If you’re a cast iron fanatic like me (and if you got here through Reddit, I know you are), you know how hard it can be to clean the baked-on bits from the bottom of the pan after searing a steak or sauteeing some vegetables. Kosher salt, oil and some sturdy cotton flour sack dish towels can go a long way, but sometimes you need something a bit stronger, but not so hard that you’ll remove your hard-won, perfect seasoning.

Pot scrapers are perfect for this, but most of the ones I’ve seen are cheap plastic. I bought a few, and melted them quickly after trying to scrape a hot pan. While I could let the pan cool down, it would harden some of the food and the relatively inflexible plastic still wouldn’t make great contact. Clearly a better product must be out there.

The other day, while walking around Crate and Barrel, I noticed some inexpensive bamboo pot scapers. A marvel of modern design, the scrapers have a different radius on each corner to accommodate a variety of pans. It fits my Lodge 12″ skillet perfectly. The bamboo is hard enough to scrape up the most stubborn, burnt on food, yet pliable enough to make good contact. It doesn’t melt, and is fine in the dishwasher.

Pick up one (or three!) for a few dollars from Crate and Barrel or Amazon. You won’t regret it.

Originally posted October 14th, 2010