/ Source : TODAY

It can happen to the most seasoned of home cooks: Y'all turn abroad from your eggs for simply a moment and — suddenly — they've burned to the bottom of your beautiful cast-iron pan. Even worse? Perhaps a few errant water spots take left your prized pan polka-dotted with a layer of rust.

Does that mean everything needs to be thrown out? Nope! Don't panic. While a cast-iron pan can fissure irreparably if you place information technology into common cold water while it's yet searing hot, most other problems have an easy fix.

With proper care, a great cast-iron pan will be a great kitchen tool for years.
With proper care, a great cast-iron pan will be a groovy kitchen tool for years. Shutterstock

Hither are the best ways to mend bandage-iron cookware.

How to remove burned bits of food

For a gentle but constructive scrub, take a tip from the spa and use common salt. Generously sprinkle kosher salt or fibroid sea salt into the pan and scrub it with a clean, damp washcloth. For actress stubborn spots, use a plastic pan scraper to work the burned food off the pan. Stay away from steel wool, scouring pads or detergent scrubs, which can remove the seasoning on the pan or make the damage worse.

Cast-Iron Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Claudia Amato/TODAY

How to prepare a rusty cast-iron pan

Use a gentle detergent scrub, such as Bon Ami or Bar Keepers Friend, to clean off the rust or whatsoever acid-damaged spots. Rinse well and dry thoroughly.

Rub the unseasoned, scrubbed parts of the pan with vegetable oil, canola oil or melted vegetable shortening. Depending on the number of unseasoned spots on the pan and their location, yous tin re-season the pan on the stovetop or in the oven.

For smaller spots on the interior of the pan, place the pan over medium oestrus on a stove burner and heat for x-15 minutes, until the oil has baked on. Plough the burner off and leave the pan on the burner until information technology has cooled completely. For larger spots, or if the spots are on the underside or exterior of the pan, re-flavor in a 350-degree oven as instructed here. Place the pan upside-down on the summit rack of the oven and bake information technology for 30-45 minutes.

How to gear up a vintage cast-fe pan

This is the one instance where yous'll want to get to town with steel wool. Scrub the pan inside and out to remove any remaining seasoning (and annihilation else that's been broiled onto the pan over the years) until you see the natural, unfinished grey-blueish fe.

Wash the scrubbed pan with gentle dish soap and water, then dry out it completely. Follow these seasoning instructions, repeating them two or three times, until the pan has blackened to a familiar cast-iron sheen.