Cast Iron Care Guide

A simple guide on how to care for your cast iron pans, including cleaning tips and techniques, seasoning instructions, storage guidelines, and recommended care products.

We LOVE our cast iron pans. They are easily our most used pots and pans. And we know taking care of cast iron pans has been made into a daunting task… but it really isn’t! Taking care of cast iron is super easy, and if you do, you’ll have amazing pans for life (and so will your kids). 

Cast iron is a very resilient material. It gets easier to cook on the more it’s used; washing and cleaning cast iron is easy (especially with soap! Yes, you can use soap on cast iron); and even rusty cast iron can be saved! Keep reading to learn how to care for your cast iron pans so they last a lifetime.

How To Clean Cast Iron

It’s important to clean your cast iron pans after cooking with them – but make sure your pan has cooled down enough to safely handle it before cleaning! Cast iron holds onto heat for a long time, so you may need to wait a bit after dinner before heading to the sink.

1. Remove all food debris from the pan by scrubbing or scraping. Make sure all char marks and food scraps are removed.
2. If the cast iron is greasy (from bacon, burgers, etc.), wash the pan with soap and hot water. Make sure the soap doesn’t contain lye – most modern day soaps don’t.
3. If the pan is relatively clean already, a rinse of hot water and a light scrub from a cast iron brush like this one or sponge can be enough. 
4. Dry thoroughly. We have a dedicated “cast iron towel” that we keep separate from our other kitchen towels, as it can get a bit oily over time from the seasoning on your pans.
5. Heat on the stove over a medium flame to make sure it’s fully dry, or to reseason the pan occasionally. We like to always reseason our pans after cooking something messy where we had to do more scrubbing or use steel wool to clean it – see the section below to learn more about seasoning.

Pro tip: We like to turn our faucet as hot as it goes, then use the spray nozzle to blast our cast iron pans clean before and between scrubbing. This helps us make sure we get all the food particles and grease off the pan.

What If My Cast Iron Pan Is Rusty?

If your cast iron does sadly get rusty, you can easily remove the rust, clean the pan, and keep using it! Here is a great guide for removing rust from cast iron that we’ve had success with in the past.

How To Season A Cast Iron Pan

Regularly seasoning your cast iron keeps it nonstick and primed for cooking. You don’t necessarily have to season it every time you wash it – we generally do this after 3 to 5 uses, or if we’ve done heavy scrubbing with our steel wool.

1. After washing, place your clean, dry cast iron pan on the stove over medium heat. Add a small bit of vegetable oil or other seasoning medium to the pan. Wipe the oil over the pan with a paper towel so it’s evenly coated.
2. You want a very small amount of oil – once the oil is spread over the pan it should look as if there is no excess oil on the pan. The pan should look shiny, but there shouldn’t be any more oil than that. If there is, simply wipe it up with another paper towel. 
3. Let the pan sit over medium heat until it starts to smoke, then turn off the stove and let the pan cool before storing. You’ll want to turn on your range hood for this!
4. These seasonings will build up over time and help to replenish any seasoning that wears off while cleaning.

How To Properly Store Cast Iron

It’s important to store your cast iron properly to extend its life and prevent rusting. Here are a few best practices:

• Store your cast irons in a dry location once they are completely dry – any moisture left on cast iron can lead to rusting.
• It is best to not stack your cast irons. We store ours upright in a rack like this one to keep them separated while maximizing storage space in our pantry!
• If you need to stack your pans, separate each with a couple layers of paper towels or a kitchen towel. This will help keep any moisture from being trapped between them.

Recommended Cast Iron Care Products

Here are some of our favorite tools we use to keep our cast irons clean and in great condition. Note: you don’t need all of these products, we just wanted to give you options!

• Plastic scraper – Great for cleaning off any stuck-on food particles
• Grill pan scrapers – These plastic scrapers have ridges to help get between the grooves of our cast iron grill pan (a must if you also have a grill pan!)
• Cast iron brush – Great for lighter jobs that don’t require heavy scrubbing
• Steel wool – Works like a charm for tough scrubbing jobs and stuck-on food particles that you can’t get off with a plastic scraper.
• Chain mail – A great alternative to steel wool that is easier to hold and scrub with!
• Scotch brite pads – Another alternative to steel wool that is gentler on your seasoning. Great for getting off stuck on food and char. 
• Canola or vegetable oil – This is all you really need for seasoning your pans, nothing fancy!

Breaking In A New Cast Iron Pan

While you don’t need to do anything special with a new cast iron, we always like to make some caramelized onions with lots of butter or oil (or cook some bacon) to break in our new pans! The oils from both of these foods will jump start your seasoning process, and leave you with a tasty treat!

Our Favorite Cast Iron Recipes

You can cook basically anything in a well-seasoned cast iron pan. In our opinion, most things taste better when cooked in cast iron thanks to the beautiful sear you can get – and thanks to how well these pans hold and distribute heat. It’s our go-to cookware for a reason! 

Here are some of our favorite cast iron recipes. Try them out after investing in a new cast iron pan (or cleaning up your old ones), then return to this guide afterwards if you need a refresher on how to wash, season, and store them!

• Cast Iron Skillet Mac and Cheese – a deliciously shareable mac n cheese you can eat right out of the skillet or serve family style
• Spicy General Tso’s Chicken – cast iron is perfect for making super crispy fried chicken!
• White Pizza with Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Basil – you can make Neapolitan style pizza with a piping hot cast iron pan and your home oven!
• Smash Burger Quesadilla – you can make this with 2 cast iron pans at once, one for the burger and one for the quesadilla
• Buttermilk Protein Pancakes – pancakes cook like a dream on cast iron!
• Braised Short Rib Grilled Cheese – once you have a grilled cheese made in cast iron, you’ll never go back
• Black Bean and Rice Bake – we love how you can make super crispy rice in cast iron for this recipe

To browse our latest recipes and seasonal dishes, visit our homepage here.