/ck/ - Food & Cooking

[Anonymous No.11360060]

How do I stop being a shitter at cleaning my cast iron?
>want something durable
wow! this looks like, so oldschool and lasts for years
>how do I clean it though?
>look on youtube
>guy doing an unironic cowboy impression says to scrap off excess food while it's hot under hot water
>take cast iron that I coated with olive oil after last time I used it
>put on some more for good measure
>food still sticks like mad
>time to clean this shit
>get it hot and get the water running hot
>have to use mitt because metal handle is hot now
>can't hold it for more than 30 seconds because iron skillet is pretty heavy and now full of hot water
>uncomfortable and unergonomic with mitt
>can't get to the corners well with a spatula
>inevitably burn myself with sponge
>to be efficient with my time I have to eat what I cooked while clening the pan, which is gross
>have to switch hands every 30 seconds
>takes like 10 minutes to get it pristine and I fucking finished what I cooked before I cleaned it throughly
>think I will get a combination of swole forearms and a need for wrist surgery if I do this multiple times daily
yeah how do I do this shit easier

[Anonymous No.11360075]

>>11360060
Get it well seasoned. I burn cheese and sauce and shit on mine, just wipe it out with a wet rag and hot water 99% of the time. A couple times I've had to pull out something abrasive, and then it was instantly clean.

[Anonymous No.11360083]

>>11360060
Get it hot on medium heat. Get the water in your sink hot. Pour salt in it and scrub with a clean washcloth. Rinse. Dry it off. Repeat as needed.

[Anonymous No.11360099]

>>11360075
Salt poured into the pan at medium heat will create the abrasiveness you are looking for.

[Anonymous No.11360108]

just water and a rag. steel wool or a scraper (Google it) if you burn food on there often

[Anonymous No.11360110]

>>11360099
I've read this 1000 times and still somehow keep forgetting.

[Anonymous No.11360180]

>>11360060
If food is still sticking then you need to season it better.

[Anonymous No.11360182]

Don't be scared to use soap, especially if there's a sticky residue.
Don't be scared to scrape your pan with a metal spatula during/after cooking - you can always slap on another coat of seasoning if you fuck it up too bad.
Don't do too many layers when seasoning (3-4). You don't want a mirror finish, or really any substantial thickness to the seasoning.
Don't use salt because that's fucking retarded and there will always be salt "stains" left over after drying.
Don't stick anything in the pan without proper lubrication. A generous amount of butter or oil is nearly always required.

[Anonymous No.11360186]

>>11360060
Mine's been seasoned for 50 years plus. I put it in the dishwasher.

[Anonymous No.11361314]

>>11360060

You want to season it well?
Deep fry in it, regularly.
(As much oil as it can reasonable take to not spill and splash while frying, even if it's only an inch.)
Once you're done frying, just stick the hot pan and oil in your oven to cool down.
Pour out the oil the next day after it's cool.

You do that a few times, your pan will be seasoned well.

[Anonymous No.11361459]

>>11360083
>Pour salt in it
Dont be such a millennial. Just scrape it with a spatula. If anything is still stuck after a few seconds of scraping, put it back on the fire and heat it up and let it burn a bit and scrape it again, this will put a layer of carbon on that spot so good wont won't stick there anymore.
Cast iron works best if you just use it and aren't autistic, the more you fret about it the worse it works, it performs better with a bit of abuse.

[Anonymous No.11361489]

Use a food scraper or a sponge to get shit off in the sink.
If it doesn't come off, sprinkle some salt in the pan, a little water and scrub the pan with the sponge.
Oil and heat on stove to continue to develop that seasoning. You've got a while to go if it's still sticking

[Anonymous No.11361545]

You need to be re-seasoning on the stovetop after every use.
>Clean
>Heat that shit up
>Wipe paper towel w/ Crisco on the cooking surface and sides of pan
>Keep heating until smoke
>Turn off burner
>Walk away

[Anonymous No.11361589]

>>11360060
Try cooking with it instead of wasting all your time typing > arrows on 4chan

[Anonymous No.11361670]

>>11361545
Fuck off tryhard. All you need to do with cast iron is use it alla time, it will season fine.

[Anonymous No.11361682]

That's part of the meme, now when someone asks the same thing just say 'season it better' to frustrate the newfags and waste their time

[Wuhan Traveller No.11361688]

>>11361314

This. At least once a month I caramelize onions using oil and it is virtually non-stick now.

[Anonymous No.11361707]

>>11361670
Wrong

[Anonymous No.11361898]

>>11361688

Exactly.

OP needs to realize that basically:

Heat + Oil = Seasoning

It doesn't matter if it's caramelizing onions, deep frying, or some people just oil the pan up (empty) and put it in the oven at 450 until it's smoking. All you're doing in bonding the oil to the surface.

Of course, if all you do is cook an occasional grilled cheese, and let the melted cheese cake to the pan, dry, and then you have to scrape off the rock hard burnt cheese, you're not going to have a very non-stick surface.

[Anonymous No.11361962]

Hey pal,
Seems like your pan might have come "unseasoned". Take your pan, dry, and clean. Put it on a burner until the pan starts to smoke, pour some oil into it (I don't recommend olive oil, I do recommend peanut oil) and rub the oil with a wad of paper towels around the inside and outside of the pan. After you've rubbed the oil in for about 30 seconds, put the pan upside down in a 200 degree oven for a while, maybe an hour. Do this stuff after you use the pan every time for 5-10 times, and then you'll probably have to do it less often.

I've heard all of the stuff about how you're supposed to "not wash" a cast-iron skillet, but it's OK to wash them. Realistically, if you only have one or two pans, you're not going to want the ghost of whatever you made last sneaking into something it shouldn't belong in.

