Question: Cooking with cast iron

b33g33

New member
Hi, I bought a KAWAGUCHI I-mono pan from Hitachiya a while back (based on your post!) and may have screwed up the seasoning by trying to do a flax-seed oil treatment with waaaay too much oil. The pan has not been very smooth since then but I continue to use it.

A recent trout pan-fry left some burnt stuck on skin and gunk that will not come off with the oil+salt scrubbing and the whole pan seems sticky and gunky in places.

Do I need to strip and re-season or is there an alternative? We are currently in a temporary apartment due to some work relocations and I can't really do a proper seasoning.
 

ab1985

Explorer
A chain male scrubber and hot water will take off food/gunk. From your description it sounds like it needs to be stripped and reseasoned. Hard to say without seeing it or knowing what you did with the flax seed oil. Either way it's relatively simple in an oven on self clean.
 

KevinsMap

Adventurer
Hi, I bought a KAWAGUCHI I-mono pan from Hitachiya a while back (based on your post!) and may have screwed up the seasoning by trying to do a flax-seed oil treatment with waaaay too much oil. The pan has not been very smooth since then but I continue to use it.

A recent trout pan-fry left some burnt stuck on skin and gunk that will not come off with the oil+salt scrubbing and the whole pan seems sticky and gunky in places.

Do I need to strip and re-season or is there an alternative? We are currently in a temporary apartment due to some work relocations and I can't really do a proper seasoning.

First: All part of the learning curve, so don't sweat it; you cannot permanently damage a good quality cast iron pan by getting it goopy. So that the first point - No Worries. That pan will outlive you ;-)

Next: Good advice above, from ab1985! Hot water, if necessary a 4-hour hot soak. Plus; all cleaning should be done without soap. A copper linked-coil scrubber works very well for removing thick baked-on gunk. It will remove some seasoning from the very top surface of the iron, but that is not a problem since you are not doing an ordinary cleaning... you are doing preparation for a partial re-seasoning.

Still a problem? Perhaps the oil has become a type of tar-plastic, tough and resistant to scraping by the copper? No amount of patience or hot water will help? Then: Heat the pan over a burner, to soften the goop. Use the copper scrubber now, while the pan is hot and the goop is soft. Repeat as necessary to remove the softened debris, right down to the pebbled iron surface... But! Be careful here! This requires care and finesse, or you WILL burn yourself.

Copper does not rust so the scrubber can be reused many times, even in the field. If you need to use this heavy-cleaning technique in the field you simply finish your heavy-cleaning task, and then immediately... fry something! Rasher of bacon anyone? Any fat/oil/grease. Fry it lightly and quickly (I like my bacon crispy, please ;-), wipe out the pan with a bunched-up paper towel while the pan is "frying" hot, to create a smooth surface of grease without debris. Fry the coated pan some more very hot without adding any more fat/oil/grease. Get it to smoke a bit, black but still greasy. Cool to air temperature. Clean lightly and normally with water and a paper towel. Done.

Seasoning is done to prevent rust, so any fat will do in the field. No soap. Not ever!

Next: Avoid salt in the future. It works, yes, a good traditional technique. But it is another learning curve and not necessary unless you have a really rusty, damaged pan. What you are describing above is easily cleaned with hot soaking and a copper scrubber.

Note: For ordinary cleaning I highly recommend the traditional Japanese coconut husk scrub pads. They are very useful. They leave no debris (unlike scotchbrite pads, which "shed" and many of which are pretreated with soap), last well, do not easily clog, and the coco husk cannot damage the pan. They are not as aggressive as copper, but very good at burned debris. Still, soaking is your friend in all situations. Even in the field, 4 hours of soaking in the nice warm sun cannot damage a well seasoned iron pan.

Never soak unseasoned or poorly/partially seasoned iron unless it is FULLY submerged, to avoid rust.

