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Cleaning a Cast Iron Pan Without Water

Cleaning a Cast Iron Pan Without Water

Cooking with a cast iron pan is great, but it can be a pain to clean. You’re not supposed to use soap as some soaps will ruin the pan’s seasoning and when you’re on the campsite, you might not want to dip into your water supply to clean it. Fortunately, we have a water- and soap-free alternative. All you need is some salt and ideally a little oil.

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How To Clean a Cast Iron Pan Without Water

Step 1: Scrap the Pan

The first step is to scrap all the crud out of the pan. Ideally, you should do it when the pan is still hot. Using a metal spatula, you should really get in there. Don’t worry. It’s cast iron, so you won’t hurt the pan. Once everything is scraped up, just dump it out.

Step 2: Oil and Salt

With the leftover food scraped out, coat the pan with a little bit of oil. I like to use grapeseed oil. And then add a layer of kosher salt.

Step 3: Scrub

The last step is the scrub the pan. Using a paper towel or clean rag, you scrub the pan. Obviously, you don’t want the pan to be hot because you could burn yourself. The friction between the rag and the salt will remove anything material leftover from your cook. You’ll know you’re done when nothing is left stuck to the pan. You should just have clumps of salt, which you should just dump into the garbage can.