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Most of the care tips you see on cast iron are just superstition.
It’s actually super easy to care for. You just scrub it with some salt and a boar bristle brush, dry it with a linen towel, then store it in a marble sepulchre facing North.
if I don’t have a sepulchre will a charnal house do?
If you’re not going to take this seriously, just get a Teflon pan.
Absolutely fucking not
That better be magnetic north
My sepulchre hasn’t been marble 100 percent of the time, I’ll try harder
And all the ley lines intersect there
They’re way cheaper and they last multiple lifetimes. I don’t know what you’re on about.
More expensive???
Yeah you’re definitely over complicating it hommie
I never touched a cast iron pan in my life growing up, it simply wasn’t a thing. My ex had one and shortly after we met I was cleaning up his kitchen for him, found his nasty crusty cast iron pan and washed it. (We didn’t have Internet then so it’s not like I would have looked it up). His Australian parents were horrified. I still hate the filthy things.
That is yuck. Sometimes you do need to wash them properly with soap and everything, and just re-season them or whatever the cast iron enthusiast say.
That’s reminds when people don’t clean their BBQ and it’s this smelly source of fat going bad.
Not sure where this superstition came from. You can clean your cast iron with soap, pretty much any kind. Seasoning is very tough, around the hardness of glass. Pretty much the only real guidelines are don’t use anything abrasive like bar keepers friend (unless you wanna reseason), and don’t leave it wet.
The people leaving a layer of uncleaned grease on their pans have no clue what they are doing.
The superstition is due to old soaps which contained lye. That will desire you seasoning.
Modern soaps don’t contain any lye. You just want to make sure you dry it quickly after washing it.
Does it really make a difference? Personally I want my pan to sparkle but are these people really experiencing any negative effects? I realize food born illnesses exist but it doesn’t seem like the practice is bad enough to matter.
People that can’t handle cast iron are the same that can’t get their car’s oil changed on time.
After breakfast this morning I washed my skillets with the other dishes. The only difference is I put it on the stove to dry.I don’t know if people will be angry with me but I just cook in it for iron. So I just clean it normally with water later (no soap most of the time). Heat it to dry, and apply a bit of oil and store it. That way I never have grimes and dirty pieces there.
Wasn’t expecting so many people to get offended by this, not removing it though so stop asking
I was done with cast iron when I got a new cast iron pan that rusted the same day because it was humid and I didn’t get a chance to glaze it for just a few too many hours.
Oh well, I prefer to do big batches of one-pot cooking anyway. Simple, easy, efficient.
You can just scrub the rust off and glaze it, it’s fine
Yeah sure, but that’s not the greater issue. It’s a question of whether I have any interest in putting up with cast iron’s hassles, when I know I don’t have to. It also doesn’t help that cast iron is a very oil-centric kind of cooking, and I generally don’t use any added fats in my cooking. It just doesn’t make sense for me to use it.
Hear me out, though…nitrided iron.
Hear me out, 316 Stainless.
Lol, I keep seeing ads but never looked into it. Is there actually something to that or is it just marketing BS?
It feels different from cast iron, but hard to describe how exactly. A different consistency to the metal? Slightly slick, in the way that gun metal is. It doesn’t seem to need to be seasoned, and seems rust-resistant. Still great for searing meat and veggies. Holds heat like cast iron, and has the same weight.
*super easy to clean … but it doesn’t look clean, but it is.
It’s better used as a fucking weapon than a cooking utensil.
You know, I thought the same thing (about being a weapon), but apparently that isn’t the case. Maybe for one good bonk, but they’re actually kind of fragile. They break way easier than a standard steel pan would.
But I do agree they’re better for cooking because of the insane heat retention. I love mine. I have a whole set from small to large. Steaks come out perfect every time.
…why are you not cleaning your cast iron pan?
It’s old wisdom from way back when soap was made from lye.
That kind of soap is much harsher and can dissolve the seasoning, which is just a bunch of layers of polymerized oil that protects the metal from rust and gives it a glossy, almost non-stick coating.
Modern dish soap is nowhere near that harsh and is completely safe to use on a seasoned cast iron pan. It’s just that your grandparents and great grandparents beat that lesson into their kids and it stuck.
Cast iron is fine to cook on, but I much prefer stainless steel. It’s a bit harder to get the results you want, but it’s way easier to maintain.
