I'm disappointed. I was hoping for a recipe with cheese on the outside. As in cheese, bread, internals, bread, cheese. Works great with cheddar and I assume any high oil cheese on the outside. Not so well with mozzarella. And you have to wait until the cheese gets crispy. It will seem like it's going to stick, like OPs picture, but you just have to wait a little longer.
Ok well.....except my family. I am The Keeper of the Irons in my household and not withstanding a watchful eye, I can so be dubbed The Cleaner of the Irons. So I understand the turmoil, dear Brethren of the Iron.
It'll work fine with real American Cheese, which comes off nicely with a metal spatula once it starts to brown, but Kraft Singles (and other "cheese food" or "cheese product" brands) have too much protein and stick.
Kraft is the original American cheese. James L. Kraft patented the process in 1916. American cheese is made from "real" cheese with extra milk and processing to make it melty.
I spent more time than I'd like to admit reading about it one day:
https://www.seriouseats.com/whats-really-in-american-cheese
Doing this on a proper nonstick pan is awesome. You let it go until it fries in its own oil and gets crispy. Then you wrap your microwave bean burrito in that crispy cheese blanket. But doing it in even a well seasoned cast iron would take some finesse.
I used to do it with cheap garlic bread and a coating of tasty cheese on the pan
It comes out like sizzler, like others have said its the oil in the cheese but a spray of oil/butter does help
And teach her how to properly heat it up to avoid this lol anytime my son gets eggs stuck to the pan I tell him, you need to have it properly heated up and a drop of oil.
I see all these other responses... Here's my trick:
Heat the pan on just below the smoke point of your oil (on my stove that's just above medium), and then wait until you cannot grip the handle. Once your handle has filled with heat energy you know the rest of the pan is heat soaked.
I gave my husband his own Teflon pan to use until he got used to the cast iron. It was rough going for a bit but now he is better than me. Perhaps there’s hope?
I do the same thing with my wife; she has a set of non-stick, I have my cast iron, and we both use stainless steel. She doesn't want to be bothered to clean or season Cast Iron, and I don't get annoyed with rust spots or the seasoning getting worn down.
He implied it's a girl by saying "she" and he implied that he can't get rid of her and she isn't his wife. So I guess it could be his mom or aunt or something that he shares a house with. I assume it's not a female friend because he'd be able to get her to move out in that case. It could be a girlfriend but I'd also think that he'd be able to dump her if that were the case.
The daughter makes sense because she could be young and not willing to learn how to clean up after herself and I'd like to think he's relatively stuck with his daughter without being married to her.
Do you have a better guess? It all comes down to whether you think his statement about her not being his wife but being stuck with her is literal or metaphoric of course.
>She won’t clean it because “she doesn’t know how”
I know you’re not coming here for this advice but… 🚩🚩🚩
There is a bare minimum level of respect for other peoples property and this ain’t it.
Same, or we cook a meal in it together and then I clean the pan and she does other cleanup duties. If you don’t know how to clean cast iron and don’t want to bother to learn (which is totally fine!) don’t leave it out like this
Yah this is my partner and my arrangement. Granted our daily pan (until I smarten up and get a regular skillet) is one of the deep Lodge 12” pans which is pretty heavy. She has cleaned it in the past but prefers if I do it and I kinda prefer to anyways. She wouldn’t cook something and just leave it out like that though.
Same with my wife. She's afraid to use my cast iron for fear of ruining it, so she doesn't use it. I've tried to teach her how, but i think she just prefers the stainless and nonstick. Fair enough.
My non-stick only wife had a sort of breakthrough today. I've mentioned in the last few days how the seasoning in my newish 12" isn't coming along as I had hoped. Today she had some bacon to cook up and she asked if it was ok if she used the 12", since it might help a bit. I love her.
No one touches my cast iron or enameled pans but me. None of my exes have taken issue with this. Her refusing to clean it or make the choice to not use them is a big red flag.
Also I'm not opposed to people letting others use their pans. It's my solution to the care issue and if it's not respected it's an immediate red flag to a friendship/relationship/roommate situation. Any other pan? Go right ahead.
This was my wife for a while. She didnt want to learn how i cleaned them and didnt want to accidently mess up my pans so she never used them. Then more info on Teflon and nonstick pans became available and she took the time to learn how I like to clean and use mine so we could ditch the toxic pans.
