'Basics of Cast Iron' Episode 10: Cleaning with Salt???

Save the salt for cooking.

My mission statement is ‘to make cast iron appealing to everyone.’ If someone has never used cast iron, and they ask you how to clean it, and you tell them ‘you have to use salt,’ that person is probably going to be turned off by cast iron. You clean every other cookware with soap and water, so having to go out of your way to use salt to clean is very unappealing.

Where cleaning with salt if great, is for camping or cooking in an RV or camper, where water is either not easily accessible or limited.

Cleaning your cast iron with salt certainly isn’t going to hurt your pan, but using soap and a sponge, or chainmail scrubber, is much more efficient, especially when it comes to removing old cooking oil.