Reddit reviews RSVP Endurance Stainless Steel Pot Scrubbers, Set of 2

You can join us over in /r/castiron

But in general: Contrary to what some think, cast iron cookware isn't allergic to being washed. Give it a good washing with plenty of whatever dish soap is handy. Just don't soak it for days at a time (short hours is fine). (It also isn't allergic to temperature -- screaming-hot cast iron is how medium-rare steaks get a lovely crust. Whoever says otherwise needs more cooking lessons -- I'm looking at you, /u/krazykitties.)

What usually happens with my cast iron stuff when I do things like cook hamburgers with Worcestershire sauce is that the sugars from the sauce form a hard, black glaze on the pan. It's a bitch to get rid of, but the burgers are worth it, so I keep doing it.

I use a blue scrubbie sponge ("non-scratch", here in the States), and that gets most of it off usually. For extreme cases, I use a green scrubby sponge (guaranteed to resurface your copper pans and strip your Teflon!). And sometimes, because I'm lazy or I've thrown the sponges away recently (they do get gross), I use a stainless steel wool pad like this...although for some messes the stainless thing is my first go-to.

Don't be gentle. Make it happen. You can't hurt the pan in any lasting way.

But first, this: Put some water in the pan and put it on the stove on high and leave it at a fiercely-rolling boil for a few minutes. The tiny little explosions that happen as the water turns to steam at the surface of the pan (and within the cooked-on grunge) do wonders for loosening up stuck-on caramelized goo.

If you fuck it all up, no worries: Put some Canola oil or Crisco in the pan, wipe it all out (yes, all of it -- or at least all you can wipe up) (use coffee filters for very cheap, throw-away, lint-free wipes), and throw it in the oven at 450 for half an hour. The oil you applied will polymerize and make a new non-stick coating. Repeat as needed.

And then cook some bacon. And some eggs. And eventually, the bacon grease and the egg proteins will form a new, hard, non-stick layer that even caramelized sugar can't stick to for very long.

Before long, you'll be cooking like your Grandma did.

There's no reason to actively strip a pan that isn't new to you. (Unless you use flaxseed oil. Don't. It's a trap promoted by a singular blogger that has been parroted since by folks who are ever-since stymied that the seasoning flakes off of their pans. Don't get exotic; your Grandma certainly didn't. She just used, and cleaned, the thing.)

> stainless steel wool

More specifically- a "stainless steel scrubby"

Interesting. I've been cleaning stainless steel pots and pans for a few decades and never heard that before. Makes sense, it is an acid. Some web sites claim it will leave the surface pitted, and some claim soaking them in anything will do the same. I've never had a problem with an overnight soak.

In most kitchens I've worked in, if you can't get it off after scrubbing and soaking and scrubbing some more, just leave it. It's just carbon, and will not hurt the food you cook in it. You can put the pan on the stove and burn it some more, just to make sure anything not-carbon turns into carbon. (I know that's not very helpful.)

Good luck with it. Green Scotch Brite pads and stainless steel scrubbies like these have always been my go-to for burnt-on stains. (Scotch Brite pads come in different colors for different purposes, like different grits/coarsenesses of sandpaper. Green is common in the kitchen for scouring metal. Blue is safe for non-stick pans. When you get into maroon and greys, I think they are used to sand paint off cars and stuff. I don't know the details. Just know green is good for scouring steel pans, but will leave the surface scratched. Blue should not scratch metal and is supposed to be safe for Teflon coated pans, though I don't trust anything abrasive on those.)