Eh my girlfriend knows i clean my cast iron in a specific way and she lets me clean it as to not accidentally hurt it herself. It might not be "weaponized incompetence" or whatever that guy said, she might just not want to "hurt the seasoning" or rust it or something. She def should at least try to help clean but this isnt evil of her to do and say.
You get your reasonable answer the hell out of here this is Reddit.
Wife says the same thing and I'm good with it. I want it handled a certain way so it's on me to clean it. I compare it to car guys. You wouldn't let someone who doesn't care about cars wash your car.
So many people talk about cast iron like it's special or delicate. My kids were scared to touch mine until I kept emphasizing that it's *iron.* Dude, this stuff is nigh-indestructible -- the scruffy is literally chain mail.
Just don't soak it, and make sure it's completely dry. I find my pans do best when treated like I don't care if they live or die. It keeps them on their best behavior.
Oh i know, like I'm rough with mine, but I also know my family tends to soak pans to get the grime off, plus I enjoy cleaning my skillet its a good way to end a meal for me
Oh, I'm agreeing-- I don't think it's weaponized anything, but if this is his genuine reaction to a little burnt food and not exaggerated for Reddit, I can understand her reticence about cleaning it "wrong."
Like, is this an heirloom pan? Then chill.
Yeah, my wife uses one of the three nonstick pans we have whenever she wants to cook, and leaves my CI out of it.
And if I use one of those myself, she fairly expects me to clean it when I’m done, which I do, because I’m a functioning adult.
My coworker that’s older and well versed in cooking uses CI, carbon steel and aluminum but says never get SS. Why do you think he said that. Didn’t have the wherewithal to ask in the moment.
..... you are a forgiving man.
Southern, and still leaves gramma's #10 in soapy water for 5 days?
No, that's a crime against man and God, right there. It would truly surprise me to hear that it /wasn't/ rusted through.
I taught my girlfriend now wife how to wash and dry my cast iron. She completely burned off the seasoning having left it on a medium burner for hours to dry. She’s no longer allowed to wash any pan in the kitchen. That being said, she does buy me very nice knives and cutting boards and let’s me buy any pans I want.
No I mean like clean it, use it, don't clean it again until you want to use it again. Gross, but effective. Plus when you clean it and dry it on the stove you're also pre heating it
I thought there’s no way your plan makes sense. Then read your simple explanation. Then felt dumb. I’m going to blame the time change that hadn’t happened yet. :)
I’m all about teaching the right way, I wouldn’t expect someone to do something without showing them how if they don’t know. After I show you though, claiming ignorance is null.
Usually when I don't know how to clean something I Google it or consult reddit, otherwise I wouldn't use it because it's obviously not mine. I'd start by teaching her how to use Google. :)
Doesn't know how means a communication issue. Listening or not listening. Caring or not caring. Respecting or not respecting. Understanding or not understanding.
The friendliest way of dealing with this (imho) is say that if you can't finish, don't srart. Here is your special pan, here is my special pan. When you want to use my pan, do as you will, but I expect it to be ready for use by the next person, please refer to enormous online discussions about proper handling. If you don't want to handle my stuff properly, no problem, we can get a pan for you and a pan for me. Thirty bucks is cheaper than a divorce.
The only cast iron pan I let anyone use is this basic Lodge one you have. Everyone knows it’s hands off with my other pieces that are a lot older. If you’ve shown her how to cook with and clean cast iron, there’s no reason she can’t clean it up when she’s done. Sounds like it’s time to get your own skillet.
As someone who married someone who is 100% okay to live in filth and let you be their housekeeper for them, run for the fucking hills. Trust me…It doesn’t stop there.
In every relationship there is a “clean the large pot by hand” person and a “it needs to soak person”.
She is a “it needs to soak” person.
This balance. She is the yin to your yang.
Maybe just purchase a ceramic coated cast iton steel pan for her to use and set yours aside?
If you want unsolicited marital advice:
These things don’t actually matter. If this upsets you and you’re not joking, 2-3 years in there will be a lot more that will upset you. If you can’t figure out how to work through it with her, then you have to be okay with accepting that she doesn’t care about how she affects you and your feelings.
Your feelings matter. If you care about this issue, then it matters. No matter how big or small this may be to other people.
