Greetings AT, I just bought a used hackman tools cast iron skillet and despite numerous cleanings, it still produces a plastic/fishy smell. I am not sure if they removed the protective coating before they used it, but i have never had anything cast iron smell so bad. Anyone have any luck cleaning stinky cast iron? If so let me know.
- Thanks, K
Wow, a stinky cast iron pan! We've never come across this in our experience, but here's an idea. Hackman preseasons their pans, but there's no nonstick coating on them. So it won't hurt the pan for you to strip it completely with a heavy piece of steel wool then reseason it. Check out our step-by-step photos and instructions on how to season cast iron.
Any other ideas? Anyone ever faced really stinky cast iron?
what about simmering some white vinegar and baking soda in it....seems like that should help...
view buzzybee's profile
Is it possible the oil used to coat it has gone rancid? Maybe it wasn't baked in (heated up) enough.
view Andy M.'s profile
Bake it for a number of hours a little cooler than it takes for it to smoke. Use newspaper or brown paper sack to mop the pooled grease out of it periodically (be very, very careful with your hands, arms, and paper when you do this). You may need more than one session of this; you really want to bake out as much of the grease as you can. You can scrub it with salt (and paper) each session when it's only slightly warm, which should help a little. Once you've gotten as much of the stuff off it as you can, reseason it.
If you live in a hot sunny place, in between sessions you can put it out in the sun (set it on a lot of newspaper to protect whatever it's sitting on) for some more low-tech treatment.
The problem with washing these pans when they're oily (and I'm assuming it is if the pan is properly seasoned) is that you can sometimes make a soap-oil emulsion that stays on the pan and is wicked hard to get rid of without a lot of exposure to heat.
view Lyn Never's profile
It is hard to say how sensitive your nose is... but cast iron has a mineral scent of its own. The seasoning oil may be rancid so it is best to ensure that is not the case. However, I really believe there is a scent and subtle flavor when using cast iron. I have well seasoned but rarely used cast iron skillets and a dutch oven. I find them a PITA to use because modern dish detergents strip the seasoning and cause rust. In the day I was taught that once seasoned these pans should not actually be washed but wiped with paper towels or a damp dish cloth to remove food traces and immediately dried. Old enough to remember cast iron was the original non-stick surface.
view Alice's profile
Just get a new one. They're $20.
view jenniejen's profile
I never use soap when I wash my cast-iron skillets, and I dry them on a stove top burner on high heat until the remaining water droplets sizzle. Soap (even gently eco-friendly dish soap) strips the seasoning pretty quickly. Maybe you need to wash it hard in a good dish soap -- even Brillo, maybe -- then rinse it very thoroughly and then re-season it?
view Robin(happilyever)'s profile
P.S. I've never used the oven method of seasoning. I use the stove top. Put a thin layer of a good oil in the bottom of the skillet and keep it on a burner at the lowest possible heat for several hours. As the oil dissipates/sinks in, add a little more, just to keep the surface of the skillet covered. After a while -- at least a couple of hours -- turn off the heat. Once it's cooled, sop up left-over oil with paper towels.
The oven method sounds a lot quicker!
view Robin(happilyever)'s profile
If you have a self-cleaning oven, you can run a cleaning cycle with the pan in it. That burns off the existing seasoning. Then use grapeseed oil (high smoke point) to season as per manufacturer's instructions. Trader Joe's sells it.
And (as you probably already know) there are specific regimens to follow for cleaning, scouring and drying, especially the "don'ts", and most especially no [toxic] dishwasher detergent, which will get into the pores.
But in the end it's all worth it.
view Alan's profile
That's happened to me. Just strip it and reseason it and you'll be passing it on to your grandchildren.
view eddieb's profile