Hi, I am new to using cast iron pans. Wouldn't we have to worry about food poisioning as we don't actually wash the pans with hot soap and water? I've used my new pan maybe 5 times and everything sticks so bad in it it made me quit using it lol.
@thowdy I show that technique in a different video. The salt thing works great most of the time for little things. This video shows off stuff way beyond the salt trick.
Just got rid of my aluminum pots and pans and non-stick pans and started re-using my old cast iron skillets which are well seasoned (about 30 years old). I'll try your method from now on instead of mine..soap and water and coat with oil afterwards.
i have some old cast iron pans over 30 years and the largest one has this problem with rings on the pan and they are almost slightly raised and even more in the centre but the other 2 are fine. Its fine for pancakes but chicken always sticks in the centre but not the edges. THe other 2 pans are fine and dont have this problem with raised rings. i just use the large one for other stuff. what could cause this. poor quality pan maybe. i have seen newer ones and the surface is much smoother
@210482fmj Try refreshing the pan.. bring it down to the bare metal in an oven cleaning cycle or with mechanical means (use some sandpaper or a grinder to get the cooking surface smooth and level). Oil it up and polymerize the surface, rebuild the seasoning layers, and see if that solves the problem.
I've seen a few vids on this and people always tell me cast iron sticks and is horrible. Sounds like they weren't informed to me. I get sick of warped pans or chipping teflon etc. I got pumped to find a set @ the next garage sales and then in the stoves manual it says "DO NOT USE CAST IRON ON COOKING SURFACE OR IT WILL CRACK! So there went my motivation due to my flat top stove. But hey i have an easy to clean stove. Just need a razor blade.
@InvincibleRain I've used cast iron on flat top stoves and there are plenty of people on youtube showing it done. You might call the manufacturer, or just try it out.
I had completely forgotten about doing this when i was growing up to clean my Moms cast iron pan then I would sit it back on the stove burner to dry and grease it down after dry.. Thanks for the nostalgia..
Paul !! Thanks for the tip .... Great !!! By the way , what is the music you're listening to during the video shooting ...... Pretty cool song .... Who's that , what CD ? Thanks a bunch !!! herrmarques
I would use a wood spatula myself. Re-seasoning/greasing the pan after cleaning is essential. ( I use a super thin layer of Crisco and then let it cool.) I don't know why it's not discussed more.
The primary reason old skillets work so well when seasoned is that the inside face was smooth as glass. You can't find a modern cast iron skillet that doesn't have a badly machined face on the cooking surface and they just suck. And you can keep your veggie oil curing. My grandmothers old skillet was seasoned with decades of bacon and eggs every morning and to this day it works better than any teflon pan I've ever seen. And yes, it still cooks bacon and eggs every morning. :-)
@Majortom71 the salt acts as a soaking agent when getting the grease out as well as assisting in cleaning the pan. However in the extreme example above, it doesn't hurt to give yourself a head start and boil water in the pan. To each their own. If boiling didn't do the trick, then I do use salt. On the final part where he coats the pan, it is just the fact of touching a rubbing a hot pan all over with oil. I use olive oil personally.
Why does food stick to cast iron in the first place? Two reasons:
1) Putting food into a skillet that is not preheated;
2) Seasoning skillets with vegetable-based fats.
After years of cast iron cooking I stumbled on a gem in an old Foxfire book. The pioneers and settlers seasoned their cast iron with animal fat. It really makes a difference.
@ForeverFreePress Everyone says that the oil/fat type doesn't matter as long as its one of the suggested ones. Why does it have to be an animal fat? Have you tried seasoning and cooking with animal fat and veg oil side by side and saw differences? Also, why does every single person, video, and website have different and contradictory instructions on how to season cast iron?
@deepfatfryed Having seasoned cast iron with everything sans crude, I still exp'd most of the problems stated in all the cast iron how-to vids. My problems were solved when I seasoned my iron with a chunk of animal fat, as suggested in a Foxfire volume. Now I find that bacon grease, butter, or animal fat works equally well. It's important to warm the iron (200 deg is enough) and simply wipe it with the animal fat. The salt/oil trick is also very effective for achieving a non-stick mirror finish.