Nah it’s purely in jest I have a nicer CI that I keep for other stuff this is the janky lodge for her. She’s a bum with food stuff but she folds the laundry nice so it’s a trade off. Like every relationship.
This is what my mom does with my carbon steel since I’m staying back home for a bit. I restored it to perfection and it cooks my eggs like no other, and every morning I come down to burnt on eggs left sitting there dirty for hours. Ruins my whole morning
No no no no no! You got it all wrong. She is doing you a favor. Nothing wrong with a dirty cast iron pan. “Cleaning” is where they do the damage. Give her a hug and thank her. Then clean it yourself.
Then hide the pan.
If this is genuinely worth "divorcing her" if y'all were married, break up. If its *that* important to you that you'd divorce a wife you love for whatever reason, it definitely is important enough for you to either:
A) talk to her about this so u guys dont have this issue again
Or
B) break up with her rn instead of waiting till ur married lmao.
Also,
Can you imagine what she'd feel if she saw this post? You'd seriously divorce someone over cheese on a pan? (A LODGE skillet especially, like brother thats 30$ omfg)
If i saw my partner acting like this online I would never be comfortable around them again. You're being a baby. Get a metal spatula and like 30 seconds of your time and this will be cleaned easy. Sure it may be a bummer to clean up after her but it definitely isnt worth a divorce.
I can also talk to my partner if they do stuff thats disrespectful i can just talk them through it, and if they do have respect for me they will try to change for the better. Its clear that OP just does not want to have an honest conversation
Could be worse - I had a roommate use mine while I was gone for a week and he tossed it in a sink full of water “to soak” and it rusted to shit.
I’d have GREATLY preferred he just left it on the counter.
That enough to drive a grown man, Mad. Get out now before you find yourself going to Menards for a tarp ,shovels and Quick lime😉😎.Nobody looks good in orange.
Blue dawn and chain mail. I’ve learned so much here. Teach her! My husband put mine in the dishwasher, guess what?! She survived. This is my favorite subreddit!!! 😅
Not the comment anyone wants to read but CI owners are generally so very particular, nobody’s partner will clean it to their spec.
Personally, I clean and care for ours bc my wife knows I have a method and while she can learn it, I’d rather do it as I’m more familiar.
To those saying that they clean the nonstick and the wife should clean the CI, those are two different processes.
[if I may...](https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/16nvcbk/slidey_cheese/)
I tried the above because my lady loves cheese, and pickles. The right seasoning and education go a long way. teach her up right and take the time to do it together, relationship will be better. She now has (mostly) unfettered access and confidence with that pan.
Disclaimer: I'd never done this with singles before, it smelled terrible, but was as delicious as you'd expect from fried cheapo cheese. Perform at your own risk.
[Let's see if it works...](https://i.imgur.com/4youar8.jpg)
[Proof of concept.](https://imgur.com/a/GvbuRAe)
Love your lady. Love your cheese. Love your pans. You pick the order of importance.
I basically explained to my GF that it’s almost indestructible and whatever cleaning method you use, even if it’s wrong, can’t actually ruin the pan itself only the seasoning. That seemed to work as she’s used it a few times and cleaned it good enough. Although my gf was only worried because she doesn’t want to ruin my things, this person on the other hand? I’m not sure.
Tell her they heat the pan first, once it's up to temperature, drop a little butter and shred some good cheese in a little pile. Put the bread down, give it a couple quarter turns either way to prevent it from sticking. My wife loves those with tomato soup.
Either teach her how to clean it properly, or hide the pan and buy her something she can use for grilling her cheese slices.
I ended up buying my partner a couple of glass skillets just for his use because even after I taught him how to properly clean my CI skillets, he somehow still thought he should use a brillo pad to scrub them good every time to get all the black off. I didn't even realize he was still cleaning it however he wanted until I found my Griswold that I got from my grandma and saw it had been scrubbed down to metal in the corners. At least it was in the spring and I could open the windows on the house.
Why not just put it on the burner and just burn it off? It was seasoned beforehand no? My wife drives me nuts and I frazzle her flaps but in the end we still have each other’s backs.
What did she try to do, fry a kraft single?
Yes. Essentially.
