the best tip to clean burnt on cast iron pan

[grazhina]

Yesterday I wound up with burnt on fish on a cast iron pan.

There's got to be an easier way to clean this gunk than scrubbing and scrubbing I moaned  -  so I looked online. One chef said to give it a good scrubbing with salt or baking soda, said you have to scrub hard but it'll do the job.  Another cook said he always uses dishwashing liquid and a good round brush and gives the pan a good scrubbing. --  Hey, I'm looking to avoid having to give the pan a strong prolongued scrubbing.

TA-DA .... and the heavens parted    - and the sun shone again, 'cause I found Kent Rollins' way of cleaning a burnt on iron skillet. Let the skillet get hot on the stove, meanwhile turn the tap on your kitchen sink to hot and let the water run till it's really hot. Then, using a good thick potholder, or preferably one of those potholder gloves, grab your pan by the handle and put it under the hot running water. Steam will rise, and and the pan will get clean, just finish it off with your sponge. I used the scrubby green side followed by the spongy yellow side. NOTE: don't let yourself get scalded by the steam.

The pan got really clean with no effort at all. Of course, it'll need to be reseasoned, but that's ok, it would need it with the scrub-scrub methods anyway. Kent Rollins, the cowboy cook, has good recipes on you tube too.

Edited June 7, 2020 by grazhina

[Moon Sedai]

We have a palm-sized scrubber maid of chain mail-esque material that cuts the scrubbing down in half. 

[KathieB]

6 hours ago, Moon Sedai said:

We have a palm-sized scrubber maid of chain mail-esque material that cuts the scrubbing down in half. 

The metal mesh on my sponge is what I cut up to make a fire screen for Marie Laveau's Cottage. You'll soon find yourself looking at everyday objects with a miniaturist's eye.  

[IndyCindy]

I can't remember where I read this tip a few years ago, but it's great for cast iron if you don't want to re-season your pan. Cut a potato in half (I know this sounds crazy!) and use the cut end to "scrub" coarse sea salt on the pan. The moisture content of the potato works with the salt to easily clean the pan. Rinse with water, dry as you normally would, and you're done. I know it sounds bonkers, but it works!