Bobby Flay's Cast Iron Cleaning Technique Ensures Your Pans Last Longer

A cast iron pan is the ultimate investment or a lucky thrift-shop kitchen find for anyone looking to level up their cooking game, but if you want to enjoy its full list of benefits, you've gotta take good care of it. Fortunately, there are many hacks for working with a cast iron pan, and celebrity chef Bobby Flay has a few tricks up his sleeve. He told Food Network that he doesn't wash pans with soap, and always makes sure that it's "bone dry" after cleaning (per YouTube).

Cast-iron owners are serious about their pans, so it might seem counterintuitive that they don't clean them with soap, but this logic is actually built upon centuries of history. See, back in the day, soap often contained lye, which was a strong alkali cleaning agent. It was so good at its job, however, that it would quickly break down the seasoning layer– the baked-in oil layer that gives it its non-stick coating. While it can always be reapplied, for the sake of convenience, most people just avoid soap altogether — which may help your pan last longer.

Now, if you've been using soap to clean your cast iron, don't despair just yet. Today, most soaps no longer contain lye, so Flay's take might be a little outdated. Still, he's not the only cast iron user who still chooses to skip soap. The part of his advice that is still very essential is that the pan must be bone-dry after cleaning. As it's made of porous metal, even a small amount of water can quickly cause it to rust. Our advice? After cleaning, heat the pan over the stove on a low heat and remove it once all the water has evaporated.

You might be asking yourself, how clean can a cast iron really be without soap? It's a valid question, but most standard dish soaps aren't actually antibacterial and are instead designed to lift grease and food residue. This means that soap isn't a prerequisite for a clean pan, and there are plenty of other ways to thoroughly clean your cast iron. 

If you want to go soapless, an easy way to loosen food debris is to add water to your dirty pan on the stove and bring it to a boil. This will also kill any bacteria. Once clean, pour the remaining water into a container to cool, and then into the trash — you don't want any grease going down your drain. Then, sprinkle a generous amount of kosher salt and scrub it into the pan using a cloth to remove any remaining grime, and rinse with hot water and heat on the stove. Bacteria thrive in moisture, so removing all the water is an easy way to inhibit growth and keep your pan rust-free. 

While you don't have to reapply the seasoning every time you clean your pan, it's a good idea to do it if your cast iron is looking a little dull. As it needs to be baked at a super high heat (around 450 degrees Fahrenheit), it's essential you use an oil with a high smoke point, like vegetable or canola, and avoid using saturated fats. Bake it upside down in the oven for around an hour, and you'll have a seasoned (and clean) skillet.