Easy Way to Clean Cast Iron Pans – It Worked for Me!

Prepare to have your mind blown!  This was one of my great grandmother’s cast iron skillets, which is over 100 years old. I found d an easy an easy Way to Clean Cast Iron Pans!

 

Look at all that gunk from years and years of use.  If only that pan could talk!  The inside wasn’t bad but boy did these pans need some love and attention.

Get ready….

This is that very same pan now!

 

What is an easy way to clean cast iron pans?

Sometime in the past year or so I read somewhere that if you put your cast iron pans in your oven and set it to self clean the will be almost as good as new.  I was skeptical but interested, so somewhere in the nooks and crannies of my brain that little nugget snuggled in. Then all of a sudden – it woke up and reminded me to take action.

It seemed SO easy and I figured what’s the worst that could happen…so I put 2 in the other weekend to see what would happen.  I set the self-clean to 4 hours.

They didn’t explode into flames and they didn’t melt and our house is still standing.  Once I was able to unlock the oven, the lower rack was covered in tiny little ashes, so was the bottom of the oven and the inside of the pans (note to self…next time put wrap the other rack in foil).  The pans were also no longer jet black – they were more dark brown.

After they were cool enough to handle (which took about an hour) I rinsed them out, wiped the rust off and oiled them down.  I then put them back in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour to re-season them (I actually did this twice over 2 days).  Now they are once again black and let me tell you…the little one, which I had never cooked with, hasn’t left the stove – it makes eggs each morning like nobody’s business!

I was SO amazed that AFTER this I decided to Google it to see what would come up and I came across a number of sites that talked about it – one site had 2 commenters that said their pan caught fire (and was stuck in the self cleaning oven because of the locking mechanism not unlocking until the cycle finished) so they had to turn off the breaker to the oven and hope the flames went out (and they did).  However I think they were seasoning them, slathered in shortening on self-clean – not something you should do.

If your pans are slick and oily maybe this isn’t something you do – or maybe you clean them first.  I’m not an expert by any means on this…just sharing my own personal mind-blowing experience.

I also read that it is a good idea to soak them in a vinegar and water solution for an hour after they come out to remove the rust, which I didn’t do.

All 3 of my pans are vintage and over 100 years old.  I am so happy that they are now pretty enough to display 🙂

SO if you have cast iron in need of a makeover – do a little research, make sure you are comfortable and go for it!  I am SO happy I did!! Now if only I could put myself in something like that and be restored just as easily to my 22 year old beach ready body!! Hey, a gal can dream!!

If you found this tip helpful, I also am ridiculously happy with this super easy and fun Toothpick Dispenser (homemade holiday gift alert people!!) and THIS trick that keeps my everyday pans beautiful is A-MAZING!!  My favorite thing about all 3 of these…they are all SO simple!!!