How Do I Get Rid Of The Black Crust Off A Cast Iron Skillet With Out Burning It ?
Okay, if by crust you mean that nasty build up on the outside of the pan... you need to scrape it off with either an SOS pad or some steel wool. The outside of a skillet doesn't need to be seasoned since you don't cook on the outside of your pan.
(I can't even imagine why you would want to cook with your pans upside down...)
Get some dawn and steel wool. That will take it off. Then keep it clean with soapy water only on the outside of the pan. Don't forget to rub the inside with the oil of your choice after every cleaning. Also towel try the outside and heat dry the inside on the stove.
if this is a pan that you just picked up at a rummage or something then get yourself one of those , its like wire or more of a coiled metal. They use them in restaurants often. All my camping cook wear is cast iron and I swear by those at the end of the year. When ever I get cast iron from yard sale of flea market that has that 40 year crust around the top I give them a super scrubbing with the metal thingy I described, then reason them up. Never soap NEVER SOAP . Good luck.
like shave it off
I’ve been known to burn things in even a well-seasoned skillet. I scrub the cast iron with a scrubby and a little soap. (Heathen, I know) Then dry it out well, and reseason it in the oven. I reseason every month or so, just because.
SCRUB IT WITH COPPER SPONGE
Actually, for the inside, I was ALWAYS told to NEVER EVER scrub, and NEVER EVER use soap.
If it is bad enough that food is stuck on, and you cant just wipe it clean, just put water in it, and boil it on the stove top. That should release the stuck on food.
If my cast iron get very grungy, I wash with a tiny bit of soap and a lot of coarse salt, the salt makes an abrasive but does not take off the seasoning on the pan.
I was always told that the black on an iron skillet is the “Seasoning” and keeps food from sticking. But I did burn something in my skillet once…we had to sand blast it down to the original metal, it only took a few minutes. We had to “re-season” it though.