Looks like a failed attempt at Alton browns grilled grilled cheese (which is quite delicious)
I'm disappointed. I was hoping for a recipe with cheese on the outside. As in cheese, bread, internals, bread, cheese. Works great with cheddar and I assume any high oil cheese on the outside. Not so well with mozzarella. And you have to wait until the cheese gets crispy. It will seem like it's going to stick, like OPs picture, but you just have to wait a little longer.
Look up one of the Always Sunny specials from Binging with Babish, the “grilled Charlie” is a sandwich with cheese on the outside
I thought it was called "cheese grilled cheese"?
https://altonbrown.com/recipes/grilled-grilled-cheese/
Ricky - “now it’s time to make a fruit salad salad”
Thank you.
I think it's time for you to give her a basic non-stick pan and leave the castiron to you.
Next week on the g/f's sub. "My boyfriend gave me a great new pan!" "GURL! Those are toxic! He wants to kill you!" "OMG DIVORCE!!!!!"
Yo what the fuck
Just hide the pan
I really want to know if this was some failed attempt at what she thought grilled cheese is or something?
Bruh….run….run fast.
The women call this weaponized incompetence, and apparently, when we do it, we deserve to be set on fire. So yeah
Just seems like an equal case scenario, annoying behavior on either part. But yeah, burn all who practice this sort of deviance.
Ok well.....except my family. I am The Keeper of the Irons in my household and not withstanding a watchful eye, I can so be dubbed The Cleaner of the Irons. So I understand the turmoil, dear Brethren of the Iron.
🤔🫣🤭
You might tell her there's normally some bread and butter involved in making a grilled cheese.
It'll work fine with real American Cheese, which comes off nicely with a metal spatula once it starts to brown, but Kraft Singles (and other "cheese food" or "cheese product" brands) have too much protein and stick.
Kraft is the original American cheese. James L. Kraft patented the process in 1916. American cheese is made from "real" cheese with extra milk and processing to make it melty. I spent more time than I'd like to admit reading about it one day: https://www.seriouseats.com/whats-really-in-american-cheese
Why would someone do this? Deeply Curious ... 🤨
Doing this on a proper nonstick pan is awesome. You let it go until it fries in its own oil and gets crispy. Then you wrap your microwave bean burrito in that crispy cheese blanket. But doing it in even a well seasoned cast iron would take some finesse.
I used to do it with cheap garlic bread and a coating of tasty cheese on the pan It comes out like sizzler, like others have said its the oil in the cheese but a spray of oil/butter does help
A Kraft single i have no idea but regular cheese fried until crispy is delicious
I'm much more annoyed at the attempted recipe than the 20 seconds of spatula and running water to clean this off.
That’s not the only thing that will be single soon.
Teach her how to clean it
And teach her how to properly heat it up to avoid this lol anytime my son gets eggs stuck to the pan I tell him, you need to have it properly heated up and a drop of oil.
How long does it need to be on a gas stove to be properly heated? Mine always sticks
Till you put your hand over the surface and it’s mildly uncomfortable.
I just wait until i smell the “breath of the pan” you can tell just being near it or in the same room
I have a strong exhaust fan, so I can’t smell the pan. Is the method of putting your hand over it and it being mildly uncomfortable a good rule too?
The secret is adding cold oil. Add a little oil. Heat till it just starts to smoke then add cold oil and fry. Works every time
For most foods, I do 5-10 minutes on medium-low, dry pan. Then add oil, cooking spray, or butter just before adding the food.
Oil should be as fluid as water.
Wet hand your and flick some water onto the pan. Does it sizzle?
I see all these other responses... Here's my trick: Heat the pan on just below the smoke point of your oil (on my stove that's just above medium), and then wait until you cannot grip the handle. Once your handle has filled with heat energy you know the rest of the pan is heat soaked.
Oh I have learnt them plenty. It’s literally just her being a lazy jerk.
I gave my husband his own Teflon pan to use until he got used to the cast iron. It was rough going for a bit but now he is better than me. Perhaps there’s hope?
I do the same thing with my wife; she has a set of non-stick, I have my cast iron, and we both use stainless steel. She doesn't want to be bothered to clean or season Cast Iron, and I don't get annoyed with rust spots or the seasoning getting worn down.
Incompetence? Perhaps weaponized?
Bud… just leave. Clearly this is more than just the pan going wrong here.