They say high temp stainless basically becomes non stick. I just get stuff sticking then immediately burning and smoking out my kitchen.
Lower your temps. Stainless only sticks like that if you get it too hot.
This but also stop trying to unstick stuff when its not finished cooking yet.
That was one thing i had to learn when moving to stainless, you need to wait for the protein to unstick itself. Which when you’re so used to cooking on non-stick seems insane and risky.
Oh yeah good call good call. I’m so used to doing that with cast iron I didn’t even think about that. But yeah it’s harder with stainless for sure.
It takes practice and making sure it’s at the correct temperature. If I can fry eggs in stainless steel without sticking you can too friend. Follow the instructions on this page to get you started:
https://theskillfulcook.com/how-to-know-when-stainless-steel-pan-is-ready/
Heat up the pan on medium setting and then apply oil, if it smokes it is too hot. And don’t use olive oil, use an oil with a reasonably high smoke point. And you need to use more oil/fat than you’d normally do on other (non-stick) pans.
Don’t use extra virgin / virgin olive oil.* Regular olive oil has a higher smoke point.
no, medium-ish temp.
stainless steel has pores that close at the right temp so food wont stick.
you need to practice it on your cooktop yourself to find out what setting. after its heated, drip a big drop of water on it and it should dance around and sizzle. too hot or too cold it will stay where it is in the pan. theres prob a video you can watch to see what the drop of water should look like
There’s a good chance the dry detergent for a dishwasher can still strip the seasoning off cast iron. Especially generic brands. They’re supposed to have buffers in them to prevent it, but every additive, and mixing time, adds cost.
Your typical hand dish soap is probably safe as long as you’re not scrubbing with steel wool.
IIRC, powdered dish washing detergent is mildly abrasive, and it gets jetted around at relatively high speeds (compared to hand washing). That’s also why it’s bad for knives.
Thats interesting, I heard it was a smear campaign by marketing companies to sell Teflon pans.
Godort’s grandma probably: come here Godort. Grandpa’s gotta beat you again for using soap on the cast iron pan
at least Godort didn’t use The Good Scissors
AHHHHH NOT THE GOOD SCISSORS
sEaSoNinG
They last forever and don’t contain forever chemicals.
The old cast iron skillets might have lead.
Only if someone melted lead in it. I can do that in a new iron pan too.
IIRC the forever chemicals are not the coating that stays on the pan. The Teflon coating is inert, the toxic part is the water soluble PFAS they use to apply it that would go away (away meaning everywhere, each and every corner of the planet) while or shortly after manufacturing, or with the first uses.
So if you already own non-sticky pans don’t get rid of them, but look for another alternative when you buy a new one tho.
Don’t they release microplastics as well?
It’s not quite inert, a too-hot Teflon pan will release toxic gasses that can kill smaller pets like birds.
And cause flu like symptoms in humans
It’s still inert.
Inert simply means that the chemical bonds are relatively stable, not that they’re indestructible.
You can decompose anything if you get it hot enough.
Everything contains chemicals, and if it lasts forever it must contain forever chemicals.
But it doesn’t have PFAS which is good.
no, cus it is just iron. the “seasoning” is the cover you make yourself which is why most people say you can’t clean it.
Even cast iron pans have toxic things in them like lead, cadmium, and antimony. https://www.mychemicalfreehouse.net/2025/08/le-creuset-toxicity-review-lead-cadmium-pfas.html
It’s just very unlikely to get into your bloodstream and even then it’s an incredibly small amount. Completely different than PFAS where you’re getting double dipped on toxic chemicals: those dumped by the chemical companies into nature and those that offgas into your home.
lead
I’ve seen multiple people recommending to test the lead levels of any cast iron pots you buy secondhand, since apparently a common use for them is melting down scrap lead to make your own bullets and family members sell them off after their owner dies without knowing they’ll now poison anyone who cooks with them.
Yeah that’s good to do, but the link I provided was testing brand new pans. Turns out metal doesn’t just come out of the ground as one big blob, but mixed together with lots of other metals that are hard to separate! 🤷
But yeah good to check.
