The cast iron skillet still occupies a place of honor in the kitchen, but it is not so easy to clean it of soot and grease. At least that's what those who are not familiar with our methods think. So, here are the top 10 best ways to clean a cast iron skillet at home.
If the pollution is not too catastrophic, you can wash the dishes with rock salt and detergent. Salt will play the role of an abrasive, and the gel will get rid of greasy deposits. Soak the pan in advance in hot water, or even better - pour boiling water over it. You can mix salt with sand or soda, this will enhance the effect, since such abrasives will not dissolve.
Special scrapers for cast iron are commercially available. Such a tool will help to cope with a difficult task if salt and Fairy are not enough.
Another folk way is a mixture of soda and vinegar or any other acid. The essence of the method is to provoke a chemical reaction that corrodes grease and rust.
First, soften the dirt in hot water and rub the pan well with soda powder. Then, from a spray bottle, evenly apply vinegar or pour lemon juice into the soda. After the reaction, go over the brush again and rinse the dishes with warm water.
Due to the chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar, carbon dioxide is released, so try not to inhale the fumes.
Method 3: Soda + soap + glue
Our grandmothers also used the recipe for a universal detergent for kitchen utensils. It is prepared as follows:
Place a basin or a large pot of water (5 liters) on the stove.
Sodium laundry soap (100 g) in boiling water, add silicate glue (100 g) and soda (60 g).
Dip the pan into the boiling mixture and leave it to boil for 1-3 hours.
After such a procedure, the soot will dissolve and you just have to bring the pan to the ideal with a metal brush. Silicate glue and laundry soap work wonders, this is a good, and most importantly affordable alternative to expensive cleaning products, consisting of chemical compounds harmful to the human body.
It is best to boil dishes outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. Be sure to turn on the hood to get rid of the unpleasant odor.
This method is described in more detail in the following video. By the way, with the help of such a mixture, you can also clean other kitchen utensils, including cast-iron grates and burners.
Method 4: Coca-Cola
Buy a sweet soda at the store, like Coke or Sprite. Pour it into the pan to cover the soot as much as possible with the drink and boil the cola for 20-30 minutes.
An alternative is to dip the skillet in a container filled with soda and let it soak overnight. Not a trace of soot or rust will remain in the morning. Of course, with dishes that have not been washed for years, such miracles will not happen.
Sweet soda is generally an all-purpose cleaner. Check out other ways to use it, for example, or.
Buy a special oven cleaner, for example:
- Amway;
- Cilit Bang;
- Sanita-R;
- San Klin;
- Domol;
- Sano.
Be sure to use gloves to protect your hands from harsh chemicals. Even one drop of such a concentrate can provoke a severe chemical burn. Vapors are also harmful, so ventilate the room well.
It is enough to apply the purchased product to the pan and leave it for a while (read the instructions, since the time depends on the composition and degree of aggressiveness of the detergent). Use a special brush if it comes with the tool. In this regard, chemistry with a spray is more convenient. The soot will dissolve, and the pieces of burnt food will fall off on their own, you don’t even have to rub anything. Be sure to rinse the dishes well after such a procedure.
Regular washing powder will help to cope with old soot at home. To do this, you need to dissolve part of the powder in water and boil the mixture. Put a handful of the product on a cast-iron skillet and rub it well. Then dip the dishes into the boiling potion and boil for 1-2 hours.
Keep in mind that cheap powders will not be able to rid you of dirt on dishes in the same quality. The composition of more expensive products includes components that literally dissolve fat before our eyes, so you should not save.
This method is suitable for those who like to barbecue outdoors or live in a private home. Wood ash is required for work. It remains after the burning of firewood in the stove, coals in the grill, fire ... Just collect clean ash and use it instead of cleaning powder. This is a natural grease and carbon remover, but it is only suitable for dishes that can still be cleaned without taking drastic measures.
Method 8: Sand
Instead of ash and soda, you can use sand. You can use it in two ways:
Pour the sand into the pan and put it in the oven. Bake it at high temperature for at least half an hour. Sand will increase the effect of temperature on the old soot and rid the surface of melted fat.
Soak the pan in hot water to soften the soot. Take a handful of sand and carefully rub the dishes with it. Use a brush or rag, otherwise the abrasive will remove not only dirt, but also the skin from your hands. To enhance the effect, you can use a solution of water with laundry soap.
This method is considered one of the most popular, as it allows you to get rid of soot with a guarantee.
First you need to remove from the pan all the wooden or plastic parts that will not withstand the heat.
Light a fire outside. By the way, it is convenient to use a brazier if its dimensions allow you to put a pan in the coals. When the firewood begins to burn through, throw the object of cleaning into the fire. The temperature must definitely go down so as not to spoil the pan. Gradually, the soot will turn into ash, which itself will begin to crumble and peel off the walls. It will be enough to go over the top with a brush after the pan has cooled.
At home, you can use an oven or a gas burner for this purpose. It is necessary to burn the pan on both sides, especially in places that are difficult to reach for normal cleaning.
Be careful - the soot will start to burn! It is best to burn the pan outside so as not to start a fire in the kitchen. In addition, individual hot pieces can shoot in different directions.
Why suffer when you can ask a man for help? Let him pick up a tool and clean the frying pan from soot. A grinder or a drill will do, they come with special nozzles in the form of an iron brush. In extreme cases, you can use an emery disc.
An iron brush plus powerful revolutions is a way to quickly clean a pan in any condition. To better clean off the soot, you can soften it in advance or burn it on fire.
It is important to protect the respiratory organs from dust and the eyes from pieces of burning that fly off in different directions when brushing.
Recovery of non-stick coating
Just cleaning the soot from the pan is not enough. After such procedures, the food begins to stick and burn, and often the pan ends up either in a landfill or in a kitchen reserve. Restore the non-stick coating of the pan as follows:
Turn on the most powerful burner and bake the pan, covered with a layer of rock salt 0.5 cm thick, for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally with a spoon.
After the pan has cooled, remove the salt, wash off its remnants and warm the cast iron for another 15 minutes.
Pour a little vegetable oil and spread it well with a brush over the surface of the pan. Remove the excess with a paper towel. Repeat the manipulations 3 times without turning off the fire.
This procedure will completely restore your cast iron skillet after cleaning and you can use it again to cook delicious dishes. Such light soot must be present, so do not try to clean it after each use of the pan.
If the method you have chosen does not help, do not despair! Too dirty surfaces are not so easy to clean, you will have to repeat the procedure. In this case, it is best to combine 2-3 methods. And don't forget to restore the non-stick coating on your pan!
