Contrary to popular belief, you can use a small amount of soap to clean cast iron cookware! Large amounts of soap can strip the seasoning off your pan, but you can easily re-season your pan as needed.

No! We recommend using a pan scraper or the Lodge Chainmail Scrubber to remove any stuck-on residue. We only recommend using steel wool or a metal scrubber to remove rust before reseasoning.

No. Our cast iron cookware should be washed by hand. A dishwasher will remove the seasoning and likely cause rust. For dishwasher-safe cookware, check out our heat-treated serveware.

While Lodge cast iron cookware is cast in sand molds, Lodge Seasoned Carbon Steel products are formed by spinning and stamping carbon steel, allowing them to be lighter and thinner than cast iron. This allows seasoned steel to heat up and cool down faster. The steel cookware also has riveted handles, while the cast iron cookware typically has integrated handles. Both seasoned steel and cast iron products are seasoned at our foundry with the same 100% natural vegetable oil and, as always, they are both made in the USA.

Lodge uses soy-based vegetable oil to season our traditional cast iron and carbon steel cookware in our foundries. There are no synthetic chemicals added at all. The oil is highly refined, and all proteins that cause soy-related allergies are eliminated. The oil is kosher and contains no animal fat, peanut oil, or paints.