How do you clean a fired egg pan?

[Michael11]

Try using a spray. Lots of options out there that are not PAM spray. I use a 100% olive oil spray, and a little butter, in an old Farberware stainless steel pan. Cook the eggs (I like my eggs fried hard, not runny), let the pan cool a bit, and wipe it out with a paper towel. No water, no mess, no sticking.

 

[hipsterreplacement]

Folks have mentioned the cheapest best option, which is a well-seasoned cast iron pan. I never got the hang of cast iron and kept messing up the seasoning. And I no longer wanted to use Teflon pans due to health and environmental worries.

So I waited years, but West Marine finally had Magma cookware on sale for Black Friday and I have been so damned happy with my purchase. I got the 7 piece set with Ceramica (aka enamel) lining. It's been so worry-free. Truly non-stick, easy to clean, and I will be babying that enamel with plastic and silicone utensils so it stays that way. It wasn't cheap, even on sale, but for me with my hand/arm issues, it has been so worth it to not have to scrub every time I want to make something.

It works really well on induction, too, spreading the heat much more evenly than the cast iron pan was doing.

 

[Nautithespian]

I want to eat eggs more often but I often don't want to stress about the dreaded egg pan needing to be scrubbed 1/2 an hour and it to only STILL be 90% clean before I give up and leave it dirty for a week until I finally get it clean another week later and then another week later before I am dumb enough to make eggs and start the whole process over again.

Right now Im in an apartment but am planning on going back to my minivan soon so water will be limited. Please help with advice. I don't want to use sprays like pam but maybe there is something Im doing wrong. Please help!!

EDIT. I usually eat my eggs and toast right out of the pan so I don't get to cleaning RIGHT after it's done... maybe that is the issue?

ITS REALLY SIMPLE…here’s what i do when i am camping .. i line the pan with aluminum foil.. i cook.. i eat.. i ball it up and throw it out.. voila. Clean pan !!!!.. oh use a rubber spatula to stir… or a sodden spoon.. or just be careful with whatever utensil you use so as not to tear the aluminum foil..

 

[NctryBen]

Folks have mentioned the cheapest best option, which is a well-seasoned cast iron pan. I never got the hang of cast iron and kept messing up the seasoning. And I no longer wanted to use Teflon pans due to health and environmental worries.

So I waited years, but West Marine finally had Magma cookware on sale for Black Friday and I have been so damned happy with my purchase. I got the 7 piece set with Ceramica (aka enamel) lining. It's been so worry-free. Truly non-stick, easy to clean, and I will be babying that enamel with plastic and silicone utensils so it stays that way. It wasn't cheap, even on sale, but for me with my hand/arm issues, it has been so worth it to not have to scrub every time I want to make something.

It works really well on induction, too, spreading the heat much more evenly than the cast iron pan was doing.

sounds like your buying a cheap cast iron pan… you need a quality one. So it’s not the cheapest option… haha!
And you can’t use a plastic or similar spatula… a good metal spatula is a must.
Your problem could be I’m guessing over firing… or improper seasoning method…
Best thing about a good cast iron pan is if you ruin the seasoned surface, you can reseason it and start again…

 

[Malamute]

I want to eat eggs more often but I often don't want to stress about the dreaded egg pan needing to be scrubbed 1/2 an hour and it to only STILL be 90% clean before I give up and leave it dirty for a week until I finally get it clean another week later and then another week later before I am dumb enough to make eggs and start the whole process over again.

Right now Im in an apartment but am planning on going back to my minivan soon so water will be limited. Please help with advice. I don't want to use sprays like pam but maybe there is something Im doing wrong. Please help!!

EDIT. I usually eat my eggs and toast right out of the pan so I don't get to cleaning RIGHT after it's done... maybe that is the issue?

My impression is your edit, with the intention of saving a paper plate or washing a plate, is causing much of your issue, and creating more of a problem than the minor convenience of not using a plate.

Many have mentioned putting some warm or hot water in the pan after cooking, or at any point before its washed. Letting it soak about 5 minutes with a drop of dish soap, I scrape the major gunk out before overloading my green and yellow dish sponge with it. Its really pretty easy to clean up. I use both stainless Revere Ware pans and cast iron. Letting the cast sit a few minutes with hot water doesnt hurt it, I also give it a wipe with oil before putting it away and while still warm/hot from washing/rinsing.

 

[RonDean]

With my cast iron, I use a metal spatula. When the cooked food is out of the skillet, scrape the skillet with the spatula while everything is still hot. Much harder to scrape cooled food. Besides, I LIKE the browned bits.

Until I started preheating my cast iron skillet, I often wound up with a mess to clean up. With cast iron, if the pan is preheated well enough, you should never have to turn the heat up very much. I understand that if you want to cook meat, you need a hotter pan, but I don't cook meat, so...

