Stainless steel is just fine. It helps knock off the high spots on the cook surface, making it smoother over time. In olden times, "Soap" == "Lye", so a lot of people still refuse to use soap. Use soap. Chain mail scrubbies work, but I stopped needing to use chain mail when I stopped using chain mail. If you have stuck-on food, just add water to the pan and boil. Stuck stuff will then wipe off. If you won't be using it for a while and don't want surface rust to form on the cook surface, just wipe on some cooking oil, then wipe it back off. The remaining oil will keep it safe. The seasoning layer can be on the cook surface, but doesn't need to be... the purpose is 10% rustproofing and 90% cosmetic. Just keep cooking in it and it will be fine.
>Use soap.
Fuck no. that thin coating of oil left behind is what carbonizes and makes the pan mostly nonstick. Dish soap strips this off. The carbon layer needs to be continually refreshed. A seasoned skillet does not rust if dry.
>The seasoning layer can be on the cook surface, but doesn't need to be... the purpose is 10% rustproofing and 90% cosmetic.
As I said above the "seasoning" is a layer (more accurately many layers) of carbon that both keeps the metal seperate form oxygen thus preventing rust but, also acts as a nonstick surface. So it should be on the cook surface. It's not there to be pretty. If your pans rust sometimes it's because you don't know how to use them.
>If you have stuck-on food, just add water to the pan and boil. Stuck stuff will then wipe off.
Anytime I have anything stuck on I can just scrub it off with a stiff brush and hot water. You can use a plastic brush if the pan isn't hot but, I would recommend a natural fiber brush as they can be used when hot and just seem to work better. This is because I don't use soap on my pans.
And before anyone brings it up anything living on the pan's surface is killed by the heat that you are supposed to apply to the pan before you apply the food.
If regular soap is taking off your seasoning, your pan isn't seasoned properly. If it's carbonized and can be removed with soap, it was heated far too high or too fast without first allowing it to polymerize. The goal is to polymerize it so it bonds to the iron.
If you go back and read what I said you will notice I said the soap strips off the oil. Later I said that this is needed to continually replenish the surface so that it can remain nonstick. Washing in soap occasionally is not likely to do harm but you will have a harder time if it is washed with soap often.
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