Paper Towels (usage on CI)

How many PT rolls do you use per week?

  • <1

    Votes: 2 40.0%

  • 1-3

    Votes: 1 20.0%

  • 3+

    Votes: 1 20.0%

  • I use something else (please share)

    Votes: 1 20.0%
  • Total voters
    5
J

JenniferM

Member
For those who use CI as your predominant cookware, how many rolls of paper towels do you tend to go through in a week specific to your CI usage? I find that I go through about a roll every other day. There's gotta be a better way/option. I hate that I'm throwing away so much rusty/oiled paper.

Am I alone here, in that others have a better way? What do you use for regular clean-up, dry and wipe down with thin layer of oil between uses? I thought about buying a set of kitchen towels just for use in cleaning & wiping down CI, but wasn't sure if the oil would come out in regular washing or not. :(

I gotta think that - 100+ years ago - CI users weren't wasting so many paper towels.
 
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When I apply seasoning oil to a pan, it's with the equivalent of two full sheets of paper towel folded up to make a thick pad. To wipe the excess oil off, I use a folded cotton terry towel (think bundle of 12 cheap at Walmart), refolding it as necessary to a clean part until it requires washing (or more likely just tossing). 1 terry towel will last through a couple dozen pans, and does what you want it to: efficiently wipe off excess oil. Paper towel, once saturated, only smears around what it has absorbed, and if used on as-cast surfaces, falls apart and leaves bits stuck to the iron.

After cooking and washing, 1 sheet of paper towel is usually sufficient to wipe down the piece with a couple spritzes of PAM or a tsp. of canola. Only if I feel the need to wipe out the pan before washing do I use more paper towel.
 
As a hippie, I don't use any paper towels. After stripping a piece of cast iron I dry/wipe it down with a small old cotton cloth (not terry cloth - too much lint) This towel will turn pretty black eventually but can be washed.
Next I apply seasoning oil with a small 3" by 3" square cut from a lent free micro-fiber cleaning towel. These last for a while but can be tossed as soon as the oil starts to dry on them. Another square of this same cloth is good for removing excess oil, but they are somewhat like sponges and tend to only lay down as much oil as you need.
After cooking I wash with hot water and non scratch sponge. Drying is done with a dedicated cotton towel, which can be washed about 2 times before it gets tossed when it becomes soiled. I find a towel lasts a week or two, even cooking for a family of 5.
If a pan is looking dry I oil it with one of the micro-fiber squares before putting it away.
Hope this can help someone break there paper-towel habit. The Canadian Boreal forests are big, but our grandchildren will have to dry these cast irons with something besides paper-towels....
 
Thanks Doug & Benjamin. GREAT suggestions! I find that - with the things I cook mostly for dinners (vs. breakfast, which is a LOT easier to clean up), that's where most of my PT use originates. I frequently need to use coarse salt (maybe I should keep a rag on hand for this) to break loose something that got a little caked on in cooking. I have the scrapers, but they don't always get it all. Maybe it's also a sign I'm cooking on too high a temperature, though I usually don't go any higher than medium heat for most things.
 
Post-cook, bring 1/2" water to a simmer and loosen the stuck on bits with a wood spatula. Let cool, and wash as normal. No paper towel, no salt necessary.
 
Doug D. said:
Post-cook, bring 1/2" water to a simmer and loosen the stuck on bits with a wood spatula. Let cool, and wash as normal. No paper towel, no salt necessary.
Click to expand...

I've had to do that a time or two, and it does work great. Doesn't that remove some of the seasoning though? I think that's why I've been hesitant to do that, but if it doesn't, then I'm golden and can start saving a few trees. :D
 
I think you may be close to alone. I use about a 1/4 roll of 6" paper towels a week for the CI. Each pan gets 2. After cooking I scrape the pan smooth with a flat end SS spatula. One towel to wipe it out. After washing with a loofah and hot water one towel to dry. I never oil my CI as the oil can soften the the seasoning. The seasoning protects the CI. The loofah needs to be washed.
 
I use clean, wore out, & cut up t-shirts. Free or dang near! Allready used up so you are recycling em this way.(repurposed) Throw away guilt free.
 
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