i put about a pea sized worth so its shiny and not dry

Clean the pan like you’re doing. Some say don’t use detergent, but I do. Once the heavy food bits are gone, I dry it off. Then put a tablespoon of avocado oil in the pan and crank up the heat until it’s hot and shimmering. I then wipe it, let it cool and put it away. This builds up the seasoning so that the surface is protected from rusting and to maintain a non stick surface.

Also, don’t use heat to dry iron/steel. Heat accelerates rusting, you might just cause yourself to have to clean it again, but including steel wool this time.

I rarely oil my cast iron pans, only when I notice they are “less shiny”. When needed, I clean them thoroughly, dry well, then, put a little olive oil, just enough to cover all the surface and put it to high heat for around 5 to 10 minutes. To apply oil it’s better to use a cloth than paper towels because some paper particles could stick to the pan. Wash your pans as soon as possible with not much of dish soap, preferably with warm water and dry immediately.

Scrub it back to the seasoning, which shouldn’t take a lot of scrubbing. I use the blue sponge and I know I’ve got off all the food bits when the water just slides off the surface but doesn’t look slick afterwards. If I wipe a little oil onto it then the cloth or paper towel should not look dirty.

Uncle Dave Macon says keep my skillet good and greasy all the time

In the restaurants I worked we used salt for cleaning, never a detergent. Couple of tablespoons of salt and for scrubbing cloth, spunge or half a potato. Scrub, discard salt, rinse with water, dry and apply a liitle arachide oil afterwards.

I’ve had a few cast iron pans and a carbon steel pan for a few years now. I just wash them with dawn dish detergent (make sure whatever soap/detergent you use doesn’t contain lye) and a sponge until all the food bits are gone and the water cleanly skids off the pan. After, I shake the water off and hand dry with a cotton dish towel.

You mentioned your pans are new so the water may not slide off like a well used and seasoned pan so just scrub and rinse until the food bits are off. If there are any difficult bits, you could buy a plastic dish scraper or just gently scrape at it with a metal spoon. Don’t worry too much about damaging the pan when washing; cast iron has lasted many families many decades of cooking and abuse.

Just make sure not to drop it or heat/cool it too quickly and it’ll be fine

There is so much wrong information in this thread. It’s insane.

Just scrape all the buildup off the pan with a plastic scraper. Lodge makes one. Do this under hot water. Scrape it as clean as possible and rinse it. Your goal is not to remove the patina. Think of it as scraping everything smooth. Feel the surface with your fingers. If it feels smooth you are good. There may still be an oily residue. Rince off as much as you can; the rest is fine. Never use soap. Remember, oil is good for the pan. If for some reason you need to remove oil just wipe it off. Anyways, put it back on the stove and heat it over med/low heat until dry. This will not cause rust. This dries it quickly and prevents rust. Now that your pan is hot and dry, add a tsp of oil and rub a thin layer all over with a paper towel. Paper towel bits will not hurt you or the pan. The oil will add to the season and prevent rusting. Use only enough oil to make the pan shiny.

I’ve done this for years and it works fantastic.

Link to the scrapers I’m talking about but anything similar will work - www.lodgecastiron.com/products/pan-scrapers

Hope this helps. I love cast iron. Good cookin!

I imagine there are many ways to nicely clean cast iron but I ended up buying that little chain mail scrubber that Loge sells. I rinse it, sometimes with hot water, scrub it fairly well, then put it on the stove and heat the water away so it doesn’t rust.

I commit all kinds of cast iron crimes, but honestly, just re-seasoning pans is fine. Oil and wipe with a paper towel. Cast iron can absolutely take a cleaning.

I fully clean mine with soap because I make spicy tacos at night in it, then flapjacks the next day. Nobody wants spicy flapjacks.

The real key is unscented/unflavored soap. then, reseason with just enough oil to keep it shiny. If you make it your main pan, it will get nice and seasoned from years of use. :)

Not oily at all. Use a towel to clean off the excess oil.

I use a carbon steel pan, as I find the smoothness much easier to keep clean (smaller pores than cast iron).

I spent some time seasoning it at first (6 layers is a little overkill, I did 8, don’t be me), and now I just lightly scrub/wipe off any food or oils after cooking and reseason maybe monthly if that. My pan is dry and clean between uses.

If I burn food or it sticks for some other reason, I scrub harder. If I need an abrasive, I reseason afterwards.

Reseasoning includes cleaning thoroughly with detergent to get any soot off. Then rubbing in oil with cloth, and drying off as much as possible with a clean cloth before popping it into the oven for an hour. Wiping it down gives thin, even layers.

If need be I repeat up to three times.

I’ve used them for 4-5 years now without issue.

My cast iron grill pan absorbs more flavors though, so that needs a lot more cleaning if switching between cuisines.

I wash mine by hand with soap and water - I’m a monster, right?

Nope. Mine are slick, so slick that with a little water on them it feels like they’re oily.

So mine are put away bone-dry. I seasoned them with Flaxseed oil - total game changer. I’ve even seasoned aluminum baking sheets with it, now they’re nearly stick proof too.

America’s Test Kitchen figured this out by testing several oils and methods.

The more passes you can do, the better. I’m probably between 5-10 layers on most of my pans now, and it’s smoother, slicker than the pan my grandmother used for breakfast for decades.

I have this same pan. It’s used daily. I find with ring molds for the eggs it’s perfect for 3 breakfast sandwiches or 4 burgers.

After use, I wipe it down with a paper towel to remove excess oil. I haven’t noticed any stuck on food.

Every 2-4 weeks, I’ll wash it with a little scrubbing and dish soap. After the scrubbing, I’ll dry with a paper towel or dish rag and place it on the burner at high. After the pan heats through, I add about a tsp of vegetable oil and rub all over the cooking surface with a paper towel. After the surface is coated, I take another paper towel and wipe it agian.

That’s the neat part. You don’t need anything between cooking sessions. If you always cook with a bit of fat, the seasoning will build up over time and will keep the pan protected from rust. I deliberately reseason maybe a couple times a year.

The truth is, cast iron and carbon steel don’t need excessive babying. My only tools to keep mine in top condition are a flat spatula and a thick bristled brush (natural fibers, no plastic as it could melt). After cooking, I always do the following :

• Deglaze the pan over high heat and unstick everything left with the spatula
• rinse, scrub with the brush, rinse again
• dry with a dish rag
• store somewhere dry
• repeat the next day

No need for soap, reheating, constant seasoning upkeep or oiling. If your seasoning isn’t flaking off, which it shouldn’t, it’s good to go. Even a few rust stains or gouges in the seasoning can be brushed off and seasoned over.