Lots of decent advice in here, however... It is NOT necessary to scrub / blast / brush the pan to a shine. Get the active rust off of there. (yes, the vinegar solution works quite well) and then brush it down a bit. You certainly don't want any flakes or cakes of it. But, you don't want to create any uneven spots in the pan, and that's where using a powered brush or sander can really get to you. (media blasting would probably be great, but if you don't have the stuff at home, also probably isn't worth it.) Once you have it smooth, load it up with olive oil or rub it down with crisco.. Whatever, it needs to be fatty. For me, I've put some in the oven at about 350-400 after oiling, I've dropped some literally on a campfire or indoor fireplace.. I've seen people put them in their grills outside. Whatever works, the point is to melt the fat into the pores of the metal. Once you've done that a couple of times, those puppies are every bit as non-stick as any teflon coated pan. I've never tried the cornbread, but ya know, if I ever need to do another one, I think I'll give that a shot!
Rehabilitating Rusty Cast Iron Skillet
- Thread starter PugslyCat
- Start date
When I was researching care for cast iron, the re-ocurring theme was "Don't use dishwasher detergent, it will strip your pan of everything!" So I bought a stiff bristle brush and a bottle of dishwasher gel detergent, it cleaned the rust and grime faster than anything else I have tried.
Best way to do it. Will be like brand new
- Thread starter
- #24
The electrolysis is to be executed on Sunday if the vinegar soak doesn't deal with the rust on Saturday.
Good luck I used the Classic Navy Jelly and a good fire.
- Thread starter
- #27
Well, the big restoration happened over the Labor Day weekend. I took some pictures, but am having trouble downloading them from the camera. It uses the one size USB cable I can't find.
Here's how it went:
1) I applied oven cleaner when I got home Friday night and let it work overnight. This didn't quite remove all the black, but most of it. It was the orange rust that I was mostly worried about.
2) After a quick rinse I immediately doused it in the water and vinegar mix. No fancy measuring here. I put it in a plastic tub and poured in enough vinegar to come halfway up the pan and then poured in water until everything was submerged. Throughout the day I attacked any remaining rust with SOS pads and had the pan sparkly 6-8 hours later. The lid didn't come out so well. There was still rust around the rings inside the lid. I decided to let the vinegar work overnight and kept up the SOS scrubbings. After 30 hours I was able to scrub away the last of the rust.
3) After a quick rinse and dry I coated the skillet and lid with Crisco shortening and threw it on the grill for a couple of hours. It's a 9 year old inexpensive two burner grill that has seeen better days and just doesn't seem to be putting out the heat I needed. The outside of the pan looked pretty good, but the inside of the pan and lid, which were facing down, still looked like plain iron. I'm guessing the grill was just enough to melt the Crisco off without really baking it in. I let it cool on the grill.
4) Not satisfied with the seasoning process, I coated the pan with Crisco again and put it in the oven, ran it up to 350 degrees, let the pan heat for an additional 2 hours, and then cool overnight. I seem to have a fairly even, dark coating.
The new question is that I now have some glossy spots on the top of the lid and the bottom of the skillet, both of which were facing up. Is this a problem or something that will go away with use? I suspect it is caused by too thick a layer of Crisco and will burn off with use. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
Here's how it went:
1) I applied oven cleaner when I got home Friday night and let it work overnight. This didn't quite remove all the black, but most of it. It was the orange rust that I was mostly worried about.
2) After a quick rinse I immediately doused it in the water and vinegar mix. No fancy measuring here. I put it in a plastic tub and poured in enough vinegar to come halfway up the pan and then poured in water until everything was submerged. Throughout the day I attacked any remaining rust with SOS pads and had the pan sparkly 6-8 hours later. The lid didn't come out so well. There was still rust around the rings inside the lid. I decided to let the vinegar work overnight and kept up the SOS scrubbings. After 30 hours I was able to scrub away the last of the rust.
3) After a quick rinse and dry I coated the skillet and lid with Crisco shortening and threw it on the grill for a couple of hours. It's a 9 year old inexpensive two burner grill that has seeen better days and just doesn't seem to be putting out the heat I needed. The outside of the pan looked pretty good, but the inside of the pan and lid, which were facing down, still looked like plain iron. I'm guessing the grill was just enough to melt the Crisco off without really baking it in. I let it cool on the grill.
4) Not satisfied with the seasoning process, I coated the pan with Crisco again and put it in the oven, ran it up to 350 degrees, let the pan heat for an additional 2 hours, and then cool overnight. I seem to have a fairly even, dark coating.
The new question is that I now have some glossy spots on the top of the lid and the bottom of the skillet, both of which were facing up. Is this a problem or something that will go away with use? I suspect it is caused by too thick a layer of Crisco and will burn off with use. Does anybody have thoughts on this?
Electrolytic rust removal...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/
Works great! For large items I used a wheelbarrow.
You can also soak the pan in a bath of citric acid.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Electrolytic-Rust-Removal-aka-Magic/
Works great! For large items I used a wheelbarrow.
