Cleaning Cast Iron Skillet With Salt

Salt Is A Natural Way To Clean Cast Iron

Below is a video showing tips for cleaning a cast iron skillet.

I don't know about you, but my husband loves to cook corn bread in his iron skillet but I have always been totally afraid to mess with it afterward, to clean it, because I don't want to mess up "the seasoning."

I put that in quotes because he gets really aggravated when "the seasoning" has been disturbed and the cornbread sticks to the pan.

So, below is a quick video tip for how to get your iron skillet clean without messing up the seasoning.

Use salt to clean it.

As you know you can't put cast iron cookware in the dishwasher, or use dishwashing liquid on it, because it takes away some of the oils which keep it seasoned properly.

That is where I got scared before. How do you clean something when you can't use soap?

Well, you put coarse salt in the bottom of the skillet (kosher or sea salt, or any other coarse salt works best) and use it as a natural abrasive to clean the cast iron.

The salt will also soak up all the extra oil in the bottom of the skillet.

Then, you can quickly rinse out the salt in the sink with water (again, without dish soap).

Of course, after you wet cast iron you need to dry it thoroughly so it doesn't rust.

To do this set it back on your stove top on low to medium heat which will help quickly and thoroughly dry the cast iron skillet and evaporate all the water to prevent rust.

The last step in the process is to then wipe down the skillet with oil to restore any seasoning which has been lost.

(Be careful when doing this if the skillet is still hot from drying it on the stove so you don't burn yourself.)

I now do all these steps after my husband uses the cast iron skillet when doing my nightly kitchen clean up, and he hasn't had any problems with the cornbread sticking.

Watch the video for full details and a demonstration of cleaning a cast iron skillet with salt:

Tell me in the comments how this tip worked for you, or how else you clean your cast iron cookware.

In addition, you can submit your tips for uses of salt around the home here, or read other ideas for how to use salt for cleaning that have already been submitted.

Photo by cbertel

Comments for
Cleaning Cast Iron Skillet With Salt

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Worked great!
by: Anonymous

I tried this tip and it worked like a dream! Thanks so much.

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