HOW TO CLEAN RUST OFF YOUR CAST IRON SKILLET

by Maria October 18, 2020, 5:29 pm 1.2k Views

1: Grab a steel sponge or a steel wire brush and start scrubbing like mad, getting every crack and crevasse of your skillet. Rinse with hot water and place on the hot stovetop till the water evaporates. If there is still a noticeable amount of rust, scrub some more, rinse, and dry on the hot stovetop again.

2: Carefully remove the pan from the stovetop (remember the handle may be hot.) Sprinkle a generous amount of course sea salt in the pan – we used Redmond’s Real Salt. Grab a piece of cloth, or a piece of leather, and scrub the salt in. The salt picks up any extra rust that you’ve scrubbed off with the steel sponge/brush. Once the salt is pinkish brown, dump it into the sink and rinse the skillet with hot water, and dry again on the hot stovetop.

3: If there is still some deep rust, pour a generous amount of baking soda and white vinegar into the pan. Let soak for at least 30 minutes. Rinse and dry on the stovetop again. Repeat this step as needed. The reason soda and vinegar can remove rust is because it is very high in citric acid. Citric acid, plus rust, makes water and hydrogen. This is basically the reversal of how the rust came to be, remember when water and oxygen made rust?

4: If the pan looks rust free, perform Step 2 again, except you will be adding a nice dollop of oil to the warm pan – we used Primal Kitchen’s Avocado Oil – but you can use any vegetable oil or lard. Get to scrubbing again. The salt will be picking up any left over rust particles, while the oil coats your clean pan. Make sure to rub all the creases. Dump out the salt and wipe any excess oil from the pan. It should be glossy black now and rust free!

Stainless Steel Cast Iron Cleaner

HOW TO CLEAN AND SEASON YOUR CAST IRON SKILLET

Step 1: Take your HOT skillet and rinse it under HOT water, scrapping away any stuck on food with a spatula or wooden spoon. Always use HOT water, otherwise you run the risk of cracking your skillet. Use caution as lots of steam will occur.

Step 2: If you’ve got some really stuck on food, heat up the pan, pour some salt on the food and add a teaspoon of water to the pan. That should be enough to dissolve the food and make it easier to scrub off with your spatula.

Step 3: Dry out your pan on the hot stovetop. Pour a nice amount of vegetable oil or lard into the warm pan, and massage the oil into the bottom and sides of your pan with a clean dry rag. Take caution not to burn your hands as the pan will be hot! Make sure there is no access oil.

And there you have it, a clean Iron Skillet, ready for cooking!