This oughtta be a good flamewar - wash your cast iron pots with soap, or not?

[Rabrrrrrr]

Lots of debate on this one, but the truth is that washing it with soap doesn't hurt it; in fact, it helps sterilize it.

Food inspectors certainly demand it in restaurants.

But lots of people are adamant and dead-set that soap never, ever, ever touch their cast iron.

What do you think?

[TZ]

1. I dunno...what does Brett Favre do?

:rofl: :evilgrin:

[mcctatas]

37. He can't make up his fucking mind either...

:evilgrin:

[bridgit]

2. Not if treated properly to begin with...

[SOteric]

3. Soap never touches my cast iron skillets.

Ever.

[Midlodemocrat]

13. Mine neither.

[sasquatch]

28. Hey I cook with Cast Iron too

:hi:

[supernova]

4. Heretic!

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Yes?

Oh....sorry.

I thought you were calling me.

Properly seasoned, Cast Iron cookware goes well with vegetables.

Oh...sorry. Wrong kind of seasoning.

[supernova]

21. lol!

:D

If you've never used a cast iron skillet, you should try one. :D

[kedrys]

5. Soap, and then re-season with oil

Every time. Takes some pretty serious religion, which is why I'm down to one cast-iron piece.

[Chan790]

6. Nope.

Why do you hate your pan?

[Gormy Cuss]

7. I like to soak them in a tub of dish detergent suds then let them air dry.

Who cooks in that antiquated crap anymore?

If it's not suitable for the microwave, it's not suitable for my kitchen.






warning: admit that you use soap on cast iron cookware and jgraz will personally hunt you down and remove that cookware from your possession. Oh hai graz!

[Chan790]

8. Blasphemer.

1.) Microwaves are evil. Convenience is not worth ruining your food. You probably use an electric stove too.

2.) You can have my cast-iron when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

3.) When somebody designs modern cookware that fries/sautes better than cast-iron skillets and griddles, simmers better than copper-ware, bakes better than my ceramic bake-ware and slow-cooks better than my crocks...then and only then will I buy modern cookware.

Sincerely,

Chan790
Culinary Hard-liner.

edit: :hide:

[Gormy Cuss]

12. Stoves are like telephone land lines. So 20th century.

Take that, you Slow Food elitist.

:hi:

[SCantiGOP]

50. can't remember where I read it

maybe here a while back. Anyway, a woman was going somewhere on business and had an old college friend she hadn't seen in years and she had invited her to stay with her. She was going to arrive before her friend got home from work so a key was left somewhere. Instead of a traditional little thank you gift for the hospitality, she remembered how much her friend loved brownies. So, she pre-heated the oven, prepared the brownie mix, and when she opened the oven...........found that she had melted her friend's entire DVD collection. That's some serious anti-cooking mojo.

[CreekDog]

9. i do whatever they recommend at the Olive Garden

:hide:

[Chan790]

10. Hospitaliano!

I'm convinced it's a code-word. For what? No idea.

[NV Whino]

11. I only scrub mine with river sand

:rofl:


Seriously, I gave away all my cast iron skillets years ago. Hate the damned things.

[opiate69]

14. Sometimes...

Usually, I can get away with using coarse salt and a paper towel to clean them, but if we've made something particularly messy in one of them (bacon, tomato sauce, etc) I'll wash it out with soapy water, hand dry it, put it on a hot burner for a minute or so to evaporate any remaining moisture, then re-season with oil.

[libnnc]

15. Only if it is incredibly nasty

if it's just a little dirty, I rinse with very hot water and re-season on the stove with salt and oil.

[LaurenG]

16. Wash with soap and hot water.

Dry asap either on a warm burner or paper towel and put away.

[alphafemale]

17. Hot running water and an abrasive pad.

Stuff will generally slough right off.

That is what the seasoning is for.

Towel dry immediately and then I generally coat with oil.

I love my cast iron. I have four sizes of pans plus a griddle.

Teflon will never enter my kitchen again.

