You know what, I love my cast iron very deeply and I think, I won’t let my husband clean my favorite cast iron skillet. Well, there are several myths about the cleaning, curing, and caring of the cast iron skillet. However, I have figured out five things that I will never to a cast-iron skillet.

5 Things I Never Do to My Cast Iron Skillet

1. Avoid Cooking In The Skillet

You will see better cooking results with the cast iron cookware over time. When cooking in the skillet might seem like trouble but cooking in it gets easier every single time you cook in the cast iron. Every time you season it creates a thin layer of polymerized oil which turns the surface nonstick and protects the skillet as well. But if you use it only a few times in a year, then your cast iron pan will have a very thin “nonstick” coating and prone to sticking or damage. However, using the cast iron skillet on a regular basis including frying, sauteing, and searing in it makes it much easier, and also you require less oil than before.

Also read: Best Cast Iron Grill Pans

2. Leave It In The Sink

There is a saying that cooking acidic food in the cast iron is very bad and most of us have heard it a lot, right? But this is one of the bad rumors about cast iron skillet. But the truth is, leaving the cast iron in the sink to soak is worse than any soap or tomato sauce will ever be. Even long exposure to water can eventually rust your cast iron and soak up the moisture as well. Though a short soak is not a big deal as it won’t ruin much, I avoid doing this because of the fear of forgetting it in the sing and that will cause much harm to my skillet. And I have worked so hard to improve the cure of my skillet.

If I notice that there are so many things stuck on, I pour a few cups of water in the pan and bring the pan to a boil. With the help of warm water – I scrape off the mess and remove the warm water, clean it, dry it with a towel, oil it again, and store it as I used to do in general.

3. Scrub It with a Scouring Pad

I just hate to use those green and metal scrubbers for my loving cast iron as they are the bane of my skillet existence. Though I have almost always used a metal spatula on my cast iron skillet those steel wool scrubbers are the very bad thing to clean my pan. However, I have always used a little bit of kosher salt and a glug of oil to scouring my pan and clean it so quickly.

Read more: Best Stovetop Grill Pans

4. Store The Cast Iron Skillet In The Oven

Well, I admit that this was a crime that I have been continuously doing against my own cast iron for a long time. You might find the oven is a pretty cool and ideal place to store the heavy skillet, especially when you are cooking with the cast iron skillet regularly. Well, every time you accidentally preheat the oven keeping the skillet inside, you are basically removing the cure slowly. On the other hand, you can store the skillet along with your other pots and pans, right? And make sure, you slip a paper towel between the skillets so that it can protect the cure from the atmospheric moisture and friction.

Read more: Best Griddle For Pancakes

5. Store It Totally Empty

Let me share a weird tip that I have been following from the folks at Lodge. Basically, Lodge ship, store, and sell their cast iron with a slip of paper between each. I didn’t have any knowledge about it and I started to store my cast iron with a paper towel lining in it and didn’t touch them for a very long time. As a result, the paper towel allows me to stack other cast iron skillets on my previous one.

Well, I hope you have found at least one thing new that you should avoid doing today. And if you have anything new that I should have included in the list – then please let me know and I will add your suggestion to the list.

And if you have something that you want to share with me – please don’t hesitate to ask me as it would be an honor for me to help wonderful people like you!