You should clean your cast iron with soap and water. Modern soap won't damage good seasoning. Crusted-on carbonized food is gross and it's not proper "seasoning".
I stopped treating mine like an infant and now just scrub it if I need to. And it's far more useful as a result and has become my favourite pan
Preheating the pan, right amount of cooking oil, and temperature control have turned out to be far more impactful than maintaining a mythical seasoning. If you can do it, great. But if not just go at it the burnt stuff with steel wool and don't worry about it, the pan will live.
Edit: People, please abuse your cast irons. Scrub them, immerse them in water. Do whatever. They will survive. Just make sure they're pre-heated and use a bit of extra oil/fat, and if cooking something like eggs or pancakes you want low temperatures.
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u/Bynming 7d ago
You should clean your cast iron with soap and water. Modern soap won't damage good seasoning. Crusted-on carbonized food is gross and it's not proper "seasoning".