Finally: Seasoning can be done at home in an ordinary oven, gas or electric. Highest bake setting available. The lower temperature ovens will simply take longer. One thin coat of oil at a time, bake until dry and BLACK. Do not try to bake on a "Thick Coat". That will create a sticky mess. A thin coat, not thick enough to sag or run. If you get lighter grey areas on a mostly BLACK pan, re-coat very lightly while still hot and bake some more until BLACK. Sometimes you just cannot get an even colour; no worries, it is seasoned. Just coat it lightly again, while still hot, and bake awhile but not completely dry. Wipe dry and you are done.

edit for emphasis:: One simply cannot say it often enough - NO SOAP - not ever
 
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::Squish::

Observer
No soap in a cast iron pan is like an old wives tale.

I have three lodges pans and a griswald pan along with lodge griddle. One of the lodges is 10years old and the GW is most likely about 70 years old.
Rare is it they need soap but if there is some stuck or an oily build up a couple drops of soap cuts the oil right quick.

I use the griddle nearly every day and the pans frequently the seasoning on the GW is great the older lodge pan is still humming along. We don't cook meat in the house so there's not a lot of natural fat that makes it way onto the pans but I do cook with butter or oil,
 

KevinsMap

Adventurer
No soap in a cast iron pan is like an old wives tale.

I have three lodges pans and a griswald pan along with lodge griddle. One of the lodges is 10years old and the GW is most likely about 70 years old.
Rare is it they need soap but if there is some stuck or an oily build up a couple drops of soap cuts the oil right quick.

I use the griddle nearly every day and the pans frequently the seasoning on the GW is great the older lodge pan is still humming along. We don't cook meat in the house so there's not a lot of natural fat that makes it way onto the pans but I do cook with butter or oil,

Well... i'm getting older, and I have a wife... but no, I tell no tales; not about soap. Since you are so dismissive, I'll take issue, but I take no offense. No offense offered, either. You're not wrong, just... dismissive.

Soap does indeed cut the oil, right on through to the metal. And indeed, all it takes is a few drops. It dismantles those protective long-chain polymers (oil, grease, or fat) that someone, perhaps you, has dutifully cross-linked and bonded onto that raw iron surface. That leaves the raw iron surface open to corrosion, rust, which is why the pan is seasoned in the first place. To prevent that rust.

So why use soap when hot water, or a hot flame, will do the job and not require the pan to be re-seasoned? That's why those "wives" were right; you're making work for yourself and you absolutely don't need to do that. But hey... if you are careful and experienced and use the pan every day with ANY kind of oil or fat, you ARE re-seasoning the pan every time.

So you can take a short cut.

But. If you use too much soap and cut through the seasoning... you have made a deal of work. And. It was not necessary. In 50 years of cleaning iron pans, I've never needed soap. Heat is easy and fast and safe when you respect the heat, and it removes anything.

So. Got a little technical there; 30 years in engineering and design will bring that out in a person. But we engineers are funny creatures. We just don't go in for "old wives tales"... unless they were right ;-)

I never dismiss people when they have a legitimate point. Just as I did not dismiss you. But if you dismiss a very real problem that the inexperienced might create by the use of soap on an iron pan? You will lead them astray with such certainty.
 

Roger M.

Adventurer
Lodge note on their website that a little bit of mild dish detergent won't damage or "de-season" a well seasoned cast iron frying pan.

Personally, I wouldn't ever use detergent on my cast iron ... as it's just not needed unless completely re-seasoning - but used in a judicious manner as suggested by Lodge on their website, those who feel their cookware won't really be clean without detergent can proceed ... with a bit of caution.
 

::Squish::

Observer
Here's the deal,
Cast iron cooking devices have been around for a couple of thousand years.

You would think in that time, someone would have come up with the definitive way to clean cast iron.

They haven't as evidenced by all the lore surrounding cast iron cooking that can be found spread across the internet.

If you don't want to use soap on your cast iron, don't, but using soap isn't the end of the seasoning, it doesn't magically melt off the seasoning, if it did the pan really wasn't seasoned. it was just oiled and you've just cleaned off "liquid" oil from the pan.

So yes I was dismissive, soap on cast-iron simply isn't that big of a deal.

Really, these things have been around longer than many civilizations. You can scrub, soak, burn, grind, mill, abrade, polish, scrape, brush, sand, salt, wipe, soap
and a thousand other things to clean out a pan, The more aggressive the process is more likely to remove the seasoning.

