The Cellar - How do you clean these damn things?

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- - How do you clean these damn things? (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=8553)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pie

I do use soap and water on my cast iron pans, but I have a reason -- squeamish vegetarians that insist on soap & scrub after cooking meat. After the suds, I rinse thoroughly, dry with a towel, wipe on a light coating of vegetable oil with a paper towel, and leave it on the (gas) burner turned to high for 5 minutes. Turn off the burner, let it sit till cool.
I've never had a rust or dirt problem with this method.
- Pie

That's the way I'd do it. I treat my mum's frying pan (skillet to you guys, I think!) that way as she lets it get ... um ... grubbier than I'd like ( :greenface ) because she doesn't use really HOT water to clean it. So I sneakily wash it with everything else then add a little oil and heat it for a bit. She's never noticed ... ;)

my prize possesion is a 12" cast iron frypan that is probably 60 or 70 years old. The patina or seasoning is amazing. A couple of times since I've had it, it has undergone severe cleaning by well meaning people. The outside is a marvel. I should take some photos of it, the seasoning is about a quarter of an inch this in some spots. Pure carbon.

so... where are the photos? I'd love to see the thing, I was set to inherit (sp?) one of my grandfathers old cast iron skillets, left to him by his father.. but some damn cousin got to it first.. and he refuses to give it to me (which I kind of understand..but still..)

I've got some before pics of my cast iron in the camera. If I ever get the time to finish cleaning them I'll post the B&A pics. Hell it takes forever to burn them out. I'm still not sure the over the burner method is best, but it's working. You can bet your ass I won't let them get in that shape again.