351415 Thu Dec 14 21:48:27 -0800 2006 24 41 Cookware 0 2100628 Help settle an argument for me and a friendly bet.... My friends says its ok to use soap in a cast iron pan. I say no way... Any thoughts? Thu Dec 14 21:48:27 -0800 2006 29317 MacArthur Mike 1 2100632 Mine are extremely well seasoned. I always use detergent and hot water and dry over a flame Thu Dec 14 21:49:27 -0800 2006 2100628 10285 Candy 2 2100682 me too. I have never had a problem with "ruining the seasoning" by using soap. Thu Dec 14 22:01:07 -0800 2006 2100632 18353 DGresh 2 2100706 I have no problems with this method either. I only use soap on my cast iron when the last dish was particularly "stinky" in some way, as I have found if I don't use a little soap, the flavor/scent of that stinky food will show up in the next dish (old salmon or cumin flavored eggs - BLECH!) Note I don't soak the pan in soapy water, I just use the soap on a sponge. I also oil the pan after drying (over a flame) from time to time to keep up the seasoning. Thu Dec 14 22:08:52 -0800 2006 2100632 40062 lisa13 3 2102508 Me, too -- I just put my cast iron in the regular dishwater and I've never had a problem. I know you don't need it to clean the pan (I used to be a salt-only purist), but I just had too many onion-y pancakes. I also make sure to totally dry it, and rub it down with a little oil. Fri Dec 15 15:58:27 -0800 2006 2100706 14230 heatherkay 1 2100641 Lodge Mfg.'s use and care page: http://www.lodgemfg.com/usecare1.asp Salient quote: "After cooking, clean the utensil with hot water and a stiff brush. Never use a harsh detergent, as it can remove the seasoning." Thu Dec 14 21:52:20 -0800 2006 2100628 42933 PDXpat 1 2100678 Cast iron is porous. If you use soap on a cast iron pan that is not completely sealed by seasoning, the soap will get into the cast iron and impart that taste to your food. Once the pan has been thoroughly seasoned and has a hard, impervious coating, using a mild soap to wash it will do no harm. Thu Dec 14 21:59:45 -0800 2006 2100628 11407 JoanN 1 2100681 I can use biodegradable soap with few problems, if I use dawn I have to reseason. Depends on the "grease cutting" ability of the soap. Thu Dec 14 21:59:59 -0800 2006 2100628 13661 Alan408 1 2100725 The nature of black cast iron is that it does absorb chemicals more than any other cooking surface. But, you asked about soap and some posters replied about detergent. They are 2 different things. Soap mostly is a natural animal/vegetable based product - and very gentle. Detergent is god knows what and not something you want to be ingesting. So, I say play it safe, yes it is perfectly OK to soak your cast iron in hot soapy water for an hour. Not longer because that patina is so precious you don't want to risk losing it. But a short soak with hot soapy water will help remove difficult burned on stuff. Avoid detergent - why mess with nasty chemicals getting into your food on a microscopic level if you don't have to. Then, after the pan is clean, dry it, place it over a low flame for a few moments until it's completely dry, then oil with veg. oil and place in a dry area of your kitchen to store. Thu Dec 14 22:15:08 -0800 2006 2100628 23824 niki rothman 2 2100777 I'd never soak a cast iron pan. I wash it quickly and dry it quickly. Soaking is a good door opener to removing the seasoning and opening it up to rust. Thu Dec 14 22:29:30 -0800 2006 2100725 10285 Candy 3 2108062 I hear you. But what do you do when like everyone else, you're human and the phone rings and you burn something? I say soaking for under an hour loosens the crud and does less damage than the hard scrubbing that you'd have to do otherwise. I'm always careful to do a quick re-seasoning by drying over a low flame, rubbing with veg. oil and storing in my oven where it's always warm and dry. And it should be added only scrub with a plastic scrubbie and never with anything metal like steel wool (God forbid). Sun Dec 17 23:32:44 -0800 2006 2100777 23824 niki rothman 2 2101082 Soap vs. Detergent: good observation/comment. Thanks. Thu Dec 14 23:57:06 -0800 2006 2100725 13661 Alan408 1 2100905 I never use soap (unless I'm about to re-season the pan). You can use a mild abrasive to clean gunk off the pan, though. Agreed about not soaking (you can soak for a few minutes if you really need to, but don't forget about it). And make sure you use hot water to clean it. I've also heard it's really bad to leave food in a cast iron pan after it's finished cooking. Thu Dec 14 23:06:14 -0800 2006 2100628 59830 will47 2 2108068 This is very true - never leave food sitting in the pan. You ruin the surface of the pan and the food will taste horrible - metallic. Also, there's no reason to cook tomato sauce or other high acid foods in cast iron - this will also hurt the patina. Sun Dec 17 23:34:58 -0800 2006 2100905 23824 niki rothman 1 2101154 For a long time I wouldn't even use