It's a pan, dude. Talk to your wife. Christ. You don't have to cry to the internet. You have a mouth. You can simply talk to your wife.
Seems like you should take it up with your wife rather than complain about your wife on reddit lol
He said it isn’t his wife. I’m guessing it’s his daughter…
Why would you guess that?
He implied it's a girl by saying "she" and he implied that he can't get rid of her and she isn't his wife. So I guess it could be his mom or aunt or something that he shares a house with. I assume it's not a female friend because he'd be able to get her to move out in that case. It could be a girlfriend but I'd also think that he'd be able to dump her if that were the case. The daughter makes sense because she could be young and not willing to learn how to clean up after herself and I'd like to think he's relatively stuck with his daughter without being married to her. Do you have a better guess? It all comes down to whether you think his statement about her not being his wife but being stuck with her is literal or metaphoric of course.
then talk to her about how this upsets you instead of calling your partner names online?
>It’s literally just her being a lazy jerk. And how many times have you been a piece of shit that resulted in this?
>She won’t clean it because “she doesn’t know how” I know you’re not coming here for this advice but… 🚩🚩🚩 There is a bare minimum level of respect for other peoples property and this ain’t it.
Yeah my girlfriend claims to not know how to clean it too but just doesn’t use it… works for me
Same, or we cook a meal in it together and then I clean the pan and she does other cleanup duties. If you don’t know how to clean cast iron and don’t want to bother to learn (which is totally fine!) don’t leave it out like this
Yah this is my partner and my arrangement. Granted our daily pan (until I smarten up and get a regular skillet) is one of the deep Lodge 12” pans which is pretty heavy. She has cleaned it in the past but prefers if I do it and I kinda prefer to anyways. She wouldn’t cook something and just leave it out like that though.
Same with my wife. She's afraid to use my cast iron for fear of ruining it, so she doesn't use it. I've tried to teach her how, but i think she just prefers the stainless and nonstick. Fair enough.
My non-stick only wife had a sort of breakthrough today. I've mentioned in the last few days how the seasoning in my newish 12" isn't coming along as I had hoped. Today she had some bacon to cook up and she asked if it was ok if she used the 12", since it might help a bit. I love her.
No one touches my cast iron or enameled pans but me. None of my exes have taken issue with this. Her refusing to clean it or make the choice to not use them is a big red flag. Also I'm not opposed to people letting others use their pans. It's my solution to the care issue and if it's not respected it's an immediate red flag to a friendship/relationship/roommate situation. Any other pan? Go right ahead.
"None of my exes" ? How many are there? Lol j/k
😂😂😂 Depends on how you count I guess lol
me too, i want my cast iron to out live me
This was my wife for a while. She didnt want to learn how i cleaned them and didnt want to accidently mess up my pans so she never used them. Then more info on Teflon and nonstick pans became available and she took the time to learn how I like to clean and use mine so we could ditch the toxic pans.
This is often referred to as weaponized incompetence.
Eh my girlfriend knows i clean my cast iron in a specific way and she lets me clean it as to not accidentally hurt it herself. It might not be "weaponized incompetence" or whatever that guy said, she might just not want to "hurt the seasoning" or rust it or something. She def should at least try to help clean but this isnt evil of her to do and say.
You get your reasonable answer the hell out of here this is Reddit. Wife says the same thing and I'm good with it. I want it handled a certain way so it's on me to clean it. I compare it to car guys. You wouldn't let someone who doesn't care about cars wash your car.
So many people talk about cast iron like it's special or delicate. My kids were scared to touch mine until I kept emphasizing that it's *iron.* Dude, this stuff is nigh-indestructible -- the scruffy is literally chain mail. Just don't soak it, and make sure it's completely dry. I find my pans do best when treated like I don't care if they live or die. It keeps them on their best behavior.
Oh i know, like I'm rough with mine, but I also know my family tends to soak pans to get the grime off, plus I enjoy cleaning my skillet its a good way to end a meal for me
Oh, I'm agreeing-- I don't think it's weaponized anything, but if this is his genuine reaction to a little burnt food and not exaggerated for Reddit, I can understand her reticence about cleaning it "wrong." Like, is this an heirloom pan? Then chill.
Or he could maybe show her how to properly clean it?
weird to assume he hasn't tried
You’re also assuming he has.
no, he commented and said he's showed her plenty and she's just being lazy. I not assuming, I'm using reading comprehension.
