Seasoning Cast Iron Skillet

[TMB]

Anyone ever tried one of these things to scrub out cast iron, or something like it?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1133658...lle?ref=market

Normally, I just use an SOS pad, no soap. But I cook with cast iron every night. SOS get messed up pretty quick.

You can buy steel wool by the bushel at Home Depot for a lot less than that.

That said, like TT, if you make a mistake, put some water in the pan and boil it for 10 minutes. Wipe it clean, dry it and rub a bit of cooking oil in with a paper towel. Done.

[suzyj]

I've been building up a rather formidable Le creuset cast iron collection of late. My recipe for stripping crud off them is a cup of sodium hydroxide in a bucket of water, strip everything off the pan and immerse just the enamelled cast iron for a couple of hours.

That removes the seasoning. Then I put a new layer on by just popping the pan on the stovetop, adding a tablespoon of rice bran oil, and heating it gently until it starts smoking. Then I give it a wipe with paper towel while it's bloody hot and take it off the heat to cool down. Repeat a few times and you're good to go.

I got one off eBay through the week that had a truly ghastly surface. The sodium hydroxide dip revealed a revolting teflon layer under the accumulated grunge. I figured that had to come off, so I went at it with a paint stripping disk in an angle grinder. Under the teflon was a layer of white enamel, so I just kept going through that as well. I was fearful that the surface of the pan itself would be awful, but it's actually one of my best, and after a couple of hours work looks like a new one.

[Mark Walberg]

You mean you guys dont season like this:

Wow ! I need a range with a flame like that !

[Eric Siepmann]

Not using soap in cast iron is an old wife's tale. It's quite safe to wash your pan with normal dish soap. Google Serious Eats or the Food Lab's articles. They also have a very easy seasoning process. Light clear oil is best. Never had a single issue with the seasoning and soap. Just wash, rinse and throw on a burner to dry. Apply light clear oil and your done.

You can season with flax seed to actually create a seasoning that will survive the dishwasher. Forget who had that article. Maybe America's test Kitchen...