Do you reuse cooking pans after cooking in them or wash after every use?

[Anonymous]

Yeah. Only exception is if we line a pan with aluminum foil. Then we’ll toss the foil and just put the pan back (assuming nothing spilled and the foil didn’t rip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I will re-use a pan immediately for the same meal when it makes sense - like sautéing mushrooms and onions and then taking them out, adding more oil and putting in the chicken. Or cooking eggs after making bacon and wiping off most of the excess grease. But like cooking and then putting the pan back in the cabinet? Never.

This is me, except my "immediately" can stretch 2-3 hours. Sometimes when I really want a peaceful meal with a book, I will use a pan to make dinner for the kids at 6pm and then leave it out and make my own dinner at 830pm in the same pan after the kids are in bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that is gross. I will re-use a pan immediately for the same meal when it makes sense - like sautéing mushrooms and onions and then taking them out, adding more oil and putting in the chicken. Or cooking eggs after making bacon and wiping off most of the excess grease. But like cooking and then putting the pan back in the cabinet? Never.

This is the only acceptable answer. Anything else is disgusting. As my mother would say, were you raised in a barn?

+2. I will reuse a pot or pan without cleaning during the same meal prep, basically up to about a half hour. If there has been any food in the pot/pan and it sits for more than about a half hour, it gets washed. Even for something like pancakes, there may still be some food or oil residue that is on the pan, even if you can't see it. Pathogenic bacteria that may be floating around in the air can land there and grow. It isn't likely, but it can happen. The more frequently you do this, the more likely that at some point, someone may get sick. Over hundreds of uses, why risk it when there is a known way to prevent it that only takes a few seconds.

[Anonymous]

At the very minimum you should give a rinse and a wipe to reduce dust and pests

[Anonymous]

This is why I never eat at people's houses... you just never know.

[Anonymous]

If it’s something like pancakes I just rinse and dry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wash every time except the special cast iron one which you should not add soap

That is not true. That advice was from when soap had lye in it.

You aren't suppose to wet wash cast iron,it will rust. So you couldn't use soap

Of course you can wet wash it. Just have to dry it after.

[Anonymous]

Only if I'm roasting batches of vegetables, I won't do in between.

Or maybe if I'm just dry toasting nuts for a recipe, but otherwise, yeah, everything gets washed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wash every time except the special cast iron one which you should not add soap

That is not true. That advice was from when soap had lye in it.

You aren't suppose to wet wash cast iron,it will rust. So you couldn't use soap

PP is correct. If there are any stuck on bits that don’t come off easily I use course salt and a scrubber to clean. Then I use a dab of dish soap and a sponge to clean the entire pan. Then sit on stove burner under low heat until the entire pan is dry and then use a paper towel to wipe down inside of the pan with a dab of oil. I use my cast iron several times a week and I’ve never had a problem with this method.

I consider dish soap and a sponge wet washing. As long as you dry it we'll it will not rust. Why would it??

I'm the person you quoted. It is wet washing. I was telling the person I quoted that the poster prior to them is correct and that you can use soap and you can wet the pan.

+1 This is the approach I learned from my mom who has been using the same cast iron frying pan for 50+ years now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well that is gross. I will re-use a pan immediately for the same meal when it makes sense - like sautéing mushrooms and onions and then taking them out, adding more oil and putting in the chicken. Or cooking eggs after making bacon and wiping off most of the excess grease. But like cooking and then putting the pan back in the cabinet? Never.

This is the only acceptable answer. Anything else is disgusting. As my mother would say, were you raised in a barn?

+2. I will reuse a pot or pan without cleaning during the same meal prep, basically up to about a half hour. If there has been any food in the pot/pan and it sits for more than about a half hour, it gets washed. Even for something like pancakes, there may still be some food or oil residue that is on the pan, even if you can't see it. Pathogenic bacteria that may be floating around in the air can land there and grow. It isn't likely, but it can happen. The more frequently you do this, the more likely that at some point, someone may get sick. Over hundreds of uses, why risk it when there is a known way to prevent it that only takes a few seconds.

Wouldn’t heat from the pan heating and cooking kill the bacteria?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wash every time except the special cast iron one which you should not add soap[/quote]

That is not true. That advice was from when soap had lye in it. [/quote]
Wait - what? Is this true? I never use soap on my cast iron. This is kind of blowing my mind.[/quote
I don't use soap, because with cast iron you want that patina of oil. I scrape out as much as possible, then boil water in the pan on the stove to loosen the rest and then scrub (but no soap). But I wash all pans after using; I don't put a dirty pan back in the cupboard. [/quote]

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Yeah. Only exception is if we line a pan with aluminum foil. Then we’ll toss the foil and just put the pan back (assuming nothing spilled and the foil didn’t rip. [/quote]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wash every time except the special cast iron one which you should not add soap

That is not true. That advice was from when soap had lye in it.

Wait - what? Is this true? I never use soap on my cast iron. This is kind of blowing my mind.

I always do, because otherwise I can’t get the taste/smell of meat off of it. Then I rub some oil on it.

[Anonymous]

I have very low standards for housekeeping in general, but I don’t play with food safety. In the kitchen, I keep things clean.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly can’t believe this is even a question

Same! I clicked on this thread in case I had misunderstood the question but no!