How to clean a sticky Dutch oven?

May 9, 2009 11:31 AM

My cast-iron Dutch oven is hopelessly gunky. What's the best way to clean it?

I used my Dutch oven to cook stove-top popcorn the other night and didn't immediately clean it. The next morning, the little bit of olive oil left in the bottom of the pot had done... something. The inside of the pot is now coated with this very sticky substance that will not budge at all with dish soap and a lot of elbow grease.

So what can I use to degunk my Dutch oven without harming it or making it unsafe to cook in?

posted by non sum qualis eram to home & garden (22 comments total)

Is it plain cast-iron or enameled?
posted by Caviar at 11:33 AM on May 9

You may need to use very hot water and a steel wool "Brillo" type pad to clean the interior. Once you've got all the gunk out, you'll need to re-season the pot.
posted by rhartong at 11:44 AM on May 9

I managed to do this with a cast iron pot and similarly had no luck getting it off through normal methods. It was plain rather than enameled, so in the end I just used a Dremel tool grinder to get most of it out and a steel brush to clean the rest off, then re-seasoned the pot. But at first I didn't season it enough and it started to get rusty, so I had to re-clean it with the brush and season it again.
posted by XMLicious at 11:46 AM on May 9

If its cast iron, just re-cure it. Should do the trick.
posted by elendil71 at 11:46 AM on May 9

Coarse salt, a bit of water and a scouring pad should usually clear off that kind of sticky oil/fat residue. You'll need to re-cure with another fat -- veg shortening is usually pretty good for the job.
posted by holgate at 12:07 PM on May 9

I've used salt before, like holgate. Also, if you can take all non-caste iron parts off, you can stick the whole thing into a fire. Obviously, you would need to season the pan again.
posted by Foam Pants at 12:11 PM on May 9

To clarify, it's not enameled, just plain cast iron.

Thanks for the tips so far!
posted by non sum qualis eram at 12:21 PM on May 9

Near-dry salt could help. You can even soak the insides in salty warm water overnight if you don't mind scrubbing off the ring of ensuing rust... which will come off easily anyway. I use steel wool on my cast-iron pans when they get too grimy. It usually takes only very light pressure.

Freezing them overnight can also help. Whatever is grimy will flake off more easily when frozen.
posted by rokusan at 12:51 PM on May 9

When I've had problems in the past, I put my cast iron pans in the oven as hot as it will go, and leave them there for a couple of hours.
posted by rocketman at 1:10 PM on May 9

I actually cleaned mine just last night since it was covered in what looked like asphalt.
I popped it in the oven and ran a self cleaning cycle. When I got up this morning, I just blew the ash off and started seasoning it again.
posted by piedmont at 1:12 PM on May 9 [1 favorite]

After cooking a Coca-cola ham, I noticed that years of sticky goop that we could never satisfactorily remove was gone. No idea what's in a liter of Coke that does that, but somehow, I still drink the stuff.
posted by advicepig at 2:03 PM on May 9

Chiming in with another vote for the oven, particularly if it's got a self-clean cycle.

I love my cast iron cookware, and tossing it in the oven on self-clean is my go-to solution for anything that's not easily solved in the sink. Running it a few hours on max should accomplish the same thing.

Just remember to re-season it, and you'll be good to go.
posted by nonliteral at 2:22 PM on May 9

If the pan is really gunky, you can take the pan and spray it with oven cleaner then put it in a plastic garbage bag to prevent the cleaner from drying out. Let it sit for 4 or 5 hours or so, then take it out and wipe out the oven cleaner with paper towels. Be very careful and wear gloves because oven cleaner can give your hands a chemical burn. Once you have most of the cleaner and gunk wiped off, you can rinse it in a sink and scrub it with steel scrubby pad. Season it IMMEDIATELY, as it will begin to rust very quickly once you have removed the gunk.

Here is a link to a page with some instructions. (PDF with pictures) The oven cleaner is essentially taking the place of the lye bath, most oven cleaners contain lye. Also you can use an oven to heat up the pan once it is greased, instead of a grill.

I used these steps to clean and season a couple of 50 year old cast iron pans that my mother-in-law gave me, and they worked very well. Caring for cast iron pans can be a bit more work then caring for non-stick pans, but they produce a better result and they last forever.

If you have any more questions about cleaning or seasoning, you can look around on the website where that pdf is hosted. It is a website for people that collect old cast iron pans, there are also forums, and the people there were very helpful to me in identifying my pans and giving me advice on how to care for them.
posted by jefeweiss at 2:23 PM on May 9

Oh and there are stories of people who have had problems with cleaning pans in a self cleaning oven. Apparently, some pans have cracked from being heated unevenly. It is an easy way to clean the pan, if it works, but it may come with some risk.
posted by jefeweiss at 2:25 PM on May 9

I'd try with salt and hot water first, and then only escalate from there if that doesn't work. Run hot water into it -- hot as you can stand, really -- and then dump most of it out and use a tough cloth and kosher or similar coarse salt to scrub the gunk. You'll have to keep using different parts of the rag and picking up more salt as it gets loaded with gunk. It works fairly well.

Only if that doesn't work would I use steel wool (*not* the soap-impregnated kind!) or any kind of harsh abrasive. And I wouldn't use chemicals at all. On other types of pans I'll use oven cleaner but not on cast iron since it's so porous.
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:49 PM on May 9

Blackirondude is the best resource I've found on caring for cast iron. The dude rocks.
posted by desuetude at 4:17 PM on May 9

Whenever I find gunked out/rusted cast iron at flea markets, etc. - the best cleaning is done by throwing the piece into a roaring fire.

The optimum solution is to place the piece into wood burning stove that is stoked to the gills.

The fire session should be followed by a seasoning session (Crisco and and a hot oven).
posted by cinemafiend at 5:24 PM on May 9

Anything you cook on, you can cook off. My lazy way, which also works with stuff you've burned onto the bottom of a pot, is to fill the pot with water, add a bit of liquid dish detergent, and simmer for an hour or so until the gunk is loose and/or gone. Just make sure it doesn't boil dry and make a bigger mess. If you do this with cast iron, you will prob have to reseason but won't lose all the finish. I usually just rub a bit of cooking oil into the towel dried pot and put it on a slow burner until it's heated through, then wipe off any excess with a paper towel.
posted by x46 at 7:05 PM on May 9

I like the oven cleaning cycle trick. I am sure that would work. My dutch oven is rather cheap, probably older than I am and has some sort of chrome outer covering. I guess it would survive this but I would worry. I have never had this trouble I guess as I have always kept it very well seasoned. Cast iron skillets that have been gunky have always come clean with sufficient detergent and elbow grease with a scouring pad. It does necessitate a good reasoning though. If you lack the cleaning cycle and the dish soap isn't doing it, let it soak in some dishwasher detergent for a few hours. That should do it, but it will also completely remove any trace of seasoning.
posted by caddis at 7:08 PM on May 9

I'm with Cinemafiend. Heat to 1500 degrees for a couple hours. Reoil to season.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 9:37 PM on May 9

ammonia generally works wonders
posted by jannw at 10:25 PM on May 9

Don't know about cast iron, but I've noticed stainless gets more stain-less after making a pot of spaghetti sauce. Smearing a bit of left over sauce on a pot (did wonders to copper bottoms!) and letting it dry overnight, was a great trick.
posted by Goofyy at 10:26 AM on May 10