You can also soak the pan in a bath of citric acid.
Couldn't find any napalm?
I love the smell of bacon and eggs frying in the morning.
PugslyCat,
Just for your info, and everyone else's, my family is from the hills of southern Indiana and cooking with cast iron is tradition. Mom would always use fat back to season her skillets. One time, when she needed to clean one of them, we had a coal furnace to heat the house, and she would periodically hang one inside of it for a few hours to strip it completely of old patchy seasoning. This one time she forgot it and when she remembered it was in there, she quickly went to remove it and found that it had melted.
She was saddened to find it that way. Did that stop her from striping them in this manner? No.....she'd do that today if she still had that coal furnace....
Moral to the story.......if you clean/strip your cast iron in this manner, use a timer. It works excellent. Try it for 2 hours at first and then repeat as needed.
After she'd let them cool a little, while still hot enough to handle with a towel, she'd wipe it down inside and out, completely with the pork fat back (usalted pork belly) and stick it into her gas oven for seasoning. The temperature she'd set it at was around 350°F. for 2 hours and then reapply and repeat the process. Her fried foods always taste wonderful.
Note: After use cleaning should not be done with any soap and water. While it's still warm, wipe completely clean with paper towels, then very lightly spray it with any oil of choice (onto a paper towel will also work), put away in cubbord and you'll be ready for the next meal.
Now that you've gotten the rust off, seasoning will be required more often until it gets to the stage of being non-stick. Stay on top of it and it'll last you a life time. It's the most healthy cooking implement in the world. It adds iron to your diet from what I've heard but, not much of it though. Not sure on that one.
Just for your info, and everyone else's, my family is from the hills of southern Indiana and cooking with cast iron is tradition. Mom would always use fat back to season her skillets. One time, when she needed to clean one of them, we had a coal furnace to heat the house, and she would periodically hang one inside of it for a few hours to strip it completely of old patchy seasoning. This one time she forgot it and when she remembered it was in there, she quickly went to remove it and found that it had melted.
She was saddened to find it that way. Did that stop her from striping them in this manner? No.....she'd do that today if she still had that coal furnace....
Moral to the story.......if you clean/strip your cast iron in this manner, use a timer. It works excellent. Try it for 2 hours at first and then repeat as needed.
After she'd let them cool a little, while still hot enough to handle with a towel, she'd wipe it down inside and out, completely with the pork fat back (usalted pork belly) and stick it into her gas oven for seasoning. The temperature she'd set it at was around 350°F. for 2 hours and then reapply and repeat the process. Her fried foods always taste wonderful.
Note: After use cleaning should not be done with any soap and water. While it's still warm, wipe completely clean with paper towels, then very lightly spray it with any oil of choice (onto a paper towel will also work), put away in cubbord and you'll be ready for the next meal.
Now that you've gotten the rust off, seasoning will be required more often until it gets to the stage of being non-stick. Stay on top of it and it'll last you a life time. It's the most healthy cooking implement in the world. It adds iron to your diet from what I've heard but, not much of it though. Not sure on that one.
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Not sure how rusted your skillet is, but I'm planning to use the instructions on this website soon for recondition a skillet that was in my family.
http://www.ibelieveicanfry.com/2010/12/reconditioning-re-seasoning-cast-iron.html
http://www.ibelieveicanfry.com/2010/12/reconditioning-re-seasoning-cast-iron.html
This or go old school and build a fire and burn them out.
+1 for the electrolysis. I went through a cast iron sickness last year. I had to clean every one of them pretty much. I happened to have a 55 gallon drum kicking around so I cut the top off and used that instead of a sacrificial piece of metal. I also was lazy and just used my battery charger/booster for the juice. It worked beautifully until the drum was eaten up and sprung a "leak". Big mess. Anyway, if done correctly you'll be able to remove the piece and rinse it off and take 000 steel wool to it lightly and have it polish up to pristine condition. Just watch out for flash rust and season ASAP. I know when I was cleaning like 3 of 4 pans at a time by the time I got the last one polished up the others were getting some flash rust on them.
Oh, and open flame around the electrolysis tank is...bad. Trust me!
http://www.gcica.org/ElectrolysisMethodbyJohnBelden.htm
Oh, and open flame around the electrolysis tank is...bad. Trust me!
http://www.gcica.org/ElectrolysisMethodbyJohnBelden.htm
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simon1
Self Ignored by Vista
That's why I use plastic for the water container and a piece of metal for the anode.
Oh, and open flame around the electrolysis tank is...bad. Trust me!
http://www.gcica.org/ElectrolysisMethodbyJohnBelden.htm
You got that right...remember the Hindenburg.
That's why I use plastic for the water container and a piece of metal for the anode.
You got that right...remember the Hindenburg.
Well I used the drum on purpose knowing that inevitably it'd leak. I had a LOT of pieces to clean. I originally went the plastic container and piece of metal method but it was too slow for cleaning the amount I had.
Heh. Yeah...but curiosity killed the cat and all that. I had to do it!
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