@deepfatfryed I fought with my iron for years and seasoned it with olive oil, veg oil, Crisco, butter, and finally animal fat. No one on this site has the experience with cast iron the pioneers had. The pioneers had non-stick cast iron because they used animal fat to season their iron. Not too much, though, or it goes rancid. This comes from a Foxfire book printed in the late 60s. I use my iron every day. It is non-stick and has a beautiful smooth mirror finish. And I clean up with a paper towel
Love your videos. This one almost hits the bullseye. Too much energy wasted!
Right after you cook your food in the skillet, and while it is still cooking-temperature hot, just run the hot water into it. Hold it away from your face, 'cause it will steam your glasses up! The skillet will release the crispy particles of food into the water. Rinse and return the warm skillet to the warm (turned OFF) burner. Wipe puddles of water out with a paper towel. And reseason with animal fat.
The best way to clean a pan is to put some coarse salt in the pan, and scrub it with an old newspaper. The salt absorbs fat and dirt. Then wipe with a clean piece of newspaper and you're all set. I never use water on my cast iron pans, it just makes them rust.
Paul I just wanted to thank you for this video. This one and a couple of others helped me get brave enough to use my inherited, super-seasoned cast iron pans after not touching them for seven years because I was afraid I would ruin them! I use them almost every day now and I'll never go back. Thanks so much. :)
I think the only way I'm going to fully understand the process is if you come clean my pans, oh and my house too... Joking aside, this works well for quality stainless steel pans also.
The best way to clean cast iron is with a bamboo pot scrubber and hot water applied to the smoking hot pan. That's how every chinese restaurant chef cleans his wok and they use them all day, every day.
i just bought a cast iron pan, that had a sticker on it, dust and a few rustt spots that the store owner mistaqked for dirt, but whatever. (it was sitting in the....cleaned with boiling waqter,,,turned orange..distressed, i checked another vid..it said hot soap scrub n rinse...i did this (cold water) with a soapy detergent sponge and rinsed. it soon turned deeper orange at the bottom. is this typical?
how can i correct this...how will the orange disappear. i have yet to oil prepare in oven,
You don't want rust on your cast iron, but it's an easy fix to remove those spots. Just dump a few tbsp of salt in the center of the pan and then dump the same amount of vegetable oil, last step: scrub vigorously with a folded papertowel. For really tough rough spots use steel wool. Then you can wash it out and dry (like shown in the video) you will have to re-season the pan as doing this will remove any prior seasoning.
Good job Bro! Now if you could just convince my girlfriend to keep the Dawn dishwashing soap/ seasoning stripper/ paint stripper away from my Lodge gear I'd have reason to celebrate!
If you keep the temperature of your elements a little lower, you can keep that "burn" look to the pan down and with that, the need to re-season the pan isn't needed as often. Another thing to try is, instead of using vegitable oils, try animal fats like lard to season the pan, I find it lasts so much better.
Sandblaster is my favorite tool for cleaning these :-) I found out by watching other videos if you preheat the cast iron pan, add salt and pepper oil before you add your eggs to it they don't stick and much easier to clean up. Cast iron is awesome to cook with once you learn the tricks.
Imagine what is happening to your organs if the food is that hard to clean out of a pan. Diet related diseases kill more people in the US than anything else. Not cool.
My theory is: the easier to clean up after, the healthier the food was.
@manofskill just because food interacts a certain way with an iron pan doesn't automatically mean that it interacts the same way with your organs, the two are completely separate materials.
This has been flagged as spam show
i was looking for Skillet (the band) LOL but i find this helpful :)
vasyuey 4 days ago
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vasyuey 4 days ago
I spray my cast iron skillet with PAM before I use it and I haven't had any problems cleaning it after I am done using it.
