Cast-iron Cookware

Q: Question: Is there a correct way to care for cast-iron cookware? I love to cook and my favorite cooking utensil is my 10 inch cast-iron frying pan. My mom has cast iron also and she taught me care for it by cleaning it with a soap pad (such as SOS or Brillo), thoroughly drying it by putting it back on a burner for a few minutes and then conditioning it by rubbing in vegetable oil or non-stick spray with a paper towel. Of course if the pan was used for a grilled cheese sandwich or something we could just wipe it out instead of washing. A friend came over for dinner the other night and saw me clean a pan like this and she almost had a fit. She said that you never wash cast iron - especially with something as harsh as steel wool - because that takes the finish off. In her family they simply wipe the cookware out with a paper towel to clean it. It seems to me that just wiping the cookware would leave the taste and smell of the food. For instance, you cook onions one night and then make pancakes the next morning - and get onion pancakes! I've had this happen before! (BTW, my pans were conditioned before using them by rubbing them with oil and putting them in a hot oven for an hour or so.) Does anybody have any other methods they have found successful?

A: There are as many ways to 'correctly' clean a cast iron pan as there are people. But here are a few different ways, depending on the circumstances: 1. With plain water and a 'non-abrasive' scrubber, wash out any loose particles. 2. For tougher stuck on food, put some warm/hot water in the pan, and a few tablespoons of salt, and use a paper towel to scrub the pan. 3. If the pan is still hot, and not 'too' gunky, pour some water into it, and this will 'boil' off most of the loose food particles, the rest should be able to be easily wipped off. (goto step 2 if not clean) 4. If the pan is gunky, put some water in it, and boil it, then take a spatula and scrape. (goto step 2 if not clean) In a 'worst case' scenario, you do what you are currently doing, and scrub the sucker down with a brillo pad. But if you do that, you need to start the whole seasoning process from scratch (pun intended) again. For this, I place about three tablespoons of peanut oil (for its high burning point) in the pan, put it on medium high heat for about 20 minutes (you can turn it down if it starts burning). Then cool it down, and wipe out any excess oil. Put it back on the burner on medium for about 15 minutes. When I store my pans, I always give them a quick wipe of oil to leave a thin coating on them. Essentially, these same steps apply to Calphalon pans as well (at least thats the way I do it). I have been told many times before NEVER use soap on cast-iron cookware which I follow religiously. BUT, does anyone know why not? Just curious, thanks.

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