I know or at least I have heard you not to use water on cast iron skillets. I have also heard not to wash at all to preserve the flavor. But this sounds A bit absurd to me. So if not water what do you use.
I have old skillets form my dead granmother. If you dont have the answer to a question there is no need to answer.
The best cast iron skillet if you are buying it new is the Lodge Brand. They are pre-seasoned so they are ready to go when you buy them (wash the wax off first). Check out thrift stores and garage sales. Sometimes people sell them and they are ready to go because of years of use. You want it black and seasoned.
I do wash mine by hand only in dish liquid and hot water. Never let them soak and never ever for any reason put them in a dish washer.
If you buy one that is not pre-seasoned you must season it first before using it.
Every time, after I use my cast iron skillet, I do the following:
Let the pan cool. Wash it with dishwashing soap and water. Never soak or let soapy water sit in the pan for any length of time. Rinse thoroughly, then dry with paper towels.
A lot of people disagree with using dishwashing soap and water to wash cast-iron pans. A chef told me that if a health inspector ever found a pan that had not been washed with soap and water in his kitchen, he would be in trouble. Plus the grease that is left behind will eventually become rancid. You do not want rancid oil in your foods and body.
NEVER put cast-iron cookware in the dishwasher.
Place the cleaned cast iron pan on the heated burner of your stove for a minute or two to make sure that it is bone dry. While the pan is still hot and on the stove burner, lightly oil inside of pan (I mean a light coat) with a neutral cooking oil.
Neutral Oils – Use vegetable oils (canola, sunflower, etc.), shortening (like Crisco shortening) or lard for seasoning your cast iron pans. I recently experimented and found out that food-grade coconut oil/butter also works great.
Leave pan on the hot burner of stove for a few minutes. Remove from hot burner and wipe excess oil off the pan with a paper towel.
Store your cast iron cookware with the lids off, especially in humid weather, because if covered, moisture can build up and cause rust. Be sure that you place a couple paper towels inside to make sure that any moisture that forms will be absorbed by the paper towel. Never put the utensil in the dishwasher or store it away without drying it thoroughly.
If your food gets a metallic taste, or turns "black", it means one of two things are wrong. Either your pot has not been sufficiently seasoned, or you are leaving the food in the pot after it has been cooked. Never store food in the cast iron pan as the acid in the food will breakdown the seasoning and take on a metallic flavor.
If your old or new cast iron pans gets light rust spots, scour the rusty areas with steel wool, until all traces of rust are gone. Wash, dry, and repeat seasoning process.
If too much oil or shortening is applied to a pan in the seasoning process, it will pool and gum up when the pan is heated. In this case, the goo can be scraped off and some more grease rubbed over the spot, or the pan can be re-scrubbed and reseasoned. Heating the pan upside-down may help prevent gumming but protect your oven by using a foiled-lined baking sheet or aluminum foil to catch the grease. Seasoning at higher temperatures, approaching the smoking point, of the oil used will result in darker seasoned coatings in less time that aren’t sticky or gummy.
You can cook almost any food in cast iron.
Acidic items like tomato sauces will be darker from iron leaching out, but many people with iron deficiencies do this for extra iron in their diet.
Never store acidic products in cast iron. In fact, never ever use your cast iron pots for storing any foods.
It is not recommended that you use your cast iron as a pot for boiling water. Some people say that the hot water will remove small bits of oil from the surface which will then be found floating around. Water breaks down the seasoning and can cause your cast iron to rust.