OU812ICRUNVS 1 week ago
Hi, I am new to using cast iron pans. Wouldn't we have to worry about food poisioning as we don't actually wash the pans with hot soap and water? I've used my new pan maybe 5 times and everything sticks so bad in it it made me quit using it lol.
metallicarocks123 1 month ago
@metallicarocks123 Sounds like you didn't season your pan properly.
Shaitan00 2 weeks ago
@Shaitan00 no clue I did everything the info on the sites said. I'm told it takes alot of time, patience, which I don't have lol
metallicarocks123 2 weeks ago
Alton Brown recommended using kosher salt to clean a cast iron skillet. I tried it and it worked like a champ.
thowdy 1 month ago
@thowdy I show that technique in a different video. The salt thing works great most of the time for little things. This video shows off stuff way beyond the salt trick.
paulwheaton12 1 month ago
@paulwheaton12 I've actually done the boiling thing but was worried about its effects on cast iron. Good to know that it doesn't harm the skillet.
thowdy 1 month ago
Just got rid of my aluminum pots and pans and non-stick pans and started re-using my old cast iron skillets which are well seasoned (about 30 years old). I'll try your method from now on instead of mine..soap and water and coat with oil afterwards.
Thanks for posting this!!
1955JAFO 1 month ago
i have some old cast iron pans over 30 years and the largest one has this problem with rings on the pan and they are almost slightly raised and even more in the centre but the other 2 are fine. Its fine for pancakes but chicken always sticks in the centre but not the edges. THe other 2 pans are fine and dont have this problem with raised rings. i just use the large one for other stuff. what could cause this. poor quality pan maybe. i have seen newer ones and the surface is much smoother
210482fmj 2 months ago
@210482fmj Try refreshing the pan.. bring it down to the bare metal in an oven cleaning cycle or with mechanical means (use some sandpaper or a grinder to get the cooking surface smooth and level). Oil it up and polymerize the surface, rebuild the seasoning layers, and see if that solves the problem.
silvermediastudio 1 month ago
Comment removed
210482fmj 2 months ago
Yummy crud soup, just like grandma used to make!
blewis618 2 months ago
Good shit.
edganchez 2 months ago
I've seen a few vids on this and people always tell me cast iron sticks and is horrible. Sounds like they weren't informed to me. I get sick of warped pans or chipping teflon etc. I got pumped to find a set @ the next garage sales and then in the stoves manual it says "DO NOT USE CAST IRON ON COOKING SURFACE OR IT WILL CRACK! So there went my motivation due to my flat top stove. But hey i have an easy to clean stove. Just need a razor blade.
InvincibleRain 2 months ago in playlist cast iron skillet
@InvincibleRain I've used cast iron on flat top stoves and there are plenty of people on youtube showing it done. You might call the manufacturer, or just try it out.
silvermediastudio 1 month ago
If my recipe ask for beer or wine in, do I have to let them warm off before pouring in my skillet????
meuhey 5 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
do this on ur bbq outside the neighbors will love you I do it to clean my glass smoking pipes
meuhey 5 months ago
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meuhey 5 months ago
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meuhey 5 months ago
Nice job Paul :)
justGenny 7 months ago
I put a tiny bit of bleach and baking soda and let it sit overnight and it was like new....all the rust was gone....love cast iron! Corie
Seattle4areus 7 months ago
I clean most've my pots n pans like that, especially when food gets burnt on.
Rottidog 8 months ago
I had completely forgotten about doing this when i was growing up to clean my Moms cast iron pan then I would sit it back on the stove burner to dry and grease it down after dry.. Thanks for the nostalgia..
wrtavares 8 months ago
Paul !! Thanks for the tip .... Great !!! By the way , what is the music you're listening to during the video shooting ...... Pretty cool song .... Who's that , what CD ? Thanks a bunch !!! herrmarques
herrmarques 8 months ago
@herrmarques jimmy pardo. ask on the forums at permies.com and I'll set you up with a link (yt doesn't let me put links here)
paulwheaton12 8 months ago
I would use a wood spatula myself. Re-seasoning/greasing the pan after cleaning is essential. ( I use a super thin layer of Crisco and then let it cool.) I don't know why it's not discussed more.
