How to Care For and Maintain Your Cast Iron Skillet

Buy Our Winning Cast Iron Pan: cooks.io/2o6og5F

Click here to watch more kitchen tips: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbzopdwFrnbw7lMXc3_…

Check out our Kitchen Smarts series: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnbzopdwFrnZxin-RUn3…

Caring for a cast-iron skillet is like caring for a car: Service it regularly and it will last forever; use it hard (or neglect it), and it will need more heavy-duty repair work.

All well-maintained cast-iron skillets will become more nonstick with time. While you might think this will take years, we found a significant difference in our pans after just a few weeks of regular use in the test kitchen. However, even new preseasoned skillets are not always 100% nonstick when you first cook with them, and a well-seasoned skillet will still become less nonstick without proper maintenance, so it's important to treat your cast-iron skillet with care. Properly maintaining the seasoning on your skillet begins with properly cleaning it. Here are a few guidelines for keeping your pan in optimal shape. (These guidelines are for traditional cast-iron skillets; enameled skillets can be treated more like other pots and pans.)

ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America's Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.

If you like us, follow us:
americastestkitchen.com
facebook.com/americastestkitchen
twitter.com/testkitchen
instagram.com/testkitchen
pinterest.com/testkitchen