[flvegan]

19. My pots are recycled aluminum and I cook with solar energy.

The soap I use comes from the aloe I grow in my garden. The water I was them with is reclaimed. Anyone that does any different hates the world and is, quite frankly, uncivilized.

[Ptah]

20. Not free range aloe?

:shrug:

[flvegan]

22. VERY free range

Can grow/go wherever it wants. It's also vegan aloe, feeding only on a diet of organic free range compost made from organic free range vegan garbage.

[ghostsofgiants]

25. Killing poor defenseless aloe just so you can wash your fucking pots?

Why do you hate Gaia?

[siligut]

31. I heard he eats baby greens too.

He eats the BABIES! :cry:

[ghostsofgiants]

32. I won't front, babies are delicious.

[petronius]

48. Aluminum!? Do you have any idea what the mining/smelting of aluminum does to the planet?

And recycling is bunk - it just encourages them to make more. If you gave even the smallest crap about the surival of our children, you would only use pots made from homegrown bamboo. It just sickens me how freeperish and uncaring DUers have become... :cry:

[cemaphonic]

54. Oh, that's rich.

Bamboo is an invasive species that crowds out everything nearby. Do you really want to put even more local flora at risk, just so you can cook dinner. (plus you know, probably wouldn't stand up to the heat and all)

this subthread rules.

[Rabrrrrrr]

58. Unless you're eating raw foods that you've grown yourself, you suck as a liberal and a human.

In fact, you are the majority of the problem if you ever eat anything that isn't raw, or that was delivered from further away than your property line.

:righteousliberalindignationatlackofpurity:


Of course, if you even think that you have a property line - as though anyone could possibly "own" land - you are also part of the problem.

Harumph.

[Kali]

59. raw that fell from the mother plant of it's own free will

of course purists live solely on air.

[Rabrrrrrr]

61. Oh, so breathing in innocent microbes and insects is fine?

A true environmentalist - someone who actually cares about progressive politics - kills himself before he's conceived, so as to leave no carbon footprint whatsoever. It's the only legitimate liberal way to live.

[GOPisEvil]

23. If you buy brand new, wash it with hot soapy water.

Then season it. After that, soap and water are not needed. I just boil some water in the bottom to loosen all the bits of food, wipe it out and re-season.

[kineneb]

24. no soap- rinse, heat up to dry, re-oil

just put the pan on the stove, heat it again, and no germs will survive. Death to those who use soap on my cast iron.

[ScreamingMeemie]

26. No way. No how. The truth is soap will and does hurt it.

I have MrG's great grandmother's 100 year old cast irons and no way in hell would I think it was okay to use soap.

[yellowdogintexas]

55. scrub with salt, rinse, oil, wipe dry, hang nt

[easttexaslefty]

27. No soap on cast iron!!!! n/t

[dysfunctional press]

29. i never use soap on either my cast iron pans, or my wok.

hot water and a chore boy.

[crispini]

47. Wow, that looks awfully abrasive... won't it take off the seasoning too?

I just sort of gently scrub the wok with a nylon bristle brush and then dry it on the stove.

[jobycom]

30. Depends on how long it's been sitting in my fridge with rotting food in it.

I had one dutch oven I just threw away without opening.

Normally I wash with hot water. If it smells nasty or whatever was in it had gone bad, I use soap.

[Lyric]

33. OMG, NO!!!1

Hell no! Soap destroys a cast iron pot or skillet.

To clean it, you boil water in it, then apply some kind of vegetable oil and salt as "seasoning."

[Rabrrrrrr]

34. From those who say that soaps "ruins" cast iron, show me some proof.

I'm curious if any of actually know this for sure, or just know it because your mom told you so.

[Kali]

60. it does not ruin the cast iron

it can ruin the seasoning

mild dilute soap used and rinsed quickly won't hurt anything if done occasionally

once there is a good finish on cast iron you would very rarely need it. Usually you can just wipe them out with a cloth or paper towel but if needed a short soak filled with HOT water will loosen any stuck food. I use my bamboo wok scrubber on the cast iron too, but a dedicated stiff brush is good. I would not use a metal scouring pad unless I was starting over and using soap too.

