Life Should Cost Less

  • Home
  • BEST OF
  • Money
    • All Financial Advice
    • Budgeting
    • Frugal Tips
  • CLEANING
  • CRAFTS
  • DIY
  • KIDS
    • Entire Kids Section
    • CRAFTS
    • Games
  • PRINTABLES
    • ALL PRINTABLES
    • CHRISTMAS
    • THANKSGIVING
    • WINTER
    • VALENTINE’S
  • RECIPES
    • SEE ALL
    • Appetizers
    • BREADS
    • BREAKFAST
    • CROCKPOT/SLOW COOKER
    • INSTANT POT
    • NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
    • MAIN DISH
    • Salads & Dressings
    • Sweet Tooth
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT ME
    • How To Support The Site
  • SUBSCRIBE

by: Sarah

Cast Iron Cleaning Tip: How To Get Stuck Food Off Of Cast Iron

Cleaning cast iron can be a major hassle! When food gets stuck, it sometimes feels like there isn’t enough elbow grease in the world to get it off. Luckily, with this one simple tutorial you can earn how to easily remove stuck on food from cast iron. This Cast Iron Cleaning tip has been passed down for generations and is a total time saver.

Cleaning cast iron the easy way. lifeshouldcostless.com

Many years ago I started cooking with cast iron. Though there at the beginning, I kind of gave up for a while because it’s hard to clean and you really shouldn’t soak it (which is hard for me because I frequently am too tired to do one more load of dishes after cooking from scratch all day and so the dinner dishes become my morning chore) so I kinda felt helpless over what to do.

Even though I consider cooking in iron one of the more healthest ways to cook (no bpa like in non-stick cookware, and no copper toxicity that can happen when using copper), I figure that iron is an essential nutrient that we need so it suits me just fine cooking with it… but there just had to be a way to make it a little easier to clean.

As luck would have it, I was watching someone that has cooked with cast iron for a very long time (30+ years) and they showed me a little cleaning trick that has been passed down from one cook to the next for countless generations.

Even now, years later, I still consider myself a newbie to cast iron, so I just had to share in case any of you other “newbie’s” out there need this tip too.

So here we go, the best tip for cleaning cast iron:

Start out with a pan that has the food on the bottom that just won’t budge. Put it on the stove and let it heat up for a couple of minutes. I put it on medium heat.

(Yes, my cast iron pan is way old and worn…I got it at a yard sale in my early 20’s and I’m too practical/cheap to replace it just to show you guys how to do this)

Food stuck on cast iron, how to get it off easily. lifeshouldcostless.com

What cleans cast iron best? WATER!!!

Once it’s nice and warmed up, take a mug or pyrex measuring cup, and fill it with water (temp doesn’t matter too much, I used luke warm). 

Then quickly drop enough water to just cover the food mess.

It’s going to sizzle like crazy and you let it do it’s thing for a few seconds.

Then, using either a high temp silicone spatula or a wooden one gently scrape off the food. If you must use metal, be super gentle…

I had to use metal this time and it did just fine. This old beat-up pan is one that I found at a yard sale years ago and it still needs to be re-seasoned…otherwise I wouldn’t dare use metal.

This stuck-on food  was really bad so I had to repeat the process, but just once.

After trying out this tip a few times, I found that you don’t need to wash out all of the food that got scraped off each time you do this, just slide the loosened food out of the way, let the pan warm back up a little and do it again.

Repeat until all the food particles have separated from the pan.

It only takes me a minute or two tops to clean a skillet, even on a really dirty pan.

Once you’re done, wash like you normally would, grease it, and thank your lucky stars that you aren’t still scrubbing ten to twenty minutes later.

After removing stuck on food with the best and easiest cast iron cleaning method/tip. lifeshouldcostless.com

I hope I explained it well enough for you all to understand…it’s pretty simple and makes cleaning cast iron a breeze…instead of a majorly time-consuming chore!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! If you liked what you saw, please make sure to share it via social media!

What cleans cast iron best? Find out how with the best cleaning tutorial to remove stuck on food from cast iron. lifeshouldcostless.com

Oh, don’t forget to subscribe to my email list (found here). Also, if you would like to learn how to follow along or really show your support for this blog, go here.

P.S. You may also want to check out my entire cleaning section.

Here are several of my other cleaning tips that you’re also going to find handy:

How To Wash Walls Fast, The Easiest Way To Clean Walls
How To Make Your Slow Cooker Clean Itself!!! (Plus video tutorial)
How To Condition And Clean Smooth Leather At The Same Time
How To Clean Grout {The Easiest & Cheapest Way}
How To Remove Grease Stains From Clothing (Even After It’s Been Baked In By The Dryer).

For those of you that would like some more options of a “pinnable” image to share on Pinterest, here you go. Thanks so much for the support!

How to clean stuck on food from cast iron. lifeshouldcostless.com
How to remove food stuck on cast iron. The best cast iron cleaning tip. lifeshouldcostless.com
The best cast iron cleaning tip on the internet. lifeshouldcostless.com

*Reposts: Please note that this idea/post was originally posted to this website on 04/13/2016 but it was in great need of a refresh, so it now is more user friendly and shareable, (and just plain looks better;).

How To Patch A Hole In A Door
The Best Tips on Saving Money for Your Family’s Future

Follow Me!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Hey There, I’m Sarah!

Single mom, stretcher of dollars, & lover of chocolate. I've always got a project going, free printable, recipe, or tip to share. To read more about me and this site, click here.

Categories

Top Shared Posts

How to deodorize and clean a slow cooker/ crock pot. lifeshouldcostless.com

How To Deep Clean & Deodorize A Slow Cooker

Shares: 333772

Slow Cooker Chocolate Cherry Dr Pepper Dump Cake

Shares: 280369

Crock Pot Spaghetti

Crock Pot Spaghetti

Shares: 588894

How to wash walls fast. The best way to clean walls. lifeshouldcostless.com

How To Wash Walls Fast, The Easiest Way To Clean Walls

Shares: 656998

What to pack in hospital bag. Best tip for breastfeeding mom. lifeshouldcostless.com

Best Breastfeeding Tip, Why I Pack Pineapple Juice In My Hospital Bag

Shares: 190226

Some of my posts may contain affiliate links or suggested products. If you choose to purchase through these links, your cost remains the same, but I receive a small commission. Thank you for your support!

Misc. Info

Disclaimer

Privacy Policy

Archives

As Seen On

As Seen On

Featured Recipes

How To Make Pasta Salad From Scratch

top ramen chicken salad recipe

Coleslaw Ramen Chicken Salad

best cheeseball ever

The Best Classic Cheeseball Recipe

dressing/stuffing made with jimmy dean sage sausage

Nana Bessie’s Sausage Stuffing Recipe For Slow Cooker

Easy Shrimp Dip Recipe

Grandma’s Famous Cold Shrimp Dip Recipe

Featured Cleaning Tips

Where to put oxiclean in front loader. lifeshouldcostless.com

How to use OxiClean in a front loader

easy tip for mopping hard floors

How To Spot Mop…And Why You Should

Tips to keep house clean all the time.

Learn How to Keep Your House Clean with These Easy Tips

Leather cleaning tutorial. lifeshouldcostless.com

The Best Way To Clean & Condition Smooth Leather

Natural items you need to make home-made non-toxic cleaning products. lifeshouldcostless.com

10 Ingredients You Need To Add To Your Natural Cleaning Supplies List

© 2021 · Fun Genesis WordPress Theme by, Pretty Darn Cute Design

5187shares
  • 115