I washed my new cast iron skillet and let it dry.Now it's covered in rust!What did I do wrong?Is it fixabe?

thanks a lot!!!!!!!!I washed my new cast iron skillet and let it dry.Now it's covered in rust!What did I do wrong?Is it fixabe?
It's fixable, it has happened to me before too. First thing you did wrong was to not dry it or season it.





Now wash it again and remove all the rust, use very hot soapy water. When done, dry it thoroughly with a linen cloth or paper towel inside and out. Make sure it is dry. Put it on the stove burner and turn it on and make sure it is thoroughly dry. Never use soap on it again.





Now coat the inside (and I even do the outside) with crisco or vegetable oil on a paper towel. Coat it good and then place it in your oven on the middle rack on about 200 degrees. Put a cookie sheet underneath it to catch any drippings that might occur. Leave it in from 20 - 30 minutes and then remove it and let it cool. You should do this with it every time you use it. From now on try not to wash it if possible, you should just wipe it out good with a paper towel or damp cloth and be sure to always dry it. Don't ever let it ';air'; dry.I washed my new cast iron skillet and let it dry.Now it's covered in rust!What did I do wrong?Is it fixabe?
You aren't supposed to wash cast iron skillets...basically, you scrape them out, rub them with a paper towel or dry cloth and re-use them. They are meant to be ';seasoned'; and soap and water will ruin them.
Thats just natural for new cast iron to do that.


you need to season it


wash it real good and dry it


put oil all over it with a paper towel


place it in an oven and bake it for 2 hours at 375 degrees


after that wash it with water only and rinse well


use it only for frying purposes.


use no soap of any kind on it.


after cleaning it wipe it dry and apply a little bit oil on it to keep from rusting. till it gets a little older.


the more you use it the better it will get.
NEVER Wash a cast iron skillet!!!!


To clean, heat it up and rub cooking oil over it and store it in your oven. Make sure to get the caked on food and grime off.





The point of a cast iron skillet is that it adds flavor to your foods. The longer you have it and the more you use it the better your food will taste. Ever wonder why Grandma's cooking is so much better than yours even when you follow the recipe exactly? Probably because she is using a cast iron skillet that has not been washed in 30 years.





Also cooking with a cast iron skillet is a good source of iron. When you wash it with soap and water, you are removing the iron.
I grew up washing cast iron skillets every day. We washed it in dishwater, rinsed it good and then put it on the gas burner to until it was completely dry. When the skillet's bottom got to looking bad my dad would put it in a fire in back yard. Not sure if that will work on the new cast iron skillets as I do not own one nor do I intend to. I would only use to make corn bread and I can do that at my mom's if i want that bad. Good Luck!
Never use water on cast iron. To clean it, boil vinegar with some salt in the pan.
No need to panic. It is ';fixable';. Though ideally, you should have initially ';seasoned'; your skillet BEFORE using it. This ';seasoning'; is done by spreading Crisco shortening (inside and the outsides of the skillet...(every nook and cranny) (even the handle) ( use regular ..not butter flavored since the butter flavor has a low tolerence for heat) do this using a couple of (folded)sheets of paper towel. Once your skillet is ';bathed'; with a (decidedly) thin coat of shortening...put it in a 300 degree oven for approx. 30 mins. in an upright position ....then another 30 mins in the ';bottoms up'; position. Do this procedure at least 6-7 times before using it to cook in. If you Bar-B-Q and your pit has a cover...once you are done with cooking your meats...don't douse that fire out...instead, put the skillet on top of the grill and close the cover. When the ambers are completely gone on their own volition. (over-night sometimes)....remove the skillet from the pit once the smoking process and the heat is no more. Make use of this procedure whenever possible since it is all part of the ';seasoning '; process and will help to blacken your skillet as well. Your goal is a black skillet which will come in time...but these two types of blackening methods are useful in hurrying the process , which by the way takes years before it is where you can say you have a true black iron skillet.


