Cast Iron Cooking

[PCF]

I have an old cast iron pot that I cooked with this weekend.  While wiping off the pot after cooking I had a thick black reside or smut on the outside.  Does this mean it needs to be reseasoned and if so what is the best method?  Also could this be the result of cooking with a low orange flame as opposed to a hot blue flame?  Just a thought.    

[stringstretcher]

With a lot of built up crud on the bottom, it will cause hot spots when cooking.  Just reseasoning it will not get the crud off.  You need to clean it in a self cleaning over cycle if you have one, or take and clean it with some oven cleaner to get the build up off first, then reseason it.  Electrolysis is the best way to get all them gunk and crud off, then reseason it.

[Dave Bulla]

Yup, an orange flame is "dirty" and will put carbon all over your pot.  Simple fix is a plastic scrubby pad or bristle brush and running hot water.  If that doesn't get it, go ahead and use some dish soap.  It's not total sacrilege to use soap on cast iron...  I pretty much never use it on the INSIDE but will use it on the outside if needed.  Once you are done, rinse well and sit it back on the stove burner and heat it till it dries and wipe a little bit of lard or bacon fat on the outside and then use another paper towel to more or less wipe it back off.   It'll leave just a very thin coating and that's all you need.

FYI, look here for how I season my cast iron.

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