HEY GUNTHAR! RE: [Sca-cooks] Advice on cleaning deep frying pots

[Phlip]

Adamantius skrev:

> Also sprach Laura C. Minnick:
> >BTW, oh He Who Is So Particular About Cast Iron, who the h*ll do you get
> >things like garlic and curry out of the cast iron if you don't hit it
with
> >a slpash of very hot water and a leete swish of soap on occasion? I
really
> >hate it when my pancakes taste of last night's dinner.
>
> Presumably the flavor fades after a while, and this is facilitated by
> having more than one iron pan. I try never to use soap or detergent
> on mine, unless absolutely to get it clean otherwise.
>
> One thing I've found recently to be nearly indispensable are the
> cheap brushes you see being used to clean woks in your local Chinese
> takeout. They do stock removal of cooked-on crud about as well as a
> metal or plastic scrunger, but don't damage seasoned pans or, I
> suspect, non-stick coated ones.
>
> The thing about properly seasoned pans is that they are relatively
> non-porous, and don't absorb much in the way of off-odors. The trick
> is to clean them without bringing them back to the bare metal again.

Well, the thing is, that with a properly seasoned pan, the oil in it floats
the crud off. It's really the ultimate non-stick surface.

Cast iron is very porous, compared to other metals, and the point of all the
seasoning is to fill thje pores with oil. Yes, garlic and other strong
flavors will migrate into the pores, but so will soap- which is why you
don't use soap on cast iron. Given my druthers, I'd much rather have garlic
or curry flavored pancakes or eggs, than soap-flavored.

Of course, some of you folks eat lots of cilantro, also- maybe you like
soap?

Phlip