If you’ve ever wondered How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet this simple tutorial has the answers to your questions!
Even though cast iron skillets are ideal for cooking, many people are scared by the maintenance and cleaning of a cast iron skillet. Don’t let that spook you. There are a few tricks to remember and you are on your way.
How to Clean a Cast Iron Skillet
I am a huge fan of cooking with cast iron. They get better the more you use them. Cast iron is awesome because it is nonstick by nature, heats food evenly, and is very durable. It is a great option for frying foods because it keeps the oil heated evenly and consistently.
My advice is to clean your skillet immediately after using it. Never let your pan soak because it may rust and then your cast iron will be ruined.
For general cleaning I like to use hot water and a scraper (I have a little plastic scraper that came with my pizza stone and I use it all of the time on my cast iron) or a copper scrubber or untreated steel wool pad.I know people will tell you to NEVER use soap on your cast iron, but I definitely do. When I have used the pan to fry or had really greasy chicken legs cooking in it, I will use a drop of dish soap to cut the grease and it works great. Just be sure to rinse well.
I towel dry my pans and will rub them with a bit of oil if they are starting to look dull in color (maybe once a month/every 3 months). They are really low maintenance once you do your initial deep clean.
If you are buying old pans or if you haven’t used your pan in a few years you will want to clean your cast iron using a more in depth method. The leftover oil in the pores turn rancid after a while and will make your food taste nasty, even if it isn’t rusty looking. If it smells bad then you should do this.
Can I use steel wool to clean my cast iron skillet?
Sometimes you need to call in reinforcements in order to clean your cast iron skillet. You can use steel wool but be mindful not to scrub so hard that you are taking off the bottom of the pan.
What is the best place to store a cast iron skillet?
The recommendation is to store a cast iron skillet in a dry place and with the lid on.
What should I dry my cast iron skillet with?
Once your skillet is clean, simply use a dish towel to dry them off.
Cast iron cookware has been around for hundreds of years and is making a comeback in a big way! Jump on that wagon and get a cast iron skillet of your own.
How to Clean Cast Iron
You do this long procedure if you are really deep cleaning your pans. You want to do this if you are buying old pans or if you haven’t used your pan in a few years. The leftover oil in the pores goes rancid after a while and will make your food taste nasty, even if it isn’t rusty looking. If it smells bad then you should do this.
For general cleaning I like to use hot water and a scraper (I have a little plastic scraper that came with my pizza stone and I use it all of the time on my cast iron) or a copper scrubber or untreated steel wool pad. I know people will tell you to NEVER use soap on your cast iron, but I definitely do. When I have used the pan to fry or had really greasy chicken legs cooking in it, I will use a drop of dish soap to cut the grease and it works great. Just be sure to rinse well. I towel dry my pans and will rub them with a bit of oil if they are starting to look dull in color (maybe once a month/every 3 months). They are really low maintenance once you do your initial deep clean
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How to Clean and Re-Season a Cast Iron Skillet
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Here’s a simple tutorial on how to clean cast iron which is a great skill to know for when you see cast iron skillets or Dutch ovens at the thrift store.
Ingredients
- Cast iron skillet or other cookware pieces
- Scrubby
- Soap and water
Instructions
- Get your hands on some beautiful cast iron pieces.
- Wash them in hot soapy water. If they are rusty or coarse use a copper or untreated steel wool pad to really scrub them. You can scrub inside and out. The goal is to remove any old oil, sticky spots, or general “crud”. Don’t fear the scrub or the soap. This is a one time deep clean.
- Rinse very well and then pat dry with a dish towel or paper towels.
- Evenly coat the inside and outside of the pan with vegetable oil using a paper towel. This is just a light layer, no need to put it on thick. It should be darker in color but not dripping with oil.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. and place the pan upside down in the hot oven. You can line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch any oil drips if you like. Let the pan bake for one hour. Expect it to be pretty smoky 🙂 After one hour, turn off the oven and let the pan stay in the warm oven until it has cooled (that will take a few hours).
- Your cast iron is now clean, seasoned and ready to use.
- Get your hands on some beautiful cast iron pieces.
- Wash them in hot soapy water. If they are rusty or coarse use a copper or untreated steel wool pad to really scrub them. You can scrub inside and out. The goal is to remove any old oil, sticky spots, or general “crud”. Don’t fear the scrub or the soap. This is a one time deep clean.
- Rinse very well and then pat dry with a dish towel or paper towels.
- Evenly coat the inside and outside of the pan with vegetable oil using a paper towel. This is just a light layer, no need to put it on thick. It should be darker in color but not dripping with oil.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. and place the pan upside down in the hot oven. You can line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch any oil drips if you like. Let the pan bake for one hour. Expect it to be pretty smoky 🙂 After one hour, turn off the oven and let the pan stay in the warm oven until it has cooled (that will take a few hours).
- Your cast iron is now clean, seasoned and ready to use.
Notes
- When you cook with your cast iron skillet, it’s best to warm the skillet and then add a layer of fat to the pan before adding your food. This helps things like eggs to not stick. So put your pan on the burner, have it warm up a bit (maybe a minute), add some grease/butter/oil, AND THEN add your egg.
- When you are cleaning your new pieces of cast iron moving forward – it it’s not too dirty, just wipe it out with a paper towel or a damp cloth. If it’s quite dirty or things stuck to it, wash it in hot water and use a stainless steel chainmail scrubber. This is a life saver for cast iron and I use mine all of the time. The chainmail scrubs but doesn’t scratch and I love it.
- You can reoil your cast iron as needed, if it’s looking a little dull, add a light layer of oil to the inside and outside and spread it around with a paper towel, no need to heat it again in the oven.