I think they just meant “chemicals” in the sense of “chemical element”, as in “to last forever, it must be made of something that lasts forever, and everything is made from chemical elements, so this must contain ‘forever chemicals’”. It was just a joke… And the PFAS statement that followed made it pretty clear that they know what they were talking about.
yeaa, okay that makes sense
Well but that seasoning is also random collection of polymers, probably not very healthty either when dissolved in a tomato sauce
it’s just an oil? like rapeseed oil is what I used – like you make it yourself you know 😁
Yeah start out as oil but with temperature end up a bioplastic
That’s like saying wine is just grapes. Cast iron seasoning is a highly temperature resistant biopolymer made by burning thin layers of oil onto cast iron (or carbon steel). There’s no evidence it’s harmful to ingest or that it offgasses at cooking temperatures, but it is a polymer. If it was still oil it would still be liquid.
Once again, no evidence it’s harmful and if I had to bet on the health and safety of popular cooking surfaces it would only be beat by glass because that shit is stupid inert without flaking. Then cast iron and carbon steel (same seasoning). Then stainless in the middle (I’m not certain I trust all the metals to make it stainless. And Teflon and copper vying for last place as known to contain risks to health if misused.
Holy crap, people really don’t get your joke it seems. Guess my upvote can only give so much relief, but I thought it was funny if that helps.
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If you consider the lifetime, it’s the cheapest type of pan by far.
Also you can clean them stop spreading misinformation pls 😘
If it’s too heavy for you there is stainless steel or carbon steel which also last but those aren’t as cheap.
Yeah I’ve been using my mom’s cast iron pan since she died like 7 years ago. Barring a level of fuck up I don’t think I can manage it should last the lifetime of the person who inherits it from me
I’ve got a little pan that’s on it’s third lifetime now, and no idea what it originally cost, but guaranteed it was worth the price for a multigenerational product.
You basically have to drop them from a second story window to break them
I did warp one slightly one time by getting it super hot and allowing it to cool unevenly. I still have it and use it. It might not sit flat on a cooktop but it’s just fine for camping.
And you will break the floor too
Preferably the street
The lifetime is usually about 1 week. I can leave all my other pans soaking in the sink for a day without rusting… I don’t have the time or energy to do dishes every day.
Okay even if you forget to clean it and it rusts, you can just use a steel sponge to get all the rust off and then you just need to re-season it for a few mins and you’re good to go again
Don’t soak it if you aren’t going to wash it… like just leave it on the counter or if you want to really get ahead for it pour some salt in the pan and let that sit until you feel like cleaning it. Because you can use metal on it without damaging it it’s not even hard to clean.
Teflon pans are disposable with a limited life that releases toxins into your body which is bad
Stainless steel is much less non stick but can at least stand up to soaking
Carbon steel also shouldn’t be soaked
Copper is expensive and also has care requirements
This. Just leave it on your stove with oil / food in it til you’re ready to clean it. Then use soap water and a chainmail scrubber. Be as aggressive as you want. The smoother it is the better. If you have a cheap lodge, taking the time to actually use a sander will bring it to high quality smooth like a more expensive finex or other.
After cleaning toss back on the stove on the heat for like 1 min to dry it out and you’re good to go. Ideally toss a little oil in the pan after heating and use a paper towel to rub it around, but if you are in a rush don’t even have to do that.
Honestly I just swipe it with a dish sponge until everything is off, rinse, then swipe it with a dish towel
Lol.
A) yes you do. You’re conflating not wanting to slightly alter your habits with not possible.
B) you can also leave it on the counter or the stovetop. You shouldn’t leave any metal object soaking in the sink for a day. Leave them on the counter and then put them in the sink to soak like 5 min before you start cleaning them.
A) you don’t know someone’s situation so don’t pass judgement when there are very valid reasons theg may not have the time of energy, as if mental health isn’t a valid reason already
B) soaking for 5 minutes is definitely not the same getting a good long soak
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If you’re soaking it to get stuck on stuff out of it… well stuff shouldn’t be sticking to it that aggressively. and if you’re soaking it to keep stuff from drying on, well, just rinse it out before leaving it to clean later.
I usually put water right into the hot pan. Flakes all the food off instantly, and it’s a lot of fun to quench it. Then a squirt of dishsoap (I keep a bottle of diluted dish soap by the sink, super handy!), scrub, rinse, and you’re done in actual seconds.
