How to Restore, Season and Clean a Cast Iron Skillet
Learn how easy it is to restore, season and clean your old cast iron skillet so that it will last for generations to come.
Servings: 1Clean Pan
Prep Time: 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 1 hourhour5 minutesminutes
Equipment
cast-iron pan
Ingredients
1cast iron skillet
1brillo pad
4tablespoonsoil
nonabrasive scour pad with 2 tablespoons of salt or soft bristle cleaning brush
Instructions
To Restore: Scrub under hot water using a brillo pad on all sides to remove all rust spots.
Dry thoroughly using a kitchen towel or on a stovetop burner on high heat.
To Season: Generously rub 3 tablespoons of oil into both sides of the pan using a paper towel.
Next, use a separate paper towel to remove any excess left on oil.
Place upside down in the middle of your oven rack at 500° for 1 hour. Store or use.
To Maintain: Scrub with hot water using a nonabrasive scour pad with 2 tablespoons of salt or a soft bristle cleaning brush to remove all unwanted stuck-on food particles.
Dry thoroughly using a kitchen towel or on a stovetop burner on high heat.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil and rub it into the pan on both sides.
Place in the oven on the middle rack at 500° or over a burner on high heat until it reaches the oil smoking point. You do this so the oil does not spoil.
Cool and store.
Notes
Chef Notes:• There is no cast-iron pan that is too far out of reach to be cleaned using this process.• Anything can be cooked in a seasoned-up cast iron skillet, even something as simple as sautéed vegetables.• The same process also applies to carbon steel pans