When I wash out the pan, I use a little Dawn. No, it doesn't hurt the seasoning. Avoid soaking your cast iron at all costs, it's amazing how quickly a flash rust can happen. Wash it out and dry it off.

Jacqueg makes an important point. Do NOT leave a wet cast iron pan to drip or air dry. Dry it immediately with a cloth or paper towel after washing unless you want rust. It's not that much work.

 

[Malamute]

Jacqueg makes an important point. Do NOT leave a wet cast iron pan to drip or air dry. Dry it immediately with a cloth or paper towel after washing unless you want rust. It's not that much work.

While this is true, the flash rust wipes out with an oiled paper towel easily. Its not really much trouble. Ive left mine with some hot water dampness on the stove while I did other dishes or was distracted ("Oh SQUIRREL!!")...

 

[LargeMarge]

I want to eat eggs more... the dreaded egg pan needing to be scrubbed... I don't want to use sprays like pam...

...eat my eggs and toast right out of the pan so I don't get to cleaning RIGHT after it's done... maybe that...?

.
During our misspent youth, we owned a restaurant business for ten years.
Aluminum no-schtick, all we knew.
And we used a soy/rape/canola glunk for lube (identical to your pam spray?).
These days, we avoid skin contact with or inhaling the fumes of anything similar.
.
These days in the rig, we only have cast-iron.
.
For my body and activities, I do best on a much higher amount of healthy fats and oils than any mere piddling mortal.
Accordingly, getting ready to cook, my skillet gets a couple yuge spoons of coconut oil.
.
Stuff still schticks.
.
Oh, goody!, an opportunity to invent a new recipe!
.
[I am considering joining the fad of initiating a statement with any of the Five Queries:
* "What I do that is that, is that I do ______ ."
* "How I do that is that, is that I do ______ ."
... etcetera.]
.
"When I do that is, is that I do..."...
[note to grammartarians: 'yes', I realize I left out one 'that' in favor of brevity, and yet, I think it retains much of the original punch, don't you agree?]
...instead of straight to the sink to soak, I scrape cooked bits stuck to the pan.
After a couple-three minutes of elbow 'grease', I have a tidy mound of scrapings...
... the perfect foundation for a gravy or sauce:
* Over medium, add a splash of wine or juice, stir madly as it reduces, finish with butter.
Pour over your eggs, which by this time, should be just about ice-cold and impenetrable as hockey pucks.

 

[LargeMarge]

...but I don't cook meat, so......

.
Raw?
Such a stud!

 

[lkettles]

I'm with the cast iron fans. I'm the fortunate owner of a cast iron fry pan that has been in my family since the 1800s. Seasoning is superb, nothing sticks to it unless it's user error. And the voices of my mom and gramma are forever in my head on its use and care.

 

[StarryNights]

Agree fully on cast iron, but a good carbon steel pan once seasoned works just as well, is lighter and heats faster. Look up carbon steel pan on Amazon and you will see many examples. Read the reviews. Not cheap, but last a lifetime.

 

[bullfrog !]

^^^ lighter weight is important. By the time you have a skillet, dutch oven and grill you start to wonder! That RidgeMonkey aluminum cook ware has got me interested!

 

[Michael11]

a good carbon steel pan once seasoned works just as well, is lighter and heats faster

Absolutely. I actually prefer carbon steel pans for an open fire instead of cast iron. Also, if you're considering trying a carbon steel pan, do an internet search for "cold handle camp skillet" and look at the photos. You want a skillet with what looks like a wrap of metal on top of the handle. "National" is one brand of these older style skillets, but not the only brand. Lots of them for sale in junk shops, garage sales, antique stores, and various online "boutique stores" (I think you know the big crafter site). I have two in my collection and use them frequently. A good skillet will clean up and season just like cast iron for a fraction of the weight.

 

[jacqueg]

Absolutely. I actually prefer carbon steel pans for an open fire instead of cast iron. Also, if you're considering trying a carbon steel pan, do an internet search for "cold handle camp skillet" and look at the photos. You want a skillet with what looks like a wrap of metal on top of the handle. "National" is one brand of these older style skillets, but not the only brand. Lots of them for sale in junk shops, garage sales, antique stores, and various online "boutique stores" (I think you know the big crafter site). I have two in my collection and use them frequently. A good skillet will clean up and season just like cast iron for a fraction of the weight.

I recently bought a black steel skillet at Ross-Dress-For-Less, to replace my brother's trashed non-stick skillet. (No way I'd cook with that thing!) It has seasoned up decently, but I find I miss the mass of my cast iron griddle. Oh well. Trying to keep my van's cooking stuff separate from my brother's cooking stuff.