484661 Wed Jan 30 10:23:34 -0800 2008 28 41 Cookware 0 3348380 I have many pieces of LC that I adore. As the saying goes: You'll have to pry my 7qt dutch oven out of my cold dead hands. But the darn grill pan continues to flummox me. I've had it for a number of years and rarely use it. Each time I do I follow the same drill. I heat it up pretty good... I brush it with oil... I add the protein. And each time I do this, the food comes out fine, but the pan is a pain in the ass to clean. The ridges hold onto every thing. I end up scrubbing it with a toothbrush for almost an hour to get it clean. What am I doing wrong? I looked around the net and it doesn't SEEM to need to be seasoned... or does it? Should I just leave the blackend leftovers on and is that the seasoning? I'm giving this pan one more chance and then it's going to eBay. Wed Jan 30 10:23:34 -0800 2008 28006 Jennalynn 1 3348389 Someone else just posted with the same problem recently. I use kosher salt and a paper towel to clean mine out, and don't have a problem with it. Here's that thread - http://www.chowhound.com/topics/481257 Wed Jan 30 10:25:49 -0800 2008 3348380 10985 MMRuth 2 3348930 I just read through the older thread... And the consensus seemed to be, junk it. That's so sad. I want to love it. Now I must mourn. But okay, so what grill pan do you all like? Wed Jan 30 12:18:56 -0800 2008 3348389 28006 Jennalynn 1 3348438 Sorry. I can't help. I had the same issue plus I was totally unimpressed with its performance. I gave mine away. Wed Jan 30 10:36:38 -0800 2008 3348380 43893 C. Hamster 1 3348628 Clean it well, and then coat it with oil, and heat it on the stove top until it stops smoking. Repeat a few times until it's shiny and blackened. I had an uncoated LC grill pan, and that wouldn't season too well either. That should help though! You can also heat water in it till very hot, and then use a stiff brush or some other non scratching tool to sort of deglaze it. Wed Jan 30 11:13:45 -0800 2008 3348380 63331 blondelle 2 3351570 Keeping using it...it took a while for me to break mine in. Toss your food in a very small amount before putting on the grill (1 tsp will be enough for a couple of chicken breasts or a sliced zucchini) and then... and this is the most important part.... leave the food to cook until well developed brown crusty stripes have formed. If you move the food too quickly it will stick! Rember only about 20% of the food is touching the pan so it needs time to brown enough to release. Patience is the key ingredient. If anything does stick soak for a bit and use one of those flat srubbies (I buy mine at the 99 cent store) I've learned to use mine with ease you can too. Thu Jan 31 08:01:12 -0800 2008 3348628 117271 Stuffed Monkey 1 3351686 I gave mine away. Same problems you are having. Had the same problems with the cast iron ones. And with the Calphalon one sitting in the box to go to charity. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. I have bought any number of these over the years, never learning my lesson, each time thinking this was a good idea. The meat, seafood or vegetables would benefit from high heat but, if there was grease, it would drain off, there would be lovely grill marks, yada yada. Every one of these pans was a pain in the ass to clean. The wimpy grill marks were never like an outdoor grill. Worse, there was never enough contact between the food and the hot surface of any pan. I finally realized that I got the best results with a really hot well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Stove-top "grilling" is a full contact sport best accomplished without ridges. I'm never going to buy another "grill" pan. Thu Jan 31 08:36:42 -0800 2008 3348380 32444 MakingSense 1 3352062 I have to admit that I love mine--the flat rectangular grill, not the grill pan. I only use it for steaks though, and cleanup aside, the actual cooking performance (and ability to get it very, very hot) had been exemplary. Cleanup has been difficult but is getting better as the enamaled cast iron is building up a patina. For fish and vegetables, I use the All Clad double