Pro tip: Stop babying your cast iron skillet like it's made of glass

I used to be one of those people who treated my cast iron like it was some fragile heirloom. No soap, no metal utensils, the whole nine yards. But then I went to a diner in Nashville last spring where the cook was scrubbing a 50 year old skillet with a steel wool pad and dish soap right in front of me. I asked him about it and he just laughed and said "it's a hunk of iron, not a baby." I tried his method at home and guess what? My pan works better now than it did when I was babying it. The seasoning came right back after a couple uses. So all that fuss about never using soap? Total myth. Just dry it on the stove after washing and give it a thin oil wipe. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on overcomplicating something simple?

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lisa_brown3mo ago

You really think a random diner cook in Nashville is the ultimate authority on cast iron care? Scraping off a 50 year old layer of carbon buildup isn't the same as maintaining a modern pan. People act like using soap will ruin your seasoning for life but realistically it's more about frequency and heat.

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smith.anna3mo ago

So what's the real difference between seasoning and burnt-on crud then?

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