DCFunBud 9 months ago
metal (harder made in china) on metal (softer, most likely made in china) = guitar song and a pleasant day! sleep well America!
meforgodforall 9 months ago
The primary reason old skillets work so well when seasoned is that the inside face was smooth as glass. You can't find a modern cast iron skillet that doesn't have a badly machined face on the cooking surface and they just suck. And you can keep your veggie oil curing. My grandmothers old skillet was seasoned with decades of bacon and eggs every morning and to this day it works better than any teflon pan I've ever seen. And yes, it still cooks bacon and eggs every morning. :-)
MrFinger8r 9 months ago
I heard you can use coarse salt to clean out cast iron avoiding the use of water which can result in rusting. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Majortom71 10 months ago
@Majortom71 the salt acts as a soaking agent when getting the grease out as well as assisting in cleaning the pan. However in the extreme example above, it doesn't hurt to give yourself a head start and boil water in the pan. To each their own. If boiling didn't do the trick, then I do use salt. On the final part where he coats the pan, it is just the fact of touching a rubbing a hot pan all over with oil. I use olive oil personally.
shaithis80 9 months ago
(sorry for the double-post -- DOH!)
Why does food stick to cast iron in the first place? Two reasons:
1) Putting food into a skillet that is not preheated;
2) Seasoning skillets with vegetable-based fats.
After years of cast iron cooking I stumbled on a gem in an old Foxfire book. The pioneers and settlers seasoned their cast iron with animal fat. It really makes a difference.
ForeverFreePress 11 months ago
@ForeverFreePress Everyone says that the oil/fat type doesn't matter as long as its one of the suggested ones. Why does it have to be an animal fat? Have you tried seasoning and cooking with animal fat and veg oil side by side and saw differences? Also, why does every single person, video, and website have different and contradictory instructions on how to season cast iron?
deepfatfryed 11 months ago
@deepfatfryed Having seasoned cast iron with everything sans crude, I still exp'd most of the problems stated in all the cast iron how-to vids. My problems were solved when I seasoned my iron with a chunk of animal fat, as suggested in a Foxfire volume. Now I find that bacon grease, butter, or animal fat works equally well. It's important to warm the iron (200 deg is enough) and simply wipe it with the animal fat. The salt/oil trick is also very effective for achieving a non-stick mirror finish.
ForeverFreePress 11 months ago
@deepfatfryed I fought with my iron for years and seasoned it with olive oil, veg oil, Crisco, butter, and finally animal fat. No one on this site has the experience with cast iron the pioneers had. The pioneers had non-stick cast iron because they used animal fat to season their iron. Not too much, though, or it goes rancid. This comes from a Foxfire book printed in the late 60s. I use my iron every day. It is non-stick and has a beautiful smooth mirror finish. And I clean up with a paper towel
ForeverFreePress 11 months ago
@PaulWheaton12:
Love your videos. This one almost hits the bullseye. Too much energy wasted!
Right after you cook your food in the skillet, and while it is still cooking-temperature hot, just run the hot water into it. Hold it away from your face, 'cause it will steam your glasses up! The skillet will release the crispy particles of food into the water. Rinse and return the warm skillet to the warm (turned OFF) burner. Wipe puddles of water out with a paper towel. And reseason with animal fat.
ForeverFreePress 11 months ago
Comment removed
ForeverFreePress 11 months ago
The best way to clean a pan is to put some coarse salt in the pan, and scrub it with an old newspaper. The salt absorbs fat and dirt. Then wipe with a clean piece of newspaper and you're all set. I never use water on my cast iron pans, it just makes them rust.
Wipe off the salt, and Voila!
flepster 1 year ago
wow, I didn't think using cast iron was so involved. Thanks for sharing. Very Useful to know how to use them right!