burner grill, which is teflon--along with my egg dedicated crepe pan, my only teflon. Thu Jan 31 09:56:59 -0800 2008 3348380 56341 Sam Harmon 1 3352092 I just got the oblong skillet grill and have used it twice. I followed advice from the LC website and other posters that said not to use high heat, put a bit of oil on the pan after it has heated up instead of when cold, and not to move the food once you place it on the grill until it has had a chance to brown/sear. The food came out great and the pan was a little hard to clean but I used a plastic scraper that I had from a George Foreman grill to scrape off the food and that worked fine. So far so good. I like it much better than the GF - mine doesn't have removable plates and is a huge pain to clean. Thu Jan 31 10:02:20 -0800 2008 3348380 10764 monkuboy 1 3353125 I don't use my Le Creuset grill pan often, either, because I don't eat grilled meat too often in the winter. But recently I made filets mignons in it and they came out delicious and beautiful, with perfect criss-cross grill marks. I brushed the pan with oil beforehand, and let the meat release. I don't remember clean-up being a major pain. But, then, I didn't want to strip off whatever seasoning the pan has. Thu Jan 31 13:43:59 -0800 2008 3348380 56467 Angela Roberta 1 3353628 I'm rather astonished that people are having so much trouble with these things. I just use a hard bristled plastic/nylon (whatever it is) brush and run it under hot water as I scrub. Problem solved. Thu Jan 31 16:15:26 -0800 2008 3348380 42270 HaagenDazs 1 3355471 Well... In the past, I've honestly tried 99% of the suggestions you wonderful have suggested. To no avail. Tonight I'm giving the thing one more go. I'll try everything once again. But keep your eyes peeled on eBay for a very clean, slightly used green square LC grill pan ; ) Fri Feb 01 08:52:08 -0800 2008 3348380 28006 Jennalynn 2 3356353 I use mine for sandwiches. I weight it down with an iron frying pan. Now that I am writing this I realize I could use the iron frying pan for the sandwiches, and weight them down with the LC! Fri Feb 01 12:10:00 -0800 2008 3355471 117849 Kathryn Mathes 1 3356356 I’ve found that no cooking utensil I’ve ever used is hard to get clean if I soak it overnight with some detergent in the water. Whatever was cooked, baked, or burnt on softens and easily brushes away. I don’t know these Le Creuset Grill Pans, but they are enameled, are they not? If so, the water should not hurt them. I would not even bother to try cleaning without first soaking. Fri Feb 01 12:10:41 -0800 2008 3348380 162406 AndyHc 2 3356411 I think that the insides are cast iron, not enameled. I've decided that I must be a bit cavalier about how clean my LC grill pan gets ;-). Fri Feb 01 12:24:04 -0800 2008 3356356 10985 MMRuth 1 3356405 Baking soda and water overnight helps - still a little scraping may be needed. Fri Feb 01 12:22:11 -0800 2008 3348380 14341 OCEllen 1 3356451 Grill pans are one of my least favorite pieces of cookware. My experience (with anodized aluminum) was much like yours, except I also didn't find it to be nonstick because of the pressure applied at the 'stripes' and the lack of movement of the meat. Unless you just have to have meat with stripes, I say sell it and use the broiler. Fri Feb 01 12:31:45 -0800 2008 3348380 85141 Calling All Toasters 1 3356621 I also don't understand why so maybe people are having so much trouble with their grill pan. I use mine for almost everything (steak, grilled sandwiches, grilled salmon, etc) with no problems cleaning it. I just let it soak for a little bit and everything comes off with a little nylon scrubber. Fri Feb 01 13:15:56 -0800 2008 3348380 104826 itstangy 2 3356673 I agree with you, but wonder if somehow we are talking about different pans - not sure they are making my round one anymore, as I don't see it on the website. Fri Feb 01 13:27:50 -0800 2008 3356621 10985 MMRuth 3 3356770 I wonder if some are just 'raw' cast iron? My Le Creuset grill pan is a squarish shape and has a glass lining over the cast iron (as I understand it), thus no rust and not too