I have a confession, dear readers…
I ruined the new cast iron pan. With one of my typical “oops” moments, I put the cast iron pan in the sink and let it soak – for a couple days. I haven’t been cooking as much as I would like and when I came home from the 9to5, I went to clean the kitchen and noticed that not only did I have a rusty cast iron pan, but it had transferred onto the glass bowl that was also in the pan.
Thank god for Google. I was able to salvage the pan and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for my glass bowl’s speedy recovery. The lesson has been learned – never ever ever leave your cast iron pans submerged in water, nor leave anything with them. Rust does indeed transfer.
Here’s some tips that can help you salvage the mess via eHow.
- Pour 2 – 4 tbsp. of kosher salt into the pan along with 2 – 4 tbsp. of vegetable oil.
- Rub the salt & vegetable oil in circular motions with a folded up paper towel, removing the rust.
- Rinse out the salt and oil and, if rust remains, do it again.
- Wash the pan with dish soap and hot water, making a point to get out any and all remaining salt and oil.
- Dry the pan and coat with vegetable oil to season.
- Place the oiled pan in a 250 degree oven for an hour. 30 minutes in, double-check the pan and coat again with oil.
- After the hour, wipe out any excess oil with a paper towel.
- Let cool and store.
They also said to clean a cast iron pan, use salt and oil. To keep seasoned, one must never ever use dish soap on it unless you want to re-season it.
Lesson learned – never ever again.
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I just got a cast iron pan the other day! I've already used it in practically EVERY dish I've made since I got it. They are WONDERFUL in my opinion.
I haven't even really been cleaning my pan… I've basically been sopping up any leftover oil with a paper towel. Then I store it with two layers of paper towels lining the pan, since I have to store pots on top of it (small cabinets, no storage space). Once, I burnt potato skins onto the pan, and I poured boiling water into the pan, let it sit for no more than 5 minutes, then used a scrub brush on the pan with the boiling water still in the pan. I've heard the same as you: to clean it, you scrub with oil and salt, and I've heard it's okay to rinse with hot water, as long as you dry the pan in the oven afterwards.
The good thing is, if we ruin our pans… they're only about $20 to get a new one! =) I hope your bowl is returned to its original splendor!
The bowl is this weekend's project. I think I need to have a glass of wine on standby while I try to "fix" it.
I can't tell you how crazy my cleaning lady makes me when every week I explain the cast iron grill needs to be dried immediately, yet every week I come home to find it sitting in the drying rack getting rusty around the edges! Thank you for the remedy!
Oh I just went to the Container Store in Cherry Hill…right next to Crate & Barrel. I wanted to go into C&B, but I didn't let myself. LOL!
You must – they have all their new fall items
Twitter: tamilynlee
says:
I've always used shortening to season my cast iron. Rub it down, put it oven upside down with an old pizza pan to catch the melting shortening, bake at 300 for an hour and she is good. I also just wash it in hot water and a non-abrasive scrubbie pad then rinse out and put on the burner and turn it on to heat the pan and let the moisture evaporate so I don't get the lint-y stuff from wiping it out with a towel.
Oh – I like this idea too – Thanks Tami!