New Cleaning Tool for Cast Iron

I have found a great new tool for cleaning my cast iron. A brush! Not just any brush but a Lysol Flexi Brush. I found this brush at Wal-Mart for around $3 in the cleaning supplies section. The brush is meant for the bathroom but who cares, if it works for other applications why not use it. This simple brush has gotten my #10 Lodge skillet from my posts "Why Cast Iron Cookware?" and "Why Older Cast Iron Cookware?" the cleanest it has been in quite some time without hurting the seasoning, the grease and cooked on stuff is gone.

This brush is far superior to the Lodge or Williams-Sonoma brush for cast iron. First of all the Lysol brush is made of plastic not wood like the other brushes so when I want to clean it I can just pop it into the dish washer. The Lysol brush has much stiffer bristles then the Lodge or Williams-Sonoma brushes and will even work on rust. The Lysol brush doesn't have a wooden handle that will break off.

The Lysol Flexi Brush is plastic without a handle, you grip it around the brush. There are slots in the sides of the brush that squeeze together when you grip it, hence the flexi. I have found this flexi system much easier and more comfortable to use than any other brush. I didn't get any hand cramping as I normally do with the other brushes.

I was going to add a link to the brush somewhere on the web but I can't find one. Go to your local Wal-Mart or other retailer that sells Lysol products and get yourself one of these brushes because you won't be disappointed.

Cracked Cast Iron Pans!

What to do with a cracked cast iron pot or pan? First of all don't use it to cook with! I've been told that a cracked pan can explode. Do I know that a cracked pan can explode, no I don't. I imagine though that it can. What I think would happen is that water or moisture would get into the crack and expand into steam when heated and break the pan apart.

Technically would the pan explode, probably not but if full of oil and whatever you are cooking you could end up with quite a mess. Just as likely to happen is that you would get burned by splattered hot food or oil. So please don't use that cracked pan for safety sake.

If it is an old pan that you adore or has been handed down to you from your grandmother or some other cherished relative and you just can't get rid of it. Hang it on the wall of your kitchen as artwork. Old cast iron is wonderful as a decoration and you can tell people that it is Americana art.

If the pan is not so old, or not so cherished or not even a family heirloom then by all means recycle it. Don't throw it out, it can be recycled and cast iron is the original recycled item dating back hundreds of years. Don't use that cracked pan for cooking but use it for artwork or recycle it.