How to Clean a Cast-Iron Skillet Without Ruining Your Cookware
Illustration by: Samantha Hahn/Getty Images
Cast-iron skillets have been around for generations. They are a kitchen staple for making cornbread and pork chops. Yet, the resurgence of this popular cookware may still leave you wondering how to clean a cast-iron skillet properly? Do you use dish soap? Can you scrape it with steel wool? Is it okay to never, ever clean it at all?
Chef Monty Koludrovic of The Botanical Group—the force behind restaurants like E.P. & L.P. Grandmaster Recorders and Strings of Life Café in West Hollywood, California—has long befriended the cast-iron skillet for his culinary creations, and he also happens to know how to clean cast-iron cookware too. “My two absolute go-to dishes in cast iron are crispy skin fish and an open omelet or frittata,” he says. “I love working with a cast iron because the even heat distribution and consistency is there. The way that food and fat work in a cast-iron pan is unique.”
