We have a particular cast iron skillet that is Rhiannon8404’s “egg pan”. The Kiddo and I know enough not to use it. Ever. For any reason.
I once had a roommate leave my beautifully seasoned 12" cast iron pan in the sink full of water. It rusted. I moved out shortly after, and the pan has never been the same, some 15 years later.
Did it rust badly with deep pits, or a thin surface layer? How did you remove the rust?
Thin surface rust, but it took all the seasoning with it when I scrubbed with steel wool. I’ve been re-seasoning over the years, and it just never got back to where it was.
You wear weird socks.
What is the proper way to wash a “seasoned” cast-iron skillet? Fight My Ignorance!!
I wipe it with a paper towel. If it’s crusty, I scrape it with a flat-edged spatula under hot running water, then wipe it with a paper towel and give it a thin coat of Crisco shortening.
My wife told me to only use water and a soap-free rag. If it’s especially dirty, this metal scrubbie thing (it’s not steel wool) she keeps by the kitchen sink or a metal spatula can be used to gently scrub stuff off. And dry immediately, as it can rust quickly. I usually put it on a low burner until the water has evaporated. Coarse salt is also acceptable for scrubbing purposes.
Well, there’s a lot of myth and near-superstition when it comes to cast-iron cookware. Basically, they say not to wash with any soap, but rather just gently scrub it or even clean it out with salt or some such frippery. I wash with soap all the time; once you have a good seasoning on it, it’s fine. You should dry it, though, so it doesn’t rust.
I’m actually quite surprised that leaving the cast iron on the burner ruined the seasoning that badly. I’ve left cast iron pans for hours on the heat (though low–it’s usually me turning the dial the wrong way to turn it off) and forgotten about them without an issue. To strip the seasoning, I have to use the oven cleaning cycle, which gets that puppy up to like 900 degrees or so.
I once purchased a rust-encrusted Griswold frying pan at an antique store for about $1. That is not a typo. I took it home and removed the rust with plenty of scouring powder, among other things, and then slathered it with Crisco and seasoned it.
Works just fine, and the rust has not come back.
We normally set the element to ‘4’ – about ‘medium’ – for the sandwiches. The pan sat there for a while. Only, this particular element sometimes ‘runs away’ and heats up all the way to ‘Hi’.
My daily egg pan (currently a porcelain coated pan) gets wiped with a dry paper towel after each use. I use it every day and it is a delight.
Eventually, my gf will decide “enough with this craziness” and she’ll scrub it. It will no longer be a delight, and will eventually be replaced. Rinse&Repeat.
The instructions for my Lodge cast iron pan say you can use soap to clean it, but the important thing is to immediately dry it after cleaning and oil it up.
Yep, that’s all you need to do.
Here’s a good rundown on cast iron cookware that separate fact from fiction.