Guidelines for Daily Care 

Daily care of your cast iron pan is not difficult.  Just follow a few simple steps for a lifetime of use. 
After you are finished cooking…

• Put water in the pan,
• Scrub the pan,
• Dry the pan and add a thin coat of oil, 
• Add some heat and let it cool.  

The details are important so let’s look at each step and talk about a few things to avoid.  

And if you want this information (and more) in one document – Click HERE for all the information on one SIMPLE SHEET. 

1. Get some water in the pan

Cover the bottom of the pan with water soon after cooking – but not right away!  You do not want to put water is a searing hot pan.  If the water violently spits, sizzles and steams – you put it in too soon.  This could damage your pan so just wait 10 minutes or so.  The pan will still be hot (but not too hot).  Put it back on the stove until you are ready to clean it.  If you cooked something particularly messy – let it soak for a good long time.  Try not to leave water in the pan overnight and definitely do not immerse the pan in water.   

2. Get the food off the pan

After a soak, the food in the pan should come right off.  It is OK if the pan looks a bit ugly after cooking.  Remember, having a great non-stick seasoning layer does not guarantee you a spot-free pan.  But it does allow you to just wipe most of it away with little or no effort.  

Take a look at the tools I use every day:

The white brush is all I need to clean the pan 80% of the time.  If you have some persistent food then put water back in the pan for another half hour or so.  After the brush has done its work, if necessary, a light scrub with the green side of the sponge usually takes care of the rest. 

I only rarely need to scrape the pan – I have the black and red plastic scrapers but barely use them.  The last time I used one was when I made a pan of well-done caramelized onions (oh – they were glorious).  But even with a good soak there was a spotty layer of baked-on gunk.  Looks like the sugars from the onions really got baked onto the pan.  After a soak and a scrub with the brush, I put some water in the pan and brought it up to a boil for 5 minutes.  I gently used the scraper on the rough layer of cooked-on food and that is all it took.  At first, I wondered if the black flakes I saw were the onions or the seasoning layers.  But it was the crusty food for sure.  The seasoning layer looked to be in great shape.  Then I finished up the cleaning normally. 

Lastly, I have a chainmail scrubber.  I think this is super cool – it causes no harm and does a really good job.  But here is a small but significant point…if you follow the steps above you probably won’t need any serious scrubbing.  But perhaps it could be handy if you have some serious stuck on food or you just get impatient.    

Salt?  I do not use this method, but others swear by it.  By adding large grained sea salt to the pan and wiping with a sponge/paper towel – it adds some abrasiveness to assist getting the food off the pan.  I just do not see the need.  All I need is a little patience and the tools above.  No need to add a consumable item to the process that I need to purchase (and repurchase).

Don’t fear the dish soap. 

What is this horror you speak of?  It is funny to see some people react to the question of using dish soap on your precious cast iron pans.  The truth is that the polymerized seasoning you baked onto your cast iron pans is very hard and resistant.  A little soap will not hurt it.  Also…it is not necessary.  Follow the steps above – cleaning a well seasoned pan is not difficult.  I would worry a bit for the seasoning if you scour the pan, soak in soapy water or put in the dishwasher.  Don’t do these things.   

Sometimes, I find that my pan is feels greasy after cleaning.  Maybe the bottom of the sink I was working in was particularly greasy.  Or more likely, my brush was not clean before I used it.  Either way, if the pan feels greasy go ahead and use a sponge with a very small amount of soap to give it a light wipe and rinse.  All will be well. 
Really. 

3. Dry the Pan – Add a Thin Coat of Oil

After cleaning, dry the pan with a towel.  You may think that you are going to heat it on the stove anyway – why dry it?  Because water is pervasive and persistent.  Remember, cast iron transmits heat slowly.  The water will typically not have enough time to evaporate from the whole pan.  The simple answer is to get most of the water off with a towel first. 

After toweling the pan dry – put it on the stove for maybe 5 minutes until the pan is completely dry and hot.  I usually flip the pan upside down for a few minutes during drying.  Put a small amount of oil in the pan (I recommend canola oil) and spread it with a paper towel.  You are just using enough to cover the bottom and sides with an oily sheen (I usually do not do the bottom of the pan during this daily maintenance).  Some people would stop here – but I definitely recommend 2 more short steps.  

Do not put an oily pan away because old oil will turn sticky and rancid.  So once the hot pan is covered with a small amount of oil, buff it out with a cloth.  Take off all the oil you put on because this is where I see many problems develop.  Too much oil will leave spots or become sticky.  So after buffing with a cloth put it back on the stove for a minute or two and make sure it is hot to the touch.  Then turn it off and leave it out to dry.  Done.  Perfect. 

Paper Towels and Cloth

It is very useful to use a small washcloth for buffing oil out of the pan and I have one dedicated for this purpose.  It is the cotton checkered cloth in the photo above (after one wash it was pretty much lint free).  Anytime I am covering the pan with a light coat of oil I am typically using a paper towel.  When I am taking the oil out of the pan (either in initial seasoning or maintenance) I use the dedicated washcloth.  The cloth is easier when dealing with a hot pan and paper towels can shred if things get abrasive.  And why use a ton of paper towels all the time?  Highly recommended!

4. Summary!

1. Cover the bottom of the pan soon after cooking – but not right away.  You do not want to put water is a searing hot pan. 
2. Use a dish brush or light scrubbing to remove all the food from the pan.  If it does not come off easily – soak it longer or use some light scraping. 
3. After the pan is clean of food, dry it with a towel and put on stove for 5 – 10 minutes until the pan is completely dry and hot. 
4. Put a really small amount of oil in the pan and spread it with a paper towel.  Buff out the oil you just put in and place the pan back on the heat for a few more minutes. 
5. Turn off and leave to cool.