water in mine -- I'd put about tablespoon or so of really coarse salt and a small dribble of oil in, scrub it around with with a paper towel, and brush the contents into the trash. Now I'm more lax. From time to time, I'll run it under hot water and scrub the insides with a dishwashing brush. I never use soap/detergent, but I never cook anything in it that really needs it either. Then it goes on the stove and gets heated up again with a little wipe of fresh oil before being put away. Fri Dec 15 00:24:02 -0800 2006 2100628 14456 ladelfa 1 2101199 Agreed - as my Ma be4 me did - so I have about 50 yrs experience seeing the effects of detergents - there are none , that I can see, except quick removal of the grease. Fri Dec 15 00:37:33 -0800 2006 2100628 27760 dibob817 1 2102901 The "no soap" in cast iron is a total hoax IF the ci is well seasoned. Like dibo817, my mom and I have a combined 100 or so years of experience cleaning ci. When it needs soap and even dish detergent then it gets it and a plastic brush. Mom even out hers in the dishwasher once or twice. It's all as slick and black as can be. No dishwasher for me (yikes!) but they get soaped if need be. Salt scubbing, IMO, is when you are camping, not in the kitchen. No soaking and very thorough drying. Fri Dec 15 17:47:33 -0800 2006 2100628 43893 C. Hamster 1 2103558 Why would one ever put soap in a nice seasoned pan when you don't have to? Water, ok, but soap? And by god, why would one ever put it in the dishy-washy? Seriously, all it needs is the coarse salt + oil treatment, rubbed around with a paper towel. That method removes even the most stubborn cooked-on food. It's easy and it serves to keep your coating nice and hearty. But, y'know, to each his/her own, right? ;) As C. Hamster pointed out, the salt method seems as crazy to him/her as the soap sounds to me. That's why I love this board! Fri Dec 15 20:49:48 -0800 2006 2100628 47694 litchick 2 2103603 I don't ever have any problem getting food out of the pan, but sometimes there is a lingering, leftover flavor (like I said above, onions are the worst). I use the same skillet to make upside-down cake and pancakes that I use to make fritattas, and salt-scrub just didn't clear the palette enough for me. Maybe I just wasn't doing it right. Fri Dec 15 21:01:40 -0800 2006 2103558 14230 heatherkay 1 2105381 Why would you ever in a million years want or need to use soap on a cast iron pan? Seems like an unnecessary step to me... Sat Dec 16 17:19:43 -0800 2006 2100628 36325 Procrastibaker 1 2105632 I use a tiny bit of soap in my mine especially after frying hamburgers(beef grease is the worst...lingers and taints everything). No problemo. After gentle washing I immediately dry the CI out on a burner, flame off, duh, spray her with some Pam(recommended by Lodge, themselves), let that smoke up a teensy bit, wipe her down, good as gold. Sat Dec 16 19:08:40 -0800 2006 2100628 14985 aelph 2 2108078 Cast iron DOES absorb food odors more than anything else you will cook in. Another item that does this is a wooden salad bowl. You don't want fugitive flavors of the last thing you cooked (like hamburger and onions) in your pan. Sun Dec 17 23:38:55 -0800 2006 2105632 23824 niki rothman 2 2108113 This is exactly what I do. I don't always use soap but I do when I need to. Mon Dec 18 00:02:50 -0800 2006 2105632 43893 C. Hamster 1 2108335 Wow. Never knew this stuff took this much attention. I've been washing my old cast iron skillets in the sink with the rest of the dishes all along. My big one is sitting on the stove right now with water in it soaking out some fried rice my husband made in it at lunch time. When I wash them I put them in the drainer to air-dry. I've re-seasoned them maybe once. I think I had to re-season one of them after I cooked salmon in it (Bittman's recipe; sounded like a good idea at the time, but really wasn't) and had to do some major, intensive cleaning to get the smell and taste out. Other than that I don't give them much special care at all, and they're well-seasoned and don't seem to have any problems with rust. (But they're both quite old; don't know if this would be the case with new ones.) Mon Dec 18 01:56:18 -0800 2006 2100628 32586 revsharkie 1 2108822 I never will use soap on cast iron. Soap, as we know it contains perfumes, a nasty flavor enhancer. I heat up the skillet or item with water only, wipe, and grease. (Do not boil the water unless you are prepared to re-season them.) If a strong flavored food item has a high water content it is easy to boil off the seasoning, thus impart flavor. Gently boil a 1 tsp cream of tarter and water, then gently boil with clear water, and re-season EDIT: Salt is an item that can promote moisture thus rust under the seasoning layer. This is normally greyish in color and you may notice that expecially in the bottom of fried eggs. Mon Dec 18 06:55:33 -0800 2006 2100628 60276 RShea78