cook with your pan to create a nice seasoning over time.

For me, I season my big pot twice in one day a few times a year simply because I don’t cook with it often. I use my pan regularly and it has a nice season on it to were it doesn’t require the salt scrub or seasoning in the oven but if I’m doing my big pot I will often oil up the pan and heat in the oven too.