No Stupid Questions

I print some of the endless online discussions about cast iron care. The paper, the ink and the opinions make for an excellent mild abrasive that doesn't permeate the pores or excessively damage the seasoning patina

I wipe any fat or oil with a paper towel into the trash. then I rinse it with soap and water and I have a regular plastic brush I use to wash it.

After I dry it off with a paper towel and heat it up and add some avocado oil then wipe the excess all around

I've been doing my best to follow cowboy kent's method where if you can, while the pan is still hot, run it under hot water and scrape away with a wooden spatula or other flat tool. I've had great success with most cleanings and anything stuck on I just do as the other user said and scrub with a abrasive sponge and a little soap and warm water until I'm happy.

Soap and water. It’s cast iron, not silk.

If I am babying them, kosher salt and oil once it's cool enough, then rinse & dry. Otherwise I scrape at it with the metal spatula then wash with soap and a scratchy sponge, it's fine as long as you don't soak them, and do dry them well after.

We do have a chainmail scrubber - my husband was soaking the skillets and killing the finish, he likes the chainmail scrubber.

Wiping out? Like, entirely? Well, personal physical assault isn't wise, so let's take that off the table first. I wouldn't suggest basic firearms, either: they'd likely just dent it or fly off and hurt something else.

Running it over isn't likely to damage it too badly, and trying to drown it just leads to rust. I think it'd be hard to get an "accidental" fire to have a high-enough heat sustained for a long enough to kill it. Dropping it from a height might bend or dent it.

Honestly, I think your best chance would be some kind of high explosive. Not a dinky thing like a hand grenade - aside from being under-powered, there's the extra shrapnel to worry about. Maybe some dynamite or C4, with a long enough detcord so you're not near the explosion. Of course, that'll likely just launch it upwards a bit, so you'd want to enclose it in something that ensures most of the damage is directed to the pan and not dispersed around the edges.

Maybe ask the police to do a demolition demonstration with their little self-contained units that they blow things up in, would that be feasible? How much do you hate this pan, anyway?

People are so weird with their cast iron care.... I scrub it with hot water, a brush, and maybe some soap depending on how dirty it is. Then I dry it off LIKE A NORMAL PAN and heat a little oil in it again to keep it from rusting. The only thing you need to do different than a normal pan is get some oil on it and heat it up after washing. It's a ferrous metal so it'll rust if it isn't protected.

Edit: for wiping out I just use a paper towel with a little oil on it

I use chain mail.

I just make the pan hot and wipe it out with a paper towel quickly so it doesn't burn the paper. If I made a sauce in it, a wet paper towel.

Modern soaps lack the phosphates that really mess with cast iron. I typically do this.

Little bit of water, heat on high until it boils most things off the pan.

Scrape with metal spatula and stick items.

Hit it lightly with soap and sponge.

Dry with paper towel.

Spray with oil.

Wipe oil all sides.

I tend to use a paper towel with a little bit of canola oil, after hand washing it lightly with soap and water.

My cast iron won't win beauty pageants, but they are functional equipment, not wall decorations.

I turn up the heat then throw water. It boils and cleanup with paper towel. Use tongs.

Probably a second cast iron skillet

We have a plastic scraper that gets anything off with a bit of water. Then I hit it with a rough sponge and water, towel dry, then stovetop dry. While still hot, I like to put a thin layer of Crisco on all surfaces with a paper towel and wipe any excess off. Having a well seasoned pan, warming up before cooking, and using enough fat or oil makes cleaning and maintaining a lot easier.

I use a green scotch brite pad and occasionally a modicum of dish soap.

I could probably learn a lot from the thread. If I don't clean it while it's still warm, I tend to resort to coarse salt, a bit of oil, and a scrubby sponge. Either way, it's not easy for me to clean, especially after eggs.

Stiff wooden brush, oil and salt

I'm convinced there's no right answer to this. Whatever works for you. The internet will never agree no matter what you do. Hell, put it in the dishwasher and (optional) re-apply the seasoning if you want to.

Personally I put it on the stove just to heat it up slightly, and them I rinse it under hot water while scrubbing with a light plastic brush just to get and chunks and gunks out. Once done I put it on the stove to burn/polymerize any leftover grease and add to the seasoning.

Sometimes I use some mild dish soap if I suspect that any flavor might carry over.

The amount of energy spent online about cleaning cast iron skillets blows my mind.

They are just slabs of iron.

Paper towel. Don't overthink it.

Everyone has a different 8 step program to cleaning cast irons. I just scrape the fuck out of it with a chainmail "sponge" and water, maybe some coarse salt or s pinch of soap if it's nasty. I dry it with a towel. I've had mine for yeaaaaars and it looks just fine.

If it needs reasoning, I use that as an excuse to buy a slab of bacon

generally speaking, it shouldn't be too difficult to get stuff off. I generally use blue scotchbrite scrubbie pads. They're non-abbrassive and have no metal or cleanser in them; but they're scratchy while being soft enough.

Other things that gets recommended is "washcloths" made of maille links (for example.)

The next stuff is some generic recommendations that you may or may not find useful (or have already heard.), but they're key steps in getting that truly nonstick surface... and it starts with how you maintain and cook with it.

Cast iron needs to be maintained- it was the original non-stick pan, mind you, but that nonstick surface needs maintenance. I typically season mine with avacodo oil applied in very light coatings and kept in a 350f oven. it's best to stay below the smoke point of whatever oil you're using; so check that and go 50-100 degrees under. The oil is polymerized when it's no longer tacky; and I tend to apply about a teaspoon at a time using an old microfiber cloth. (Less is best. I place the cloth on the top of the oil bottle and give it a quick flip-and-down. that's enough. for a full 12" pan, and probably enough for 16" if you have one.)

once its seasoned well, you can maintain it by occasionally putting a light coating of oil after use, cleaning and drying.

Also, it's important to remember that you need some kind of oil in the pan for it to be truly non-stick. I use avocado oil as my go to; it has no real flavor and it doesn't smoke like olive oil does. If you want to use butter, you can also get cute and add both avacado and butter and avoid burning the butter that way. It doesn't take a lot- a tablespoon is frequently enough. for something like bacon, I put a light "seasoning" coat on before cooking- you don't really want animal fats to season, it'll burn and turn bitter.

Finally, you want to preheat the pan slow-ish. it's not an aluminum nonstick; it takes time, let it get up to temp.

Immediately after you're done using it: rinse and scrub it like anything else. Let it dry, then apply oil to it.

Cast irons do really poorly if you don't clean them out immediately but I just use a normal sink scrub brush for cleaning.

My dad sands his silver and just washes it regular

Umm, a towel?