18 years before I realized I was washing my cast iron with soap wrong

My neighbor who's been a cook for 30 years saw me scrubbing my skillet and just laughed, said the whole 'no soap ever' thing is outdated since modern dish soap doesn't eat the seasoning. Now I'm wondering how much time I wasted scraping burnt stuff off with salt when a little Dawn would have done the job in half the time. Anyone else stubbornly stick to an old rule for way too long?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

parkernelson3mo ago

Thea692 nailed it - I had the exact same revelation when my buddy who restores vintage cookware told me the soap myth was actually started by old lye-based soaps that really would eat the seasoning. Nowadays detergents are totally different chemistry. What nobody talks about though is how the no soap rule actually makes pans dirtier long term. All that greasy residue people think is seasoning just turns into a sticky tar layer that traps food and burns on. I started using a tiny bit of Dawn with a soft sponge and my skillet went from looking like it had some weird crust to actually having a smooth, even sheen. The chain mail scrubbers are still useful for stuck bits but the soap cuts through the daily grease way faster.

3

thea6923mo ago

Had the same wake up call about a year ago. Switched to light soap and my pans actually look better now. Made me wonder what other kitchen myths I've been following for no reason.

1