Here Is the Right Way to Clean Your Cast Iron Skillets

I adore cooking with cast iron. For the longest time, I used a nonstick pan, because I didn’t realize how bad non-stick is for your health … it turns out that the residue gets in your food much sooner than you think. So I switched to cast iron for my health, and then discovered its other benefits—like its ability to evenly heat your food so that it comes out delicious and perfect every time. It has totally revolutionized my cooking.

Since I started using cast iron, I have discovered so many wonderful recipes. But none of the kitchen hacks I have found have made it any easier to get my cast iron cookware clean after I’ve used it. Cast iron is really heavy, so it is hard to scrub it effectively.

But I just found a video which taught me an absolutely genius method for cleaning cast iron:

Basically, you just rinse the skillet with a bit of hot water, and then you sprinkle in some salt. You rub the salt around using the rough side of your sponge, and this will help to remove any remaining food residue—without scraping off the seasoning. Then you just give it another quick rinse, and you’re all done.

I have already started using this technique, and it has made my life so much easier. Cooking on cast iron is now more fun than ever. I can spend more time looking up recipes and less time trying to scrape off stubborn food residue from the bottom of my cookware!