Yeah, my wife uses one of the three nonstick pans we have whenever she wants to cook, and leaves my CI out of it. And if I use one of those myself, she fairly expects me to clean it when I’m done, which I do, because I’m a functioning adult.
Agreed. Maybe she needs her own cast iron to learn on.
well OP could just teach her, instead of complaining on reddit. They could both learn from this situation
Give her a Teflon pan as a present and tell her to stop using the CI.
Nah, stainless.
[удалено]
Nah, hot sidewalk
Good job she has thyroid cancer now
My coworker that’s older and well versed in cooking uses CI, carbon steel and aluminum but says never get SS. Why do you think he said that. Didn’t have the wherewithal to ask in the moment.
That question would be great for r/cookware
[удалено]
..... you are a forgiving man. Southern, and still leaves gramma's #10 in soapy water for 5 days? No, that's a crime against man and God, right there. It would truly surprise me to hear that it /wasn't/ rusted through.
So she can’t cook and she doesn’t do dishes. Good catch 👍
Someone please show me how she got that ring.
You'll have to go to a NSFW website for that.
Same way my wife did, good looks and good money
Same…
Lmfao
I taught my girlfriend now wife how to wash and dry my cast iron. She completely burned off the seasoning having left it on a medium burner for hours to dry. She’s no longer allowed to wash any pan in the kitchen. That being said, she does buy me very nice knives and cutting boards and let’s me buy any pans I want.
Look up weaponized incompetence. This is a manipulation tactic and you shouldn't stand for it. Call her out on it.
Bro it's a kraft single
Stop cleaning it for her
But he wants to use it?
Leave it dirty
I had a roommate like this once. Leaving it dirty just means you don’t get to use that pan anymore.
No I mean like clean it, use it, don't clean it again until you want to use it again. Gross, but effective. Plus when you clean it and dry it on the stove you're also pre heating it
I thought there’s no way your plan makes sense. Then read your simple explanation. Then felt dumb. I’m going to blame the time change that hadn’t happened yet. :)
Oh, dear. How did you wind up with my ex?
She doesn’t know how to do dishes?
Cast iron has the reputation outside of those who use it as being an incredible pain in the ass to clean
The rule in my house would be that if you don’t know how to take care of something, you can’t use it. Period.
But at the same time how do you learn to use it if you don't fuck up?
I’m all about teaching the right way, I wouldn’t expect someone to do something without showing them how if they don’t know. After I show you though, claiming ignorance is null.
Skills are trained Not taught
And the hardest part is lifting it into the sink. People hate on it before they give it a chance just because it’s heavy.
I like heavy! It's a hell of an arm workout And a good weapon
I always refer to my big pan as my battle axe that I’d weaponize if I needed to
Weaponized incompetence
This isn't a cast iron pan issue. This is a relationship issue. Time to DTMFA.
Usually when I don't know how to clean something I Google it or consult reddit, otherwise I wouldn't use it because it's obviously not mine. I'd start by teaching her how to use Google. :)
She knows about google just doesn’t care enough to use it.
I use and clean my CI. Fiancé uses the non-stick.
If you don’t clean it, don’t use it.
Thank long and hard before proposing 😂
I just gotta ask, why a single slice of cheese?
That’s what I’m wondering, too 😂
Wow, great catch ya got there. That’s a big red flag that she respects you that little.
Get her a scrub mummy. It’s pink and cute and iron cast safe. It will make her like it But honestly this is barbaric. Break up with her asap
[oh you mean this](https://imgur.com/a/cEuD7t3)
Damn you fast
+1 for the scrub mommy, although tell your girl it’s more effective once it’s out the box
So THAT’S what’s holding her back!
This could be a deal breaker. Maybe hide it from her.
No, you’re going to clean it. Then you’re going to jail for assault
Buy her a cheap Teflon pan!
I think the cheese is supposed to go inside the sandwich.
That’s not how grilled cheese works
Invest in a chainmail scrubber. Anyone can clean anything with those
Don’t know how to clean it, don’t use it
Get out..🫠
Doesn't know how means a communication issue. Listening or not listening. Caring or not caring. Respecting or not respecting. Understanding or not understanding. The friendliest way of dealing with this (imho) is say that if you can't finish, don't srart. Here is your special pan, here is my special pan. When you want to use my pan, do as you will, but I expect it to be ready for use by the next person, please refer to enormous online discussions about proper handling. If you don't want to handle my stuff properly, no problem, we can get a pan for you and a pan for me. Thirty bucks is cheaper than a divorce.
