I was so lucky to recently have been given my husband's grandmother's cast iron chicken frying pot that she got when she got married in 1931! It's in perfect condition.
I know not to use soap or scouring pads to clean it, etc, and I know that because the original owner cleaned it properly that it is seasoned perfectly. However, it's been stored and unused for decades, and it seems greasy on the outside. I think it's just from years and years of sitting either on top of a refrigerator or on top of a cupboard and accumulating kitchen grease and dust.
So how can I clean it and get that greasy feeling off? I think that this is primarily an outside of the pot cleaning that I'm concerned with, because the inside doesn't seem greasy (it has a good fitting lid) but I don't want to scratch it or ruin it even by using any soap on the outside.
I have a few of them in different sizes. I use soap, but I don't leave it sitting in water or leave water sittign in it. I give it a good scrubbing and wipe it dry. Then, I set it on the fire and use a paper towel to rub oil into it like lotion. The key is to make this process a quick one. Don't wash it until you are ready to go through the whole process, which doesn't take five minutes.
This might help:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/431533
My mother washes hers with dish soap and dries them right away. She has a gas stove and will put them on there with it turned on so they are nice and dry.
She has used cast iron all her life (that's all we had when I was growing up) and I have always seen her clean them in the sink with dish soap.
I have my grandmother's cast iron skillet. I have never,ever heard not to clean it with soap. I don't see how you can avoid it- I cook everything in mine and it would be a big nasty mess unless I cleaned it with dish detergent. I just use Dawn and a scrub brush, which works perfectly. The most important thing is to never leave it out to dry- it will rust on you in heart beat. Always put in on the eye on about medium until it's completely dried out.
My grandma NEVER cleans hers with soap!
She pours salt in it, and enough vegetable oil to make it 'spreadable'. She uses a paper towel in circular motions, until it is cleaned to her satisfaction. Then she wipes it clean. I imagine you could try the same thing with the outside.
Thank you for asking this!
I was pretty sure I'd been doing it wrong. : )
I'm going to try salt. I wash with soap and mine aren't old, but they want to rust afterwards no matter how quickly I wash them or how much oil I rub in.
You might try salt. I saw it on Pinterest.
I always wash mine in the dishpan when it gets nasty. I then dry it on a burner until it's dry. Then I spray it with a light sheen of oil. I usually wait until it's cooled down.
Then once it is clean I drizzle some cooking oil inside and dump some salt in that. Then I use a paper towel to scrub it if there is stuff stuck on it. I rinse it out then dry it on a burner.
If you want to really scrub it go ahead then make sure you oil it again and put it in a low over for a while then let it cool without opening the door. Overnight.
You can google it on "how to". That's where I got the oil and salt idea. It works like a scouring pad but does not cut the surface.
You could put it in the over with a light coat of seasoning inside and see if the prolonged heat will help clean up the outside -- or use a "campfire" if you prefer! *L*