difficult to get clean. Fri Feb 01 13:54:45 -0800 2008 3356673 14341 OCEllen 4 3356943 Mine is - to my mind - easy to clean, but does not have a glass lining as far as I can tell - I think it is "raw", and I think it has rusted occasionally due to careless treatment by me! Fri Feb 01 14:50:05 -0800 2008 3356770 10985 MMRuth 1 3357781 Jennalynn, I feel your pain. I have a standard cast iron grill pan, and an enameled grill pan. I found some good solutions for cleaning the latter, but I have to say, I find these pans unfortunately more trouble than they're worth. On the chance my discoveries re: cleaning methods are useful to you, see this thread: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/367010 Fri Feb 01 21:13:35 -0800 2008 3348380 47694 litchick 1 3358019 I've got the same grill pa, and truthfully for years I was as frustrated as you, but I did like the way it cooked proteins. Finally one day I took the pan while it was still incredibly hot and but it in the sink, turned on the water and scrubbed with a nylon brush (no soap) until it was clean (about 1 minute). I no longer have a clean up issue. Sat Feb 02 04:36:17 -0800 2008 3348380 64459 jnk 1 3598766 Give up trying to love a pan... it will never love you back: no birthday hugs, forget it helping you through a difficult time in your life, it's just a tool, and use it as such. Go with the kosher salt method, and remember, just because it say's it's preseasoned, doesn't mean you're off the hook, go ahead and season it again, and again, and again. Tue Apr 15 22:52:07 -0700 2008 3348380 55292 ChefBill 1 3663840 I have a simple solution, actually 2 that I use on my pain in the ass pan. One is is serious stiff brush, I get the water really hot and scrub with my new brush and I am in and out in no time. The other thing is this simple plastic tool they sell for a buck at BBand Beyond, just a plastic scraper that gets the goo off with one or to passes. I was thinking of getting this pan as it is way heavier that what I have now, but am rethinking now fom your post. Good luck! Carol Tue May 06 23:54:48 -0700 2008 3348380 40701 lawellins 1 3946096 Just saw this post. I just bought a used one for 3 bucks at a yard sale and am having a great time with it. I just warmed it up to 350 F on the stovetop and put my steak in. Browned it great and made nice lines. I soaked it in hot water for a bit and then scrubbed it out easily with a scrubby pad. No problem. Mine is well seasoned obviously because she said she used it all the time she was raising her kids. I guess the point is that it needs to be seasoned. Cook fatty meat for a while. Sun Aug 10 21:21:44 -0700 2008 3348380 217491 pbird 1 4133018 This is surprising to me... I have (or have had) a number of grill pans over the years, mostly cast iron. The LC pan is the easiest of all to clean. After using, and after it cools, I soak it in the sink with some soapy dishwater for a while (maybe an hour?) and just wipe it clean with a scrubby sponge (the soft side, not the abrasive side).... Slick as a whistle in no time... Is it perfectly clean? Probably not, but no scraping or elbow grease required, and very ready for the next cooking session... Good luck! Mon Oct 27 17:30:47 -0700 2008 3348380 235661 mw333 2 4134724 I love my cast iron grill pan (as I do my Staub dutch ovens) BUT my grill pan is a lodge, it's not enameled. After I'm done cooking I let it get screaming hot and then add a cup of HOT water to it. I then take it off the heat. It boils and steams and all the gunk comes right off. I let it cool down on the stove and then just rinse it off an hour later - so scrubbing involved. However the reason I can do this may be that my grill isn't enameled - if it were I may worry about cracking it with this method. Tue Oct 28 12:33:30 -0700 2008 4133018 139101 beauxgoris 3 4134826 I've had a LC grille pan for 20 years and treat it pretty much the way you do, just not as organized. I just squirt a bit of detergent in while it's still hot, add hot tap water and let it sit. Never had a problem. Odd that others do. Tue Oct 28 13:17:00 -0700 2008 4134724 131001 c oliver