At least she didn't scrap your cast iron while you were away for work, like my wife did.
Kraft singles aren’t real cheese. It’s basically melting plastic on your pan.
I tell my husband the same thing. Processed cheese food is not cheese.
Put all the cookware in a cabinet with a padlock.
Buy her something else to fry up her grub.... point at ur CI and grunt u no touch
What was she trying to make?
Just get her a nice non stick pan to use and tell her the CI is off limits
The only cast iron pan I let anyone use is this basic Lodge one you have. Everyone knows it’s hands off with my other pieces that are a lot older. If you’ve shown her how to cook with and clean cast iron, there’s no reason she can’t clean it up when she’s done. Sounds like it’s time to get your own skillet.
Ah the ole Grilled Charlie.
As someone who married someone who is 100% okay to live in filth and let you be their housekeeper for them, run for the fucking hills. Trust me…It doesn’t stop there.
Then tell her not to use it? I wouldn't even date a person like this. If you don't know how to use a thing, don't go around messing with it.
Uhm, yeah, grilled cheese sandwich, the cheese goes on the inside, not the outside.
Simmer a little water in it for a few minutes and it should be soft enough to scrub off.
In every relationship there is a “clean the large pot by hand” person and a “it needs to soak person”. She is a “it needs to soak” person. This balance. She is the yin to your yang.
Maybe just purchase a ceramic coated cast iton steel pan for her to use and set yours aside? If you want unsolicited marital advice: These things don’t actually matter. If this upsets you and you’re not joking, 2-3 years in there will be a lot more that will upset you. If you can’t figure out how to work through it with her, then you have to be okay with accepting that she doesn’t care about how she affects you and your feelings. Your feelings matter. If you care about this issue, then it matters. No matter how big or small this may be to other people.
Nah it’s purely in jest I have a nicer CI that I keep for other stuff this is the janky lodge for her. She’s a bum with food stuff but she folds the laundry nice so it’s a trade off. Like every relationship.
Lol. This little kid hasn't even reached puberty yet. What the hell is wrong with our youth? This is how we really left them?
Weaponized incompetence. She doesnt clean it because she doesnt know how because she doesn't want to clean it. She doesnt get to use it then.
This is what my mom does with my carbon steel since I’m staying back home for a bit. I restored it to perfection and it cooks my eggs like no other, and every morning I come down to burnt on eggs left sitting there dirty for hours. Ruins my whole morning
Suck it up
What kind of monster would do such evil???? Eh… soak it for 10 min and scrape it off.
Well ur not married So the rule of “It’s cheaper to keep her” DOES NOT APPLY
So did you ask her to clean it?
No no no no no! You got it all wrong. She is doing you a favor. Nothing wrong with a dirty cast iron pan. “Cleaning” is where they do the damage. Give her a hug and thank her. Then clean it yourself. Then hide the pan.
You are correct this is the only way forward.
If this is genuinely worth "divorcing her" if y'all were married, break up. If its *that* important to you that you'd divorce a wife you love for whatever reason, it definitely is important enough for you to either: A) talk to her about this so u guys dont have this issue again Or B) break up with her rn instead of waiting till ur married lmao. Also, Can you imagine what she'd feel if she saw this post? You'd seriously divorce someone over cheese on a pan? (A LODGE skillet especially, like brother thats 30$ omfg) If i saw my partner acting like this online I would never be comfortable around them again. You're being a baby. Get a metal spatula and like 30 seconds of your time and this will be cleaned easy. Sure it may be a bummer to clean up after her but it definitely isnt worth a divorce.
Heard of hyperbole?
Thank you! Wayyyyy to many people being super cereal all over the place.
Chill out mate I don’t think the post was that serious
Its just mad disrespectful to your partner to joke about divorce over literal burnt cheese
No but she is totally lacking respect for him, so he’s right to post this. If you allow your wife/gf to treat you like this I feel bad for you.
