One of the best Christmas gifts I’ve ever received was the cast iron skillet you see above. My sister got it for me along with a plethora of other kitchen gadgets. Now that I think of it, she also got me the collapsible salad spinner I mentioned in an earlier post as a Christmas gift.

But, I digress. Cast iron is awesome. It holds heat well, can be transferred from the stove to the oven, and is surprisingly versatile. I have done everything from searing steaks to baking bread in it.

However, it can be hard to clean, because you can’t really scour it without removing the seasoning. The seasoning is the layer of oil baked into the pores that makes the pan non-stick and prevents rust. However, it can be really hard not to want to scrub it, because little bits of food can really get stuck onto it, especially if you’re using it in the oven. In this case, it was from caramelizing the vegetables for pot roast.

What I’ve found is that the best way to scrub it is to get kosher salt and then, well, scrub.

Then wash off all the salt with some soapy water. Rinse until you get off all of the soap. You definitely don’t want a soapy taste. As a matter of fact, sometimes I don’t even use soap. K, to be perfectly honest, I’ve probably used soap on the cast iron maybe once or twice. Then dry it off thoroughly. I sometimes do this on the stove.

The next step is oiling it. Some people say that you should only oil when you’re ready to use it because it’ll go rancid, but I use it so often, I’ve never had a problem with it. I also use different greases, from olive oil (extra virgin so it doesn’t smoke) to canola to butter (I used it quickly after that, because butter goes rancid fairly quickly).

Rub the oil in. You should put it over all the surfaces so as to prevent rust and whatnot. It also makes the surface nonstick.

Take good care of your cast iron and they’ll last for decades. You should be able to pass them on to your kids… or even your grandkids.