Cleaning After Use

D

DougH

Member
So, I admit to this with some trepidation, but often I won't clean my skillets until a few days after I use them. I have 3 that I use often in rotation, and it's fairly common for me to use all 3 on different days, and then clean them together one evening.

I know cleaning shortly after use is the best answer, but I'm wondering if I'm hurting them much by leaving them dirty for a few days at a time. I'm doing this with things that are considered safe to cook and not with acidic dishes or anything.

So, do I need to suck it up and develop good habits or can I keep indulging my laziness :-)
 
As long as you don't have any trouble cleaning them after a few days you're doing just fine. Leaving some crustiness on there for days at a time shouldn't make any difference to the pan, or the seasoning underneath it, in my opinion.
 
BenjaminO said:
As long as you don't have any trouble cleaning them after a few days you're doing just fine. Leaving some crustiness on there for days at a time shouldn't make any difference to the pan, or the seasoning underneath it, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

There haven't been any issues cleaning them or using them that I've noticed...they still clean up pretty easily. So, unless someone comes up with a reason not to, I'll just keep being lazy :chuckle:
 
My vote is for cleaning after use and here is why. I want my seasoning as hard and smooth as possible to get the graphite effect and it not get as easily scarred by utensils. After cleaning and drying I never oil the CI for fear it will be absorbed into the seasoning and soften it. Like most fears this one may be completely irrational, but oil will breakdown many carbon compounds. Put a drop of your cooking oil on a piece of paper and write through it with a pencil.

Leaving oil, grease or a piece of onion in the skillet strikes me like adding a coating of oil after cleaning. For piece of mind I'd at least scrape and wipe it out good. At that point might as well run some hot water in it.
 
W. Hilditch said:
My vote is for cleaning after use and here is why. I want my seasoning as hard and smooth as possible to get the graphite effect and it not get as easily scarred by utensils. After cleaning and drying I never oil the CI for fear it will be absorbed into the seasoning and soften it. Like most fears this one may be completely irrational, but oil will breakdown many carbon compounds. Put a drop of your cooking oil on a piece of paper and write through it with a pencil.

Leaving oil, grease or a piece of onion in the skillet strikes me like adding a coating of oil after cleaning. For piece of mind I'd at least scrape and wipe it out good. At that point might as well run some hot water in it.
Click to expand...
Interesting...I've not heard of oil after cleaning being a potentially bad thing. About half the time, I'll clean and put another light layer of crisco on, then let that heat for a 15-20 minutes, wipe again, and let cool. Other times, I'll just heat it enough to dry completely and put away...depends on my mood.

I've always thought of that as an extra mini seasoning, but would that post cleaning crisco be detrimental to my existing seasoning?
 
I clean mine shortly after use when they're cool enough to handle. Not because I feel I "have to" or "should," but because I just can't stand dirty pots and pans sitting on my stove any more than I can stand dirty dishes in the sink or empty glasses sitting around on counters. Maybe I'm OCD. Oh! And I don't want my cat wandering through my dirty cast iron in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping nor do I want to attract unwanted six legged critters in for a free meal and a comfortable place to set up housekeeping.
 
KevinE said:
I clean mine shortly after use when they're cool enough to handle. Not because I feel I "have to" or "should," but because I just can't stand dirty pots and pans sitting on my stove any more than I can stand dirty dishes in the sink or empty glasses sitting around on counters. Maybe I'm OCD. Oh! And I don't want my cat wandering through my dirty cast iron in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping nor do I want to attract unwanted six legged critters in for a free meal and a comfortable place to set up housekeeping.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I might be the opposite of OCD when it comes to kitchen cleanup...I keep telling myself I'm going to do better with them, and then I keep not doing it.
 
J.Ottinger said:
DougH, cleaning CI after using it, you put a coating of Crisco on and then 15-20 minutes in the oven at what temp?
Click to expand...

If I go through that process after cleaning, I'll typically do it on a burner around a medium low setting. Let that go until it just starts to smoke a bit, wipe it aggressively and let it cool...and then I'll use it like normal next time.

I find myself doing this less as I've used the skillets more and have developed better seasoning on them. Usually I'll go through this process when something sticks a bit more than I like in cleanup...and that's happening less and less often.

Now, is that good practice, bad practice, or indifferent...I don't know. It was something I saw on youtube when I was first learning how to season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top