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Check out these yummy recipes using a Cast Iron skillet:
- 3 Soups Cooked in Cast Iron
- How to Cook Bacon in a Cast Iron Skillet
- The Best Cornbread Recipe
- Old Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings Soup
- My Favorite Go-To Sourdough Bread Recipe
- Easy Skillet Pizza
- M&M’s Skillet Cookie Recipe
And now you know how to clean cast iron and it’s not even that hard! Sure it takes a little elbow grease and a little time but it’s well worth the effort. I look for quality cast iron any time I am out thrifting and have refinished many pieces and given them as gifts.
About Melissa
Melissa is dedicated to helping parents figure out the nightly questions, "What's for Dinner?!" with her no-fuss approach to cooking. Read more...
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I Love, love, love using cast iron pots & pans. I have been using them for decades and can’t say enough about them to encourage more people to try them! I have ALWAYS used bacon grease to re-season all of my cast iron cookware! I’ve never had any issues with stickiness or lack of non-stick issues when cooking after using strictly bacon grease when seasoning them. I’ve also never had any issues with rancid food or even any type of “food poisoning” type issues using cast iron seasoned with bacon grease! This is what my great grandmother, grandmother, and great aunt have used for ever & we’ve never had any negative issues because of it! Any reason NOT to use bacon grease to season/re-season cast iron?
It’s an old classic! I think if it works for you, it works!
So I bought a new preseasoned 12” cast iron skillet and didn’t realize that I didn’t need to season it again before I used it.(1st time with cast iron) I used canola oil and baked it in a 350* oven for an hour and left it in the oven to cool down with the oven. It’s sticky now. Should I scrub it down and start over seasoning it and use a different kind of oil? And paper towels leave fuzzies on it when I season it and dry it too. What am I doing wrong?
You just used too much oil too. I’d just give it a little wash and scrub and call it good. Then start cooking! That natural cooking process will do wonders for seasoning.
I don’t use vegetable oil. I have olive, grape seed, avocado oils and ghee. I do have old bacon grease too. Can I use any of those to treat my pans?
Avocado oil or grapeseed would be my first choices for you, if you look up the oils that you have, look up their smoking point. The oil with the highest smoking point is your best option.
Wish I’d seen this comment. I used veg oil & now understand why my 3 pans are sticky. Oh well. Once these two finish baking I’ll pull out the steel wool & avocado oil & redo. Great resource!! Thanks melissa for the article & for all the excellent comments & tweaks on recureingmy ancient pans
I am having trouble keeping a seasoning on my lodge skillet. I don’t use soap. I do lightly use a scrub pad meant for nonstick skillets. Sometimes I boil water in the skillet to remove stuck on bits. And always oil it after cleaning.
I have had to reseason this skillet 3 times in the last 6 months. This last time I scrubbed the inside bottom down with Bar Keepers Friend and a stainless steel pad. I oiled it down with flaxseed oil, baked it at 450 for an hour , let it cool, and repeated it 6 times. I cooked chicken breast in it and then steaks last night. I boiled water to remove the stuck on bits and the seasoning is coming off again. What am I doing wrong?
I’d try not boiling the water in it. It should like that might be some of the issue. Do you have a chain-mail scrubber, it’s my favorite for cast iron!
Important tips in this post as to how we can clean our cast irons. Thanks for letting us know, this would surely be a huge help.
Can I use my self cleaning oven to put get rusted cast iron skillet clean? I don’t want alot of smoke and what is the confusion about using soapy water to clean them? My grill isn’t working and they have been on the outside grill all summer long.
I wouldn’t put it as hot as the self cleaning option on the oven, I’d just wash it and bake it like I’ve directed!
The directions are so simple. The steel wool sounds perfect to clean with. Glad to hear that a few drops of Dawn is used. The baking 1hr seems like that’s the secret. Thanks
My grandmother left me a few pans and deep pans haven’t used them but they need a good cleaning when she cooked she used a coal burning stove her food always tasted great…..
What a good gift from her. I hope you use them often and think of her!
How do you clean the outside? mine has years of crud on it
Same as the inside, if it’s super dirty don’t be afraid of using steel wool to get all of the crud off and rebuilding the nonstick layer as indicated. Steel wool and a hot bubble bath will cure cast iron inside and out and finish with the reseasoning!
Yeah, vegetable oils just leave it sticky – no matter how many paper towels are used. Then 1 use and back to rust and lingering greasy film. Can’t find ANYONE to give me the secret of that great pan of my now deceased Mother. I have bought new ones and old ones; after EVERY use, am left with a heavy, greasy mess that, if cleaned with soapy water, leaves me with a rust bucket but not greasy. If cleaned with a wire brush and scalding hot water – still a greasy mess. Am DONE!
I think you are using too much of the oil. If it’s just a little layer their shouldn’t be anything to be sticky at the end of the day…
If the pan is sticky you haven’t cooked off the oil sufficiently during seasoning. The temp given here is too low.. you need to season ABOVE the smoking point of whatever oil you’re using. Which using means 420-450 degrees or even hotter.
I love my cast Iron and yes! I wash mine too and I also hang my on my wall.
Hi, I am new to cast iron cookware, but am excited to start using mine!! I just got a brand new one for my wedding (yay!) do I need to do anything before I use it for the first time?? Does it come seasoned, or do I need to do the oil process first?
If you go it new I’m sure it came preseasoned, just use away! They don’t really make cast iron that needs oiled first anymore, preseasoned is the new standard. ENJOY!!! It’s something you’ll learn to love and use for years to come.
Thank you so much for all the information I love my cast iron