Cleaning Baked-on Grease Coated Cast Iron Pan
 

We recently helped our son move and he asked if I could clean up his cast iron skillet. It was a real mess. Tried a little elbow grease to no avail. Then I read on Pinterest to put it into a self-cleaning oven which I did. WOW!!! I washed w/soap and hot water, seasoned w/oil and it looks like it is brand new.

If using this idea, be sure to remove your shiny racks or they will lose their shine.

Wow, that's a good tip. Too late about the racks - I already wrecked mine!

When I was kid and we had a skillet that needed to be "refreshed", we'd throw it into the fire. (We used to have "campfires" in our yard and cook potatoes and corn in it a lot during the summers.) Once it all burns out, the skillet just needs to be dusted out and re-seasoned and it's good to go!

We use our cast iron skillet and flat pan (I call it) a lot. When we're done with it. We throw some salt on it an smooth it around. Then take a small potato, cut the end or in half and use that to scrub the skillet. My aunt used to do this when she and her family went camping. When she passed away her son took the skillets and use them when they go camping. He has her whole set and the Dutch cooker.

I have my mom's cast iron skillet. It was not the one she used when I was a kid - that one got too heavy for her to use and so she got a smaller one when it was just the two of them. That one is so heavy I don't use it very often but make sure I clean it every time I use it. I thought I was ruining it because someone told me they need to be cured and just keep using them after rinsing them out with water, but it just didn't sit well with me.

I use the self cleaning oven for cast iron. Works great. My grandfather use to put cast iron in his wood burning stove. A fireplace will do the job too. I don't use soap on mine and they are decades old, pitch black and slick like glass. Eggs slide out of the skillet. I use boiling water to clean, wipe dry, and wipe inside with thin layer of shortening. Cooking oil doesn't work the same as shortening for seasoning.

I know you don't keep your racks in the oven when self cleaning, but if you put a iron skillet in the oven, it would have to be on the bottom. Doesn't it ruin the bottom of the oven?

This is my question too. It seems putting the pan on the bottom of the oven while on the clean cycle might damage the bottom of the oven?

My husband wiped out the dust that had accumulated on the bottom of the oven. Otherwise the oven looks fine. I used olive oil after washing Steve's pan. We will be seeing him w/e and will pass on your suggestions to keep it clean as he is a camper and perhaps this is the pan he takes. Thanks for this info.

Use gas grill
 

My husband used our gas grill turned up on high for about 15-20 minutes and it worked beautifully. He saw it on Youtube.