BUT it's not OK to soak cast-iron, and as soon as you're done cleaning it, dry it with a rag. Bone dry. Don't let water hang out in that bad boy.

But sometimes shit happens and you'll get a little tiny rust spot--but you'll be able to scrub that out too with dish soap and an abrasive. But be careful.

[Anonymous No.11361978]

>>11361962
>dry it with a rag. Bone dry. Don't let water hang out in that bad boy.
I just chuck it back on the stove to dry it out every time after I cook with it. Bonus point is that repairing the seasoning is as easy as adding wiping oil on to the steps I use.
Honestly if you think putting a pan on the stove and twisting a dial after you clean it is too much extra work just buy teflon, you'll be happier in the long run.

[Anonymous No.11363836]

>>11361707
Cogent argument anon. That'll show those cast iron fags what they're dealing with.

[Not a vegan but they're ok by (...) No.11363849]

Stop expecting cast iron to be your do-everything pan, in particular stop expecting it to replace nonstick pans. Clean it like you'd clean any other pan, dry it, and put it away.

If you're using cast iron more than once a week you either need to learn how to pick the tool for the job, or stop being so fat. It's for hamburgers and corn bread, not for every single meal.

[Anonymous No.11363853]

>>11361545
Fake and gay

[Anonymous No.11363880]

First of all you probably don't have it seasoned well. Use BACON GREASE to lightly coat the entire pan, and put it upside down in your oven on 350 for one hour.

Now when you cook something, be patient and let the pan heat before adding ingredients. It takes a bit longer than a normal pan.

When something is stuck use a spatula. A fucking metal spatula. If you have a rubber spatula you are a nigger. A metal spatula will scrape anything off.

Don't run the pan under hot water because you're probably a retard who will let it sit for too long. Just use a hot, wet rag, to pick up the shit you scraped off with the metal spatula.

If there's any oil/grease remaining in the pan after scraping, use the hot rag to get that out as well BUT leave a little and rub it in.

If it's too heavy for you then you're just weak. Hit the gym

[Anonymous No.11365247]

Will using salted butter in a cast iron pan ruin the seasoning?

[Anonymous No.11366773]

>>11360060
stop being retreaded anon stop trying to lift this thing like stainless steel/teflon shit. its got to be used more stationary, move yourself around it not the pan around so much. also are you actually <80 iq? why would you try to lift a hot, heavy cast iron pan full of hot water to clean it? if it has been seasoned and cooked with correctly it really shouldnt take much to clean them. should be to the point where only a rinse and wipe is needed
>season it more
>season it better
>stop being retarded

[Anonymous No.11367773]

Lard is the best thing to season your cast iron cookware by far. Heat the oven to 375f, let the cast iron get hot with the oven, then once its heated take out 1 pan at a time and smear lard all over its surface. A thin even coat,dont go too crazy because it will drip. Open your kitchen windows because it will smoke a little and let your pans bake with that lard for several hours. I would reapply a thin layer of lard every hour to each of the pans and lids. Just a tsp of lard in the pan and once it melts use a napkin to spread it over the whole surface. Obviously i put it down on a trivet. Dont mind the mess, made pan pizzas in them last night

[Anonymous No.11367799]

>>11363849
Dont listen to this guy, he doesnt know what hes talking about. Cast iron can be used with anything, not just cornbread and meat. You think 150years ago they had fancy nonstick teflon pans? Pic related is you being wrong.

[Anonymous No.11367827]

I live in south africa and have never seasoned my shit

I scrub my cast iron with steel wool and water the way my mother did, never have anything stick

[Anonymous No.11367869]

>>11361314
Can confirm.
Fried food in mine for several days before pouring out the oil. Now it shines and is all nice and smooth.

[Anonymous No.11368789]

Get Barkeeper's friend or Bon Ami. Make a paste of either one with water inside pan. Turn on oven to 300, put pan in for around 10 minutes, then take out and scrub with brush. All crud gone! Work at high end cookware store. If no crud, just rinse or soak then use brush. To season, wipe olive oil in pan, oven 350 30 min.

[Anonymous No.11368858]

>>11360060
buy some chainmail to clean cast iron

[Anonymous No.11369615]

>>11363880
Is bacon grease just better than regular/canola oil? Or is it just for flavor?

[Anonymous No.11369649]

>>11367799
>can be used with everything
of course it can, he didn't say you can't. he was implying that it's not always the best tool for the job you fucking troglodyte. If I was really poor though my only pan would be cast iron

[Anonymous No.11369656]

>wait for pan to cool down
>Place in sink
>Add dish soap
>Scrub with brush

There, you fucking autistic faggots. You can use soap on it, I hope you idiots don't seriously believe a little soap is going to fuck up your pan. Detergents will for sure, but hopefully you're not stupid enough to be washing dishes with heavy-ass washing machine soap. It works fine, stop being a pussy,

[Anonymous No.11369659]

i use Dawn® and a steel pad to clean mine.

[Anonymous No.11369676]

>>11369615
not him but anything works for me. my preference though is lard or olive oil.

[Anonymous No.11369834]

>>11369656
lol

[Anonymous No.11369842]

>>11369649
Lmao, "fucking troglodyte"
Sperg harder fat boy.

[Anonymous No.11371223]

>>11369834
Prove me wrong bitch boy. Almost all the cast iron cleaning tips are memes. The only thing you have to avoid is detergent.

[Anonymous No.11371268]

>>11360060
Just scrub it the same as you scrub a nonstick pan. Hot water, a lot of soap, and the most abrasive sponge you’re have, preferably metal!