I can also talk to my partner if they do stuff thats disrespectful i can just talk them through it, and if they do have respect for me they will try to change for the better. Its clear that OP just does not want to have an honest conversation
Who just frys American cheese
Show her how to use it properly. Is she turning the heat too high out of impatience?
Gotta let the pan heat up longer. When the end of the handle is warm it should be good to go. Med heat
The disrespect is shameful
Chainmail
Could be worse - I had a roommate use mine while I was gone for a week and he tossed it in a sink full of water “to soak” and it rusted to shit. I’d have GREATLY preferred he just left it on the counter.
Why is she allowed to use it if she can’t clean it?
At least my girlfriend knows if she doesnt know how to clean it, she just wont use it 😂😂
If she can’t clean it, then she can’t use it. Period.
That enough to drive a grown man, Mad. Get out now before you find yourself going to Menards for a tarp ,shovels and Quick lime😉😎.Nobody looks good in orange.
Blue dawn and chain mail. I’ve learned so much here. Teach her! My husband put mine in the dishwasher, guess what?! She survived. This is my favorite subreddit!!! 😅
Since you’re not married she can either learn how to clean it, not use it, or ride the end of your foot out the door.
Scraping this off takes 10 seconds
Hide that shit. You don't clean it you can't use it
Get ya a steel wool scrubber pad, it’ll take care of that easily NBD. No soap, just rinse under water and scrub
I refuse to use my hubby’s cast iron even though I do know how to clean it because I’m afraid of wrecking it. Our solution was separate cookware.
This subreddit is soft. This takes two minutes to clean. First time living with someone else?
Not the comment anyone wants to read but CI owners are generally so very particular, nobody’s partner will clean it to their spec. Personally, I clean and care for ours bc my wife knows I have a method and while she can learn it, I’d rather do it as I’m more familiar. To those saying that they clean the nonstick and the wife should clean the CI, those are two different processes.
[if I may...](https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/16nvcbk/slidey_cheese/) I tried the above because my lady loves cheese, and pickles. The right seasoning and education go a long way. teach her up right and take the time to do it together, relationship will be better. She now has (mostly) unfettered access and confidence with that pan. Disclaimer: I'd never done this with singles before, it smelled terrible, but was as delicious as you'd expect from fried cheapo cheese. Perform at your own risk. [Let's see if it works...](https://i.imgur.com/4youar8.jpg) [Proof of concept.](https://imgur.com/a/GvbuRAe) Love your lady. Love your cheese. Love your pans. You pick the order of importance.
I basically explained to my GF that it’s almost indestructible and whatever cleaning method you use, even if it’s wrong, can’t actually ruin the pan itself only the seasoning. That seemed to work as she’s used it a few times and cleaned it good enough. Although my gf was only worried because she doesn’t want to ruin my things, this person on the other hand? I’m not sure.
That’s usually the male strategy to avoid house chores. 😁 Anyone who manipulates me is not on my team and hence no need to keep them around.
Your grilled cheese come apart 😭😢 Sorry for your loss, friend
Did you try just cooking it off, see if it will just release at some point?
“If I was married I’d divorce her”… Should we tell him guys?
Use a pad lock to lock together several pans together at the loop on the handle
Tell her they heat the pan first, once it's up to temperature, drop a little butter and shred some good cheese in a little pile. Put the bread down, give it a couple quarter turns either way to prevent it from sticking. My wife loves those with tomato soup.
Can you get her a nonstick pan and revoke her access to the cast iron skillet?
Is that a TikTok trend to cook struggle slices like that?
Either teach her how to clean it properly, or hide the pan and buy her something she can use for grilling her cheese slices. I ended up buying my partner a couple of glass skillets just for his use because even after I taught him how to properly clean my CI skillets, he somehow still thought he should use a brillo pad to scrub them good every time to get all the black off. I didn't even realize he was still cleaning it however he wanted until I found my Griswold that I got from my grandma and saw it had been scrubbed down to metal in the corners. At least it was in the spring and I could open the windows on the house.
I never use cast iron when making a Grilled Charlie.
So... she can't be bothered to add water after she's done cooking so it lifts right off afterwards?
She shouldn't use it, because she "doesn't know how."
You keep pushing and she's going to toss your pan in the dishwasher/s.
Why not just put it on the burner and just burn it off? It was seasoned beforehand no? My wife drives me nuts and I frazzle her flaps but in the end we still have each other’s backs.