Betty asked: How do I get grease build up off the outside of a black cast iron frying pan? There is a terrible build up of grease on my black cast iron frying pan. I’ve tried scraping it off, burning it off and scouring it off to no avail. Please help.
Cast 
iron skillets are prize cookware for many home cooks and professionals alike. Whether it’s your first skillet, or one that has been handed down for generations, the quality never seems to diminish. With use, like any other piece of cookware, grease build-up can become a problem. Follow these steps to clean either the inside or the outside of your skillet and keep it working great for many meals to come.
Cleaning the Inside
You Will Need:
- Boiling water
- A scrubbing tool (choose one):
- Wooden spoon/spatula
- Wire grill brush
- Salt
- Steel wool
- Cooking oil
- Chemical cleaners (ex: Bar Keepers Friend, Comet, Ajax)
Steps to Clean the Inside of the Skillet:
There are several methods you can utilize, depending on the severity of the build-up on the pan and the materials you have available. Choose the one that works best for you or work your way down the list until you pan is as clean as you’d like.
- Boiling water is one of the simplest cleaning methods and can be very effective.
- Partially fill the skillet with water and bring it to a boil.
- Scrub the food and buildup away using a spoon or spatula. Use caution not to burn your hands.
- If a stronger scrubber is needed, use a wire grill brush.
- Repeat as necessary until all of the food is gone.
- Dry completely before putting the pan away.
- If a more abrasive cleaner is required, try pouring salt over the pan. Scrub with a soft cloth or scrubber. The salt will provide the extra abrasion needed to break through the buildup. You can also add in some cooking oil with the salt, which will help to freshen any grease buildup so it can be removed more easily.
- If the problem is severe, you may need to resort to stronger cleaning methods. In this case, apply a chemical cleaner such as Comet or Ajax and scrub with a nylon scrub pad. If the a stronger scrubber is necessary, try steel wool.
- Clean the pan completely with soap and water after the buildup is removed.
- Dry the pan completely and re-season with corn oil or melted lard.
Cleaning the Outside of the Pan
There are several methods you can utilize, depending on the severity of the build-up on the pan and the materials you have available. Choose the one that works best for you or work your way down the list until you pan is as clean as you’d like.
You Will Need:
- A pot
- A sink
- A scrubber (choose one):
- Wooden spoon
- Wire grill brush
- Salt
- Steel wool pads
- Cooking oil
- Chemical cleaners (ex: Bar Keepers Friend, Comet, Ajax)
Steps to Clean the Outside of the Skillet:
- Begin by boiling water.
- Place the skillet in the sink upside-down. It’s ok if it’s on an angle.
- Carefully pour the boiling water over the outside of the pan.
- Using caution not to burn your hands, scrub off any food or buildup on the pan with a wire grill brush.
- Repeat as necessary until all of the food is gone.
- If a more abrasive cleaner is required, try pouring salt over the pan. Scrub with a soft cloth or scrubber. The salt will provide the extra abrasion needed to break through the buildup. You can also add in some cooking oil with the salt, which will help to freshen any grease buildup so it can be removed more easily.
- If an even stronger scrubber is necessary, try steel wool.
- If the problem is severe, you may need to resort to stronger cleaning methods. In this case, apply a chemical cleaner such as Comet or Ajax and scrub with a nylon scrub pad.
- Clean the pan completely with soap and water after the buildup is removed.
- Dry the pan completely and re-season with corn oil or melted lard.
Additional Tips and Ideas
- Cast iron will rust if left wet. Always dry it completely prior to putting it away.
- If the inside of the pan is scrubbed with soap or any kind of cleaner, it will need to be re-seasoned before use.
- Some have had luck spraying oven cleaner on the outside of the pan and placing it inside of a large Ziploc bag for a couple of hours. Remove it from the bag and scrub with a scrub pad. Ensure that all of the cleaner is removed before you re-season.
I have tried the daily oven cleaner (used for cold ovens) on the exterior of my cast iron, and it works, however it takes several applications and a heavy scraper if build-up is severe. Do not use the scraper on the interior/cooking surfaces. I have not tried placing it in a sealable plastic bag. The idea does make sense.
