It took me a while to get used to cast iron cookware. Worst of all was the bit about not leaving standing water in it. How else am I supposed to soften crusty cooking residue for ease of cleaning? I’m not big on hard scrubbing two, or even three times a day (let alone once).

Eggs are the worst. We make awesome scrambled eggs in this pan, but the hard crust residue takes quite the work-out to remove.

From crusty stuck-on mess to a clean pan in a few easy steps

Boil it for easy cleaning

And then, a few years ago, someone showed me the key to my Cast Iron Salvation. All you have to do is add about an inch of water to the pan and bring it to a boil. It only takes a few minutes and softens all food residue for extremely fast and easy scrubbing.

I suspect that many of you are already wise to this trick. But the few who may not be, are going to be very stoked indeed to learn it. I know this topic is not hip, slick, and cool, but it sure is helpful.

Do you cook with cast iron? Any cleaning tips?