MasterVeggie 1 year ago
Paul I just wanted to thank you for this video. This one and a couple of others helped me get brave enough to use my inherited, super-seasoned cast iron pans after not touching them for seven years because I was afraid I would ruin them! I use them almost every day now and I'll never go back. Thanks so much. :)
speedbmp 1 year ago
I think the only way I'm going to fully understand the process is if you come clean my pans, oh and my house too... Joking aside, this works well for quality stainless steel pans also.
lizguini 1 year ago
I think the only way I'm going to fully understand the process is if you come clean my pans, oh and my house too...
lizguini 1 year ago
The best way to clean cast iron is with a bamboo pot scrubber and hot water applied to the smoking hot pan. That's how every chinese restaurant chef cleans his wok and they use them all day, every day.
Pangolinx1 1 year ago
Was that Pavarotti accompanying your skillet cleaning demo?
Grufian 1 year ago
i just bought a cast iron pan, that had a sticker on it, dust and a few rustt spots that the store owner mistaqked for dirt, but whatever. (it was sitting in the....cleaned with boiling waqter,,,turned orange..distressed, i checked another vid..it said hot soap scrub n rinse...i did this (cold water) with a soapy detergent sponge and rinsed. it soon turned deeper orange at the bottom. is this typical?
how can i correct this...how will the orange disappear. i have yet to oil prepare in oven,
dexterpointexter 1 year ago
@dexterpointexter
You don't want rust on your cast iron, but it's an easy fix to remove those spots. Just dump a few tbsp of salt in the center of the pan and then dump the same amount of vegetable oil, last step: scrub vigorously with a folded papertowel. For really tough rough spots use steel wool. Then you can wash it out and dry (like shown in the video) you will have to re-season the pan as doing this will remove any prior seasoning.
MadAndronicus 1 year ago
Good job Bro! Now if you could just convince my girlfriend to keep the Dawn dishwashing soap/ seasoning stripper/ paint stripper away from my Lodge gear I'd have reason to celebrate!
matt4270 1 year ago
cold water wont crack an iron pan!
Axbent 1 year ago
thicken it up an pour over mashed potatoes...
VonLeachim 1 year ago
nice tune in the background
WorldStove 1 year ago
If you keep the temperature of your elements a little lower, you can keep that "burn" look to the pan down and with that, the need to re-season the pan isn't needed as often. Another thing to try is, instead of using vegitable oils, try animal fats like lard to season the pan, I find it lasts so much better.
NaeKid 1 year ago
the handle does not get hot and burn your hand?
anniequilts 1 year ago
@anniequilts I have a hot pad around for when the handle gets hot
paulwheaton12 1 year ago
Thats how we cleaned them over the fires when I was in the Yukon.
Revolutionisnow1 1 year ago
Sandblaster is my favorite tool for cleaning these :-) I found out by watching other videos if you preheat the cast iron pan, add salt and pepper oil before you add your eggs to it they don't stick and much easier to clean up. Cast iron is awesome to cook with once you learn the tricks.
marthale7 1 year ago
Exactly the same way I clean my 8" skillet, except I don't use green pad! Thank you for sharing.
nedeljkomostar 1 year ago
You know I love you Paul. But...
Imagine what is happening to your organs if the food is that hard to clean out of a pan. Diet related diseases kill more people in the US than anything else. Not cool.
My theory is: the easier to clean up after, the healthier the food was.
manofskill 1 year ago
@manofskill well, I had so many people asking me about this space, I really needed something to super-stick so I could make this video.
paulwheaton12 1 year ago
@paulwheaton12 Understood. Education is important and I can't deny indulging on occasion either :)
I'm so curious, what did you cook to produce such a fine example?
manofskill 1 year ago
@manofskill I think that was burgers followed by a trip out of town for a week or better. Nothing like time to get something REALLY petrified!
paulwheaton12 1 year ago
@manofskill just because food interacts a certain way with an iron pan doesn't automatically mean that it interacts the same way with your organs, the two are completely separate materials.
CoraxTheCold 1 year ago