5 Easy Ways How To Clean a Cast Iron Grill Pan: Things to Know

 

How to clean a cast iron grill pan. We can all agree that cast iron grill pan is such important cookware in our kitchen, especially American-style dishes.

However, these grill pans can be damaged after a while if you don’t take care of them properly.

A rusty pan can have awful effects on your food flavor and your health.

Therefore, if you have a grill pan, let’s find out how to clean the cast iron grill pan in our post now!

5 Easy Ways How To Clean a Cast Iron Grill Pan: Things to Know

 

How To Clean a Cast Iron Grill Pan?

A burger party is never complete without smoky hotdogs and sausages on a cast iron grill pan.

This kitchen utensil is such great cookware that it is durable with strong performance with proper care.

Let’s find out how to clean a grill pan after a big sausage serving time:

Cleaning Baking soda and lemon juice

The best way to clean a cast-iron grill pan that is friendly to your skin and rusty-free is to use baking soda and lemon juice.

These two ingredients have a reputation for strong natural bleach that can remove grease and rusty spots effectively.

With the acidity of lemon juice and mild alkali of baking soda, they are perfect for any daily cleaning tasks.

Here is my cleaning mixture:

. One tablespoon lemon juice.

. One cup baking soda.

. Plastic scraper and a brush.

Mix the baking soda and lemon juice to create a nice blend paste and pour it on the rusty spots.

Use the plastic scraper to rub the rusty spots, and cover each spot with a plastic wrap for a day.

This would help the mixture to blend with the rust and soften its texture.

After that, you need to remove the plastic wrap and use a brush to scrub the pan.

At this time, these rusty spots will be scraped out easily. Once they are all removed, you can rinse them with water and season your grill pan.

If you prefer a quicker and more effective way to get rid of all the dirty rusts, you can use a rust remover.

However, when using it, you should be cautious as it can cause irritation to your skin and eyes.

Rinse with hot water – grill pan

Sounds simple? Because it is! Hot water can help remove any stubborn leftover on the pan and also kill the bacteria growth.

It is recommended to apply this way with a high-sides pan to avoid getting your skin burn.

First, pour out all the grease left on the pan into the trash can.

It is important not to use water to wash it down to create clogging and contamination to the water system.

Once all the grease spots have left the pan, it is time to boil the water. Pour in half the pan with water and bring it to a boil.

The heat of the water will break the structure of any sticky food pieces that make it easier for you to scrape them off.

You can take a spatula and push them out one by one without any hardship.

When there is no food left on the pan, simply spill the water and use a paper towel to remove any stains left.

Clean with salt

Using too much detergent on your cast iron grill can damage your grill pan surface gradually, and it is not so safe for your food as well.

Therefore, it is best to use a natural solution for our cleaning task.

Salt is a great ingredient that absorbs any form of liquid that prevents spills from staining the pan.

Start with removing any grease on your pan to the trash can. Then pour a handful of Kosher salt and some hot water on top of the pan.

This mixture will give nice moisture for you to scrape the pan easier.
After that, get a nylon brush or a sponge to rub any dirt and food left in every corner and ridges of the pan to make sure they are spotless once you rinse with water.

You can add more salt to maximize the scrubbing effects if there are any stubborn stains.

Once you have finished scrubbing, wash the pan thoroughly with hot water and use a paper towel to wipe the pan dry.

Salt without water

Some people prefer cleaning cast iron grill pan with water to avoid rusty spots.

If you want to give extreme care to your pan, you can also clean with solely salt.

And that would take a great amount of salt to clean the pan without hot water.

Simply coat the pan with salt and start rubbing the pan with a paper towel to clean thoroughly.

Then use another paper towel to clean the salt from the pan.

Clean with soap

Cleaning with soap is a common method to clean any kitchen utensil. It is super effective if you need to clean the pan fast.

However, this method can build up rusty spots over time and wipe out the distinctive flavor on the surface, so you might not want to use it too often.

Use mild soap and pour on the grill pan. You can add some water to dilute the solution and scrub any stains and grease spots with a brush or a sponge.

Then, wash away all the soap with water, and you can have a spotless grill pan.

Using a stronger detergent to remove any stubborn build-up grease on the pan is also a good idea.

However, you must remember not to dilute it with hot water because this combination can create a toxic chlorine gas that irritates your eyes and skin.

Tips How To Clean a Cast Iron Grill Pan – iron pan, iron grill

Knowing how to clean cast iron grill skillet is a necessary step to keep your grill pan usable for a longer time.

However, you also need to remember these tips in order to keep your grill pan clean and durable for longer use.

Before cleaning the pan, you should let it cool down first instead of getting into work right after usage.

As the pan’s temperature is usually around 165 degrees Fahrenheit, you might burn yourself with just a touch of it.

During cleaning, use a non-abrasive brush or sponge made of soft nylon in order to avoid damaging your grill pan.

Metal pads or hard bristle brush can accidentally scrape the enamel surface of the pan.

Then your pan’s life span will be shorter than you expect.

In addition, scrubbing too much can also damage your pan material. Normally, your pan doesn’t stay spotless like when you first bought it at the store.

This is because a patina, which is common to find in a traditional cast iron pan, will build up over time and create a unique seasoning to your food.

When cleaning, we might be too focused on a spotless result to pay attention to the side effects of certain harsh chemical detergents and bleach products on our skin.

Conventional strong cleaning soaps can be damaging to our skin due to their chemicals.

They can change our skin pH ratio and strip away any healthy bacteria and natural oil on our skin.

If we use these kinds of soap for a long time, they can lead to dry, itchy, irritating, and inflamed skin.

In worse cases, it can result in eczema, acne, rosacea, and dermatitis.

That’s why we recommend you use a mild, gentle soap that is safe for your skin, like hand dishwashing soap or eco-friendly detergents.

Keep Cast Iron Grill Pan Clean

It is important to know how to clean your iron grill pan properly. However, it is also necessary to know how to care for cast iron grill pan during usage, and after cleaning it, you can use it many times in the future.

As your grill pan can get rusty over time, you need to avoid any elements that can create rust which is the number one reason for permanent damage.

One way to avoid rusty spots is lubricating the pan with a flat coat on top. It is an important step that many people overlook in maintaining the material texture on your pan.

A thin coat of fat like butter, coconut oil, lard, or any animal fat is good enough to protect your pan from the harsh effect of rust for a long period of time.

Another way to prevent your pan from becoming rusty is by storing it in a cool and dry area. A humid and warm place is an ideal environment for forming rust on your pan.

Therefore, after rinsing your pan, you should dry it completely with a paper towel and avoid covering it with a lid because the moisture can be trapped inside and produce rust over time.

In addition, you shouldn’t stack different iron grill pan on top of each other to avoid harming the seasoning surface.

This surface is where to give your sausages a great grill flavor, so you might not want to damage them.

Conclusion

Cleaning is not always our favorite process, but it is necessary to maintain our cookware’s best condition after long usage.

Some tools are easy to clean, and some need specific ways.

In this case, cleaning the cast iron grill pan can be overlooked after long usage, which negatively affects its condition.

That’s why knowing how to clean a cast-iron grill pan can help you to protect your pan from forming rust and keeping the seasoning integrity that influences our food flavors.

Source: silkroadrestaurant.org

Category: BLOG