Question about cleaning seasoned cookware?

[Imzadi]

I have a griddle pan that has been seasoned a bit. Usually I take a soapy sponge & quickly swish it down with Dawn & wash off whatever excess oil & food residue was left on during cooking. But the seasoned coating still remains.

This time, I went to cook some pancakes on it. I was waiting for it to heat up. Normally I let the water evaporate off of it, add oil, wait for it to heat & then place on the food when it's hot.

This time I got impatient for the water to evaporate & I took a clean, white paper towel to wipe it off. When I picked up the towel it was BROWN, with a slight greasy residue! I did NOT want this on my pancakes!

It took two more paper towels before I stopped getting anymore brown coming off, (done while the pan & the seasoning was hot on the burner.) Then I decided to wash the pan down completely with soap & water, scrub it down & start over again.

Am I not cleaning the pan enough or seasoning it right? I know the seasoning is supposed to be there to add a baked on layer of oil to keep things from sticking.

But while it's heating back up, I really do NOT want that old layer softening up & coming off onto my food. Yuk!

 

[Wishing on a star]

It depends on what the pan is made out of.

Seasoning is necessary for the old fashioned cast-iron skillets/griddles. Otherwise, they would rust, and the foods would stick to them like superglue!

If it is not the old fashioned cast-iron, then a thorough cleaning is probably the way to go.

Even with cast iron you want to clean it, just not scrub it with lots of detergent that could remove that seasoning.

 

[bicker]

Never use soap or detergents on a seasoned iron skillet. When done cooking, clean using a stiff brush and hot water only. Towel dry immediately and apply a light coating of vegetable oil.