March 6, 2011

Cast Iron Fans Rejoice!

I've searched a long time for the perfect utensil to scrub my cast iron pans. It's a messy job and I don't like sponges, rags and steel wool that I have to get my hands directly involved with. Some time after the move I settled on a long handled plastic dish scrubber.  It worked ok but it required a metal spatula to remove anything serious and had to be cleaned of the clingy grease regularly.  Plus it was fairly unattractive and just "had" to be hidden away under the sink. (I have issues.)  My husband John's brain couldn't handle/understand the extra step of returning the brush to its hideout and he repeatedly left it dripping on the side of the sink-- resulting in aggravation and some bitching on my part.

Well John recently took to cooking in our wok and that made me think of the cleaning brush that came with it.  After some digging in the pantry, I found the above pictured gem.  It works beautifully to clean the wok and is a thousand times better than the plastic scrub brush for cleaning my cast iron pans.  Hot water and a moderate amount of scrubbing is all you need and you don't have to get your hands dirty.  It's just stiff enough to get the food off and with the right angle you can really scrape well.  The grease and food bits even rinse out easily!  The best part is that I find it attractive enough to store in an over sized mug on the edge of the sink and there aren't any more battles with John.  I guess I'll have to go back to complaining about his socks all over the place.

The links below give me a kick back if you buy through them.  I'm sure a lot of Asian groceries would carry this item but alas Traverse City doesn't give me that option.  But look at how cheap the replacements are!