Clean Your Cast Iron Skillet or Pot After Daily Use

Most people know how to season cast iron, but this article will help everyone out when it comes to cleaning your cast iron after daily use.

Steps

Use the pan. It must get dirty before you can clean it, or start with a dirty pan.
Put the skillet back on the heat and pour off all excess fat with the exception of about 2 tablespoons (30 ml). If no fat is left, add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of oil. You need some fat/oil to help clean one way or another.
Let the skillet get pretty hot, so that drops of water will flash away when sprinkled on the surface. Make sure that the oil isn’t smoking. Nothing bad will happen if the oil smokes, the pan is just too hot to handle at that point.
Add approximately 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of salt and, with a paper towel bunched up and held in some tongs (Caution: Hot Iron), use the paper towel and the salt to scour the bottom and sides of the pan, until the brown bits are gone (the salt will be dirty).
Rinse out with some hot water (Caution: Hot Steam) and return to the heat. Add about 1-2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) of vegetable oil and after about 30-45 seconds use a paper towel to spread the oil around and coat the bottom and sides of the skillet, and let cool. Now it’s ready for using again!
Finished.

If your pan has something really stuck or burned on, you can use some hot water and either the rough side of your sponge, or a scouring pad (try them in that order) but do your best to use elbow grease to get the crud off, because once you use soap you pull a lot of the good oil from out of the pores of the iron, and you have to re-season again.
Make sure that you always season cast iron in the oven before use.
Don't be discouraged if the surface doesn't seem to be taking the seasoning right at first. It takes some time to develop the right kind of surface, it's not instant.
You may have to throw away the salt and add more and repeat the scouring process if the pan is really dirty.

Please be careful when dealing with hot cast iron. Don’t grab a hot handle, or walk away with the skillet on high heat, it’s just a bad idea.