A cast iron frying pan is considered the most durable cookware, it proved its reliability to our great-grandmothers and thanks to its unique properties it continues to please modern housewives. Yes, cast iron really has such necessary properties for cookware as excellent heat capacity.
Cast iron retains heat very well, food in such a frying pan turns out tastier, and if the stove is electric, it helps to save on electricity. Old cast iron after ten years of lying in the granny's bins at the dacha, all in rust and dirt after cleaning can be used again in everyday life, here I will reveal all the secrets and describe in detail the methods of cleaning a cast iron frying pan.
The first important rules for cleaning will be the following:
- Cast iron skillets are not dishwasher safe.
- You can't leave the frying pan on the stove or put it in the refrigerator, it is advisable not to delay the preparation and wash it with water without using detergents, using a sponge, but very carefully. Then wipe with a napkin and dry well on the stove.
- If you don't use cast iron cookware very often, you need to wipe it with vegetable oil. This should be done so that the oil layer is even and fills all the pores of the pan. After greasing, the pan should be heated on the stove for 20 minutes, then let it cool and put away until the next use.
- If it is a cast iron pan for pancakes, after cooking you don’t need to wash it, just wipe it with a cloth or napkin and put it away.
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Cleaning the frying pan after frying
Another thing is when after frying meat a large amount of carbon deposits may appear in the pan, especially if it is a grill pan, here you need to use other cleaning methods. You will have to clean using special means to get rid of stuck food and carbon deposits.
Let's consider several options:
- You need to boil the frying pan in water with the addition of grease cleaners, then you can clean it with a brush using any abrasives, be it salt or soda, the procedure can be repeated several times until the desired effect appears.
- You can pour 2-4 tablespoons of soda into a frying pan filled with water and add a glass of vinegar 1 to 1, boil for 10 minutes and remove everything with a brush, then dry well.
Chemical cleaning methods
This cleaning method requires special chemicals and skills and is a more expensive procedure, the advantages of this method include a noticeable better effect compared to other methods. It should be noted that this method is also dangerous, chemicals should not get into the eyes and skin. The essence of this method is to remove rust and scale from the metal surface by etching in solutions of sulfuric, orthophosphoric and nitric acids.
The solution should be heated to 60-70 degrees, before use, remove any grease from the surface of the frying pan, dip the frying pan into the solution, after which a sediment will appear on the frying pan, which should be removed, then repeated until the desired effect is achieved. Etching is also used with the addition of the etching additive catalin to the solution. To prevent etching, thiourea and benzotriazole additives are used in a proportion of 10 g per 1 liter. The frying pan needs to be bathed in a solution of these acids in the form of a 10 percent solution.
One of the many ways to clean cast iron pans is cleaning with Coca-Cola, this method is most likely applicable when carbon deposits, grease, and rust have not revealed themselves strongly. The method is simple, prepare a container in which you can completely place your pan, fill this container with Coca-Cola and preferably pour citric acid there, 6 spoons per 1 liter, drown the pan in this solution and keep it there for 12 hours, then take it out, rinse under running water and calcine.
Cleaning a cast iron pan with special products
Depending on the type of frying pan, you can use certain means. There are several types of cast iron frying pans. Cast iron frying pans come with Teflon protection, with a ceramic coating, with an enamel coating, without a protective layer.
Special cleaning agents for coated frying pans are sold in every hardware store; gentle cleaning methods are more suitable for such frying pans. These are soap solutions, dishwashing detergents, soda, silicate glue; such frying pans can be washed with a sponge, but you need to be careful because any coating is prone to scratches and chips. For a regular cast iron frying pan without a protective layer, special cleaning agents with alkaline compounds are used, liquid, powders, it doesn’t matter, gel substances like toilet duck, in this case cast iron without a coating is unpretentious.
Method based on heat treatment
Wash the frying pan well, I recommend to grease it with vegetable oil, it is done with linseed oil, it contains components that keep the frying pan in good condition longer. After the first greasing, put the frying pan on the switched on stove, it is advisable to grease it with gauze or a bandage dipped in oil. This procedure is done in several stages, after the first greasing, leave the frying pan for 20 minutes to heat up, then repeat again, excluding the washing of the frying pan from the cycle, grease 5 times with a thin layer, breaks between greasing 20 = 30 minutes of heating on the stove.
Method two, it can be done both the first time and the next time you use the frying pan. You need to turn on the oven at 150 degrees, wash the frying pan beforehand and grease it inside and out with vegetable oil (preferably linseed oil), put the frying pan in the oven upside down and leave it for one hour.
Boiling
One of the methods for cleaning cast iron pans is cleaning by boiling with laundry soap, soda and silicate glue.
This is how it is done. Prepare a dish where our frying pan will fit, grate a piece of soap into the prepared container, add a full tube of glue and fill everything with soda, also use a full pack. Fill the container with water and put it on the fire and stir after dissolving, place a cast iron frying pan and cook until the carbon deposits come off, take it out and clean the frying pan with a metal brush, then rinse with clean water and dry.
Mechanical cleaning methods
To clean a frying pan with a brush or sandpaper, you will need the frying pan itself, a power tool of your choice - a screwdriver, drill or grinder, personal protective equipment, safety glasses, and a respirator. You will need attachments for the tool (brush, sanding attachment). Now that everything is ready, plug the power tool into the socket and carefully remove scale, rust, and accumulated grease until it shines. After that, you need to process the frying pan, heat it, and it's done. You can do the same thing, without tools, rub the frying pan under running water with sandpaper or a metal brush with the addition of any abrasive, but this method is labor-intensive and requires considerable endurance and patience.
Methods based on heat treatment will help restore and renew the non-stick coating after cleaning, for example, in a fire, when the frying pan is greased with vegetable oil and thrown into the fire until it is red hot, then cooled, after which the cycle must be repeated.
Be sure to store the pan in a dry place with low humidity, moisture promotes the appearance of rust. If you store a cast iron pan correctly, it will serve for a long time and please you with delicious dishes that you cook on it.
If you stack pans on top of each other in a pyramid, use any spacers, such as parchment paper or napkins.
In conclusion, we can say that a cast iron frying pan is a very reliable cookware, with unique properties, requiring care and attention, but for this attention it pays with a special taste of food incomparable with other frying pans.