Now, The theory is that a cast iron skillet should NEVER be washed with soap... speaking as someone who grew up having to wash those heavy skillets to free them from the flour remnants of a deep fried chicken ( chicken cooked to the bones as my mom used to say because it starts out uncovered...then maybe 10 mins later is covered and continues to fry that way for possibly 20 mins...then cover is removed again for maybe 5 mins... m-m-m good)....or tomato gravy or some type of sauce that had attached it's flavors to the top rim and side of the skillet, let me tell you it CAN be washed with a liquid detergent and a steel scouring pad. The trick is to do this QUICKLY. Do Not let your skillet sit for any period of time with water in it. Rinse your skillet out with warm water and IMMEDIATELY dry with a clean cotton dish towel or paper towels.. Or if you have a gas range..put it on a low fire until all the moisture is absorbed...but DRY your skillet THOUROUGHLY. (THIS IS MOST INPORTANT to the life and quality your skillet will enjoy). After it is dry... (lightly) spray ';Pam' or some other type of cooking spray all over the skillet (again, the handle bottom and outside too). Do this spraying/'coating'; Technique, Each And Every Time You Use your skillet (even after it is years old and ';seasoned'; by years of use in and out of the oven...the rust will be prevented and your Steaks, Fried Chicken, Fish, Fries, etc will be a delight to your eyes and a treat to your palate. Put your skillet away ( with the coating intact ). ';Season'; using the process I outlined whenever possible.





You are now on your way to preserving that skillet for generations to come.





Good Eating from Louisiana! Bon Appetite'!
youre not supposed to wash those
The first answer is correct and I wanted to add that in the future after you clean it (water only) put it on the stove and turn the burner on to dry it.. wipe it down with more oil or shortening after it's dry to keep it ';seasoned';.
You washed it with soap I'll bet.





To fix it clean off the rust. Use steel wool or any thing abrasive it wont bother cast iron.





Then coat with lard or shortening inside and out and bake in your oven face down. This is called seasoning. It will make it black again.





When you wash it in the future don't use soap it take the finish off.





When I wash mine I soke it in hot water to soften up any thin on it then use a plastic scrubby.
take the cold skillet..wipe heavily with shortening and put in a 400 degree oven..turn off the oven and leave over night


..never EVER use soap again
Yes it is fixable. You should never wash cast iron. Get some steel wool, a couple of grades course and fine, and scour the rust from the iron. Then using unsalted lard (it has to be unsalted and real lard not any kind of oil) coat the entire cast iron with the lard and place it in a preheated oven at 200 %26gt; 225 degrees and let the skillet stay for at least 3 hours. This will fix your problem. To clean see if you can get a bamboo whisk for cleaning a wok or something similar. This is used to take a little pure water and break up any pot liqueur on the skillet and wipe with a wet paper towel and then dry immediately. My granny did it this way. she only washed her cast iron every may day, and then retreated it. She had a word for the process but I forget it.
Did you use dry it immediatly after rinsing? Just like any other metal object, iron rusts, so leaving water on it will cause it to rust over time. The best way to clean a cast iron skillet is to burn the oil and food off. One very good way of accomplishing this is to place your skillet in the oven and set it to the ';self clean'; mode.





Whatever you do, dont use soap or detergent or leave water on the skillet after cleaning. If I were you, I would start over and get a new skillet, since the rust would take quite a lot of effort to remove. A cast iron skillet that is consistently taken care of brings much better results.
You are supposed to cure it. I'm not sure exactly how but I think you rub oil all around it and heat it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Make sure you dry it after using it each time, don't let it dry by itself.
With cast iron wash and then dry it ASAP, give a light coating of olive oil on the inside cooking surface, do not use soap or anything just water and elbow grease.


It won't be fixable if it's alreadyall rusty, take it as a lesson and do some more reading on care of those things.
once you get the rust off...........for next time you wash it what you do is immediately after you wash is you but on the stove and turn up the heat and the heat will dry the skillet........ this takes less than one minute so keep close watch over it while its on the heat to avoid any eccessive smoke or even a fire........
Put some oil in the pan, heat it, then wipe the oil off with paper towels holding salt ( in a little ball ). Then bake the pan for awhile. This is called ';seasoning';. Try not to wash then as much as wiping them clean. The oil will keep them from rusting. With a new pan, they need to be seasoned many times - be patient because that pan will last for generations !


When that lovely black shiny patina shows, you've got it !
A cast iron skillet must be seasoned. This means coating it with fat and putting it in the oven at medium heat for a long time. This lets the oil soak into the skillet and makes it repel water and other liquids (preventing rust) and gives it a non-stick coating.





Your skillet should have come with seasoning directions, but if it didn't or you threw them out, you can find some here:





http://www.lodgemfg.com/usecare1.asp





Once your skillet is seasoned, don't wash it in dish soap--just use a scrubber of some kind and the hottest water you can stand to clean it. The soap will take off the seasoning, and you'll be right back where you are now.





My husband and I disagree on the drying: He always puts it on the stove and turns a burner on under it to dry it by heating the pan until the water droplets evaporate. I say that if the skillet is properly seasoned, the seasoning will keep it from rusting, and heating it just dries out the seasoning.
yes wipe off add a little oil to it over ttime will fix it