Things You'll Need:
- Your cast iron cook ware and a small wood fire. You can do this in a public out door grill at a picnic site.
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Step 1
Build a small fire in the grill. You can get kindling fire wood at most convenience stores.
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Step 2
When the fire is about half coals put in the pot or fry pan.Don,t worry about rust or old grease it will burn off. Turn the pot around the fire so to get all sides inside and out.
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Step 3
Remove your pot with a pot holder or pliers. Look out it will be vary hot. Let it cool down on the ground or some place safe. Scour the cool pot with 00 steel wool and wipe clean. DON"T use any soap of any kind.
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Step 4
Warm the pot up with the fire or on the stove. Now coat the pot or fry pan with good old LARD. You can still buy it at most stores near the vegetable oil or the dairy case. Let it cool and wipe off any excess. All you need is enough to wet the surface. Don't use vegetable oil it will go rancid and turn into glue. I have had people come to me with a pot with the lid glued on from vegetable oil. The lard doesn't go rancid if you get it hot enough on the pot. If you like, put the pot or pan in the oven at 350 deg for a while. When you want to use the pan just wipe out the dust and cook. NEVER,NEVER,NEVER use soap on the cast iron. If something sticks or burns just boil water in the pot and scrape out the food with a plastic or wood spatula. Dry out the cast iron on the burner and coat with lard. Processed lard has less saturated fat than butter. You won't be eating more than a drop of lard per use .
Comments
demon64 said
on 2/9/2009 I used electrolysis a couple years ago and that worked really well. Just saw a page up this year that looks like someones gonna start a service doing that. I'll have to see the prices before I let someone else do it for me though. Just a survey right now but I filled it out. Do a search for castironclean all together like that and it should bring you to the link. So has anyone else done the electrolysis thing? I'd be interested in comparing notes.
MikoDel said
on 7/4/2008 While this is certainly excellent advice, here's a way to do it that will not require your to schedule an RV vacation to camp site or a trip to the market for lard. All you will need is some olive oil, coarse salt or any salt, a small food scraper with one rounded edge made of plastic or whatever, and an abrasive pad like steel wool, or even a coarse Scotch brand green plastic scrubber (available in H.Depot or Lowes) will work, provided you follow my instructions.
After every use, maybe AFTER you have eaten dinner and you actually feel like cleaning up, put a little water in the bottom of your cookware and bring back to a boil on the stove. ALWAYS SET A TIMER THAT BEEPS UNTIL YOU CANCEL in case you forget you are doing this.
Let it cool for a min or two after you shut down the heat.
CAREFULLY carry the cookware (with an oven mit if necc) to the sink because the water can sca
ChrisWright said
on 11/16/2007 These tips are quite helpful. There has been an on-going feud at my house about how to clean cast iron pots. After reading your article, I realized I have been cleaning my cast iron skillets all wrong.
texcookinmama said
on 10/12/2007 Not true about "never use soap". When I bought my cast iron skillet the manufacturer's care instructions said that it was perfectly fine to wash with warm soapy water. I do and my pancakes do NOT stick -- if ANYTHING was going to stick, it would be a pancake!
Hode said
on 9/24/2007 I use cast iron for most of my cooking and while it is still warm I scrub it under hot water with a wire brillo pad. Never have worried about seasoning it - it just stays seasoned from daily use. I must mention that I hang up my pans so they won't rust. Most of the time I use a little spray oil and it is as smooth as a nonstick surface.