How Exactly Do You Wipe Out a Hot Skillet?

Faith Durand
Faith DurandSenior Vice President of Content at AT Media
Faith is the SVP of Content at Apartment Therapy Media and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kitchn. She is the author of three cookbooks, including the James Beard Award-winning, The Kitchn Cookbook. She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and two daughters.
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published Jan 27, 2010
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Q: I’m all but brand new to cooking so this may be a rookie question. Since I got married I’ve been working with my husband’s cast-iron skillet more and more. I love it!

Several of my favorite recipes, however, are “one-pot recipes” and call for the skillet to be wiped out between cooking two things — the meat and the veggies, for instance.

How does one go about wiping out a hot skillet, exactly?

Sent by Janice

Editor: Janice, that isn’t a rookie question at all! It’s always intimidating to be faced with a hot skillet that needs to be wiped out. In this situation we generally scrape out all of the first ingredient as thoroughly as possible with a strong rubber spatula. Then we grab a wad of paper towels and assertively wipe out the skillet, trying not to burn our fingers in the process. (This is one operation that just necessitates , in our humble opinion.)

If you want to put an extra layer between your fingers and the skillet, ball up a small amount of aluminum foil around the wad of paper towels, and use the foil as a handle. (Then reuse the foil for future one-skillet meals!)

Readers, do you have any tips on this tricky hot-skillet process?

Next question?

Related: Technique: Seasoning Cast Iron

(Image: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)

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Tips & Techniques