I wipe with a thin layer of shortening on the cast iron, olive oil on the wok, no idea why.

[NMDemDist2]

67. this is probably more info than you are looking for, but here you are

http://www.richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp

[Codeine]

35. Always with soap,

then a quick coat of oil after drying on the stove.

[trackfan]

36. I don't use soap. I don't know if soap hurts the pan - but it gets clean

enough for me without, while saving the cost of the soap.

[TreasonousBastard]

38. Throw it in the dishwasher, and if that doesn't...

clean it enough, I let it sit in the creek till it gets good and rusty then get the rust off with a wire brush or sanding disk in the drill.

Nice and shiny then, and ready to start seasoning it all over again.

[Flaxbee]

39. You know, I've never cooked with one. Anyone want to tell me

why they're supposed to be so wonderful? I'm serious - I'd like to know the benefits of cooking with a cast iron skillet, and what is usually made in them, and why making something in a cast iron skillet is better...

Anyone? Thanks!

[alphafemale]

41. First of all the heat distribution is great. Things will cook really evenly.

Also, if a dish calls for a pan sear on stove top and then a roasting you can do this in the same pan. You can use cast iron on stove top and in the oven.

Another plus, if they are well seasoned nothing really sticks to them. Stuff really just rinses out with hot water and an abrasive pad.

And finally there's not the risk of Teflon. It is thought to be a carcinogen.

Cooking with iron adds iron to your diet.

Another plus.

[yellowdogintexas]

56. The ONLY way to cook decent cornbread is in cast iron. period. I would

have a cast iron pan for that use only . Also nothing fries chicken better than an iron skillet.

I once had a cast iron pan that was seasoned extremely well and I could make perfect omelettes in it. For some reason I quit using it and eventually donated it to a hurricane relief effort. I still have a small one that is the perfect cornbread pan.

[alphafemale]

64. As I stated upthread, I have four different sizes plus a griddle.

I love them. Teflon will never enter my generation again.

Seriously. If well cared for this stuff could last for generations.

[Liberal Veteran]

40. If you spray them with teflon, you'll never have to worry about it.

:P

[ulysses]

42. the New Yorker washes its cast iron with soap.

:freak:

[Bunny]

44. Yes, but only with satirical intent.

;)

[ulysses]

63. it's not satirical if you have to reseason the pan.

:)

[SacredCow]

43. No soap for either cast iron or stoneware.... n/t

[MissMillie]

45. Flame away, but

I do not own a cast iron pan!


:hi:

[trof]

51. How do you make chili? You are not civilized.

[unpossibles]

46. I don't soap mine, or my pizza stone or wok unless they get really nasty somehow

I am a vegetarian, so no meat grease to worry about. I wash it with hot water, then reoil it (not the stone)

[Shakespeare]

49. Hot water and some course salt usually work well for me.

Soap won't ruin a cast iron skillet, but it will ruin the built-up "seasoning." If it's so bad that hot water and salt won't clean it up, just use soap, and then re-season.

[Burma Jones]

52. I don't even use mine, I just hang it up on the wall and get all smug about my Grandma's Cooking

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

53. Soap not needed.

If you want to clean your cast iron pots, the best thing you can do is soak them in a warm, salt water bath.

[montanto]

57. I love my Lodge iron pans

I sometimes use a little soap if stuff is stuck, but I also just rinse and blast with high heat and some olive oil. My pans have been around for ages and are fairly non-stick.

The crime against iron pans is the dishwasher, or letting them soak all night.

[texanwitch]

62. I don't own any cast iron pots but I would think if after washing one

would dry the cast iron on the stove that would be OK.

[Saphire]

65. My cast iron skillets have to be at least 70 years old....I use soap

occasionally then heat and oil. In between, I use salt to scrub, then rinse.

[madrchsod]

66. no! soap ruins the pan....