The question involved buildup on the outside, but the answer deals mostly with buildup on the inside. Inside buildup is an easy problem compared to the thick coating of burned-on grease (not food) that occurs around the outside bottom rims of iron cookware. I have tried all but the oven cleaner method (that one does not seem seem safe enough to be a better idea than buying a new skillet).
I have seen my mom use the oven cleaning setting on the stove to clean her pots. They come out very clean. It seems the extreme heat burns away the built up greases and grime.
My mom used to put the skillets in a hot fire to burn off the grease build up, but you do have to reseason after they have been cleaned.
Will placing a skillet on a hot fire cook grime off the outside of the skillet?
Very disappointing answer – as Peter pointed out, the question was about the OUTSIDE of a pan, and the answer was about the INSIDE of the pan.
I haven’t found a clear answer to this question yet – although the careful use of oven-cleaner seems the best suggestion so far.
But I do know that cleaning pieces by burning them in a fire is NOT recommended; it reportedly can ruin them by turning the metal flaky and an irreversible, reddish color, and making it impossible to properly season them again.
How about blasting with a low abrasion media, like walnut shell? Exteriors. Interiors respond to many of the methods discussed, but my pans are actually getting heavier from exterior buildup.
I clean my cast iron skillet with salt, using it like you would Comet cleaner. This is for the inside and outside of the skillet. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt on the skillet with just enough water to make it like a dry paste. Use a cloth or paper towel to scrub the inside and outside of the skillet. Rinse with water and then re-season.
We’re talking about tough gunk and grease buildup on the OUTSIDE – tried Comet, wire brushes and everything else to no avail. Happened to hear of a friend of a friend of a friend who swears by a Fein metal sander for perfect results.
I have used salt and a leamon to clean the inside of the pan it works great as a maintenance clean. No need for re-season. Dry well.
Best results by running them through the self-cleaning (pyrolitic) oven cycle when the crud on the outside becomes too thick. Prop them up on a couple of metal skewers. They come out raw, not a speck of anything stuck to them, and require complete re-seasoning inside & out. Easy. On my hoard of old Griswold and Wagner skillets and Dutch ovens – used daily on open burner rangetop – no warping or cracking (as the temperatures involved are below the eutectic point). Newer cast iron MAY react differently due to alloy and gauge factors.
After reading many, MANY different ways to clean the years old gross gunk off of the OUTSIDE of my cast iron, I settled on the “self-cleaning oven” method.
Sure wish i’d taken photos before I started! Anyway..I wanted to get this task behind me, as I’ve 6-7 pieces that need this treatment. So, I put them ALL carefully in the oven at one time. Turned the oven on to self-clean & waited!
After the cycle finished, I opened the door & allowed them to finish cooling there. I removed the skillets & they were completely covered in a reddish, ashy dust! After wiping most of the debris off, washed & dried each one at a time. Then coated them in a thin layer of coconut oil.
I was exhausted by this time so I let them set out, all oiled…inside & out including the bottoms. This oven method will completely STRIP everything down to the naked, raw iron!
Now the seasoning process begins! I’m going to continue using the coconut oil I started with. Pop them in the oven & 350 for one hour! Don’t be afraid to repeat this oiling & oven heating as many times as you feel necessary.
Hope this helps & you end up with beautiful skillets, pans, lids! Good luck!
May your skies be blue, your pastures green.
My oven instructs to remove the trays from the oven. What do you set the pan on?
Carm,
If the racks that came with the oven can’t go through the self clean cycle then the only option to use that cleaning method is to invest in racks that can. DO NOT put the pan on the bottom of the oven; that will likely require the bottom of the oven to be replaced (if your oven has a seperate base piece, otherwise it would mean replacing either the entire inner chamber or the entire oven). Also that would be extremely dangerous. New ovens have the heating element below the bottom of the oven, which means the base gets almost as hot as the heating element itself. Obviously in older ovens that have the heating element inside you can’t put the pan on that either. Nothing can be placed on the bottom of new ovens, not even tin foil.
Source: HowToCleanStuff – How to Remove Melted Aluminum Foil from the Oven
I have a stainless steel chainmail scrubber & I’m looking forward to using it on our 100-(plus)-year-old cast iron fry pan. It has a lot of crud on the outside so I will use salt & nothing else. Will let you know how it turns out.
Hey Sally! So, how did your stainless steel chainmail scrubber with salt scrubbing the outside of your iron skillet work out? I’m extremely & sincerely curious!