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Greetings!
 
Last January I wrote a blog about my then functional cast iron skillet, and how much I loved it. SInce then, that poor skillet has been abused, shunned, and replaced. 

Here's a brief addendum to my original blog. I want to accentuate some new things I've learned about caring for the skillet, and pay a little homage to the sad, sad state of the Original Cast Iron Skillet. 

 

 
Uncompromising Lesson #1:
KEEP HUSBAND AWAY!
 
The key to my success with the new skillet is to BAN my husband from using it. There is no culinary creation, real or imagined, that he can promise me in exchange for use of this pan. You'll see why in a few seconds. 
 
Cast Iron Skillet scrubby,in a Monkey on my sink. 
Lesson #2: The dirt on cleaning!

 

In my original Blog, I talked about a couple of different methods of cleaning the Cast Iron, and confessed that I cleaned mine with soap and water. 

 

*Brakes Screeeching*

 

Put the soap away! Not only is it harsh and strips seasoning away, I always get the eebie jeebies that it's seeping into the porous surface of the skillet.  
My new and improved technique is to use my scrubby with water only. I also use a scraper type device if I have really stuck on food. The trick is to clean the pan IMMEDIATELY after it has cooled, then season (see lesson #3.) It goes something like this:
 
Cook. Cool. Scrubby. Season. CCSS. 
 
CCSS the skillet after every use. No exceptions. In my kitchen, that Monkey holds the scrubby to the future. Cast Iron Skillets last a long time, if they're taken care of. My monkey may go down in history. LOL. 
 
My scraper device.
 
Lesson #3: Season for the Season!
 
I tried a bunch of different organic and commercial seasonings. In my experience, a swipe of Crisco applied with fingertips to a still warm pan is the best method for building that non stick "seasoning." I'm especially stoked when I have a still warm oven to put the pan into after seasoning. Man, I love this skillet. 
 
 
 
 
My exquisitely on-the-way-to-being-perfectly-seasoned Pan. Yes, that is a cool tray in the background given to me by a BFF named Janis. She usually calls me profanities. On the day she gifted me with this tray, it was my birthday. This is the one time in life that she has acknowledged my greatness :)
 
I'm so glad my husband takes much better care of me than he did this poor Cast Iron Skillet! 
Lesson #4: Mourn the Pan that had to suffer to teach the lessons that needed to be learned. 
 
This is what my poor husbands abuse, neglect, and misunderstanding did to an innocent, defenseless pan. I can't bear to dispose of it. Maybe it's the Paramedic in me, but I'm just holding on the belief that there's a way to resuscitate it. Restore it to its' splendor. Help it. Give it a reason to live. 
 
And cook me good food, for ever and ever.