Soap and a soft bristle brush, it's not taken off the seasoning on my pans or griddle, either the old pan or the new cookware. It doesn't even have an effect on it.
Scraping on the other hand, that does chip away at the seasoning.
 

KevinsMap

Adventurer
Here's the deal,
Cast iron cooking devices have been around for a couple of thousand years.

You would think in that time, someone would have come up with the definitive way to clean cast iron.

They haven't as evidenced by all the lore surrounding cast iron cooking that can be found spread across the internet.

If you don't want to use soap on your cast iron, don't, but using soap isn't the end of the seasoning, it doesn't magically melt off the seasoning, if it did the pan really wasn't seasoned. it was just oiled and you've just cleaned off "liquid" oil from the pan.

So yes I was dismissive, soap on cast-iron simply isn't that big of a deal.

Really, these things have been around longer than many civilizations. You can scrub, soak, burn, grind, mill, abrade, polish, scrape, brush, sand, salt, wipe, soap
and a thousand other things to clean out a pan, The more aggressive the process is more likely to remove the seasoning.

Soap and a soft bristle brush, it's not taken off the seasoning on my pans or griddle, either the old pan or the new cookware. It doesn't even have an effect on it.
Scraping on the other hand, that does chip away at the seasoning.

From the LODGE site:

"To Soap or not to Soap...

If no soap is too scary, wash with mild soapy water and dry and oil immediately. However, consider that cookware is 400ºF in 4 minutes on medium heat and is sterile at 212º F, so soap isn’t always necessary.

Dishwashers, strong detergents and metal scouring pads are not recommended, as they remove seasoning."


Which is why I use my copper scrubber only for really serious problems, like the one posted by b33g33 above. For ordinary cleaning? A paper towel, or coconut husk, and heat.

Soap? Go your way...

The rest: http://shop.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/seasoned-cast-iron-use-and-care.asp
 
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perterra

Adventurer
I started out hard core no soap in my dutch ovens, started experimenting. I really cant tell the difference in soap or no soap. Not hard core scrubbing, but a light wash then I give mine a light wipe of oil after every wash. Thats more to do with storing them in my camper than worrying about non stick.

Seriously, no difference that I can tell.
 

::Squish::

Observer
Truth be told, I don't need to use soap very often at all, mostly just a quick wipe with a towel,
I use soap if I've fried using a lot of oil. or when I cook with eggs, or when someone else has used too high of a heat with the pan.

For a scraper I've found a plastic blade scraper works the best.

And lower temps, it's amazing at least with my old gas range how low the flame can be and still do a great job of cooking on cast iron, especially when you let it heat soak for a decent amount of time.
 

Roger M.

Adventurer
There really is never a need to do much more than a quick scrub with a bristle brush and some warm water if a guy uses low-med heat, and leaves that heat on long enough to completely heat the pan up before putting the first bit of food in the pan.

I see a lot of folks run med-high heat with cast iron, then throw the food in right away - as the pan is going through a major (and fast) rise in heat.
They then wonder why all their food is sticking to the pan.

Great seasoning, low-med heat, let the pan heat up for 10 minutes on that low heat ... food never sticks, and soap is never needed during clean-up.

If your stove won't let you run a really low heat (as my Partner generally won't), then throw a steel (not cast iron) griddle on the stove and put the cast iron frying pan on top of that (it acts nicely as a heat diffuser).
 

RHINO

Expedition Leader
some of you are flirting around understanding seasoning,,, proper season is a carbonizing of the oil, not the oil itself and once done it is very difficult to remove. eccessive soap and eccessive scrubing can do some damage, but ive never seen soap and a dish scrubber remove season. if you read about de-seasoning for a renew you'll see how much heat and mechanical scrubbing or chemical scrubbing is needed to really get to the bare iron. i do it alot on yard sale finds and the well seasoned iron is tough to un-season. my grandmother cooked almost exclusively on cast iron and i remember her washing with soap after cooking almost every nite,,, i now own all her iron and its some of the best seasoned iron i own.
i dont have to use soap much, but once in a while, after a cobbler for example its usefull and doesnt hurt the seasoning at all,, just rub a little oil in after cleaning and your set.
 

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