An old-timer told me that he put his pans in the firebox of his wood stove to clean them. I don't know if it's recommended, but it worked for him. Only a batchelor could get away with this dishwashing method, though.Hinotori said:
Cleaning Cast Iron pans ?
- Thread starter Mr.Andersson
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the funny farm6
Super Self-Sufficient
I got a stack of old cast iron pans at an auction several years ago, and some were gunked up pritty bad- didnt even know some were lodge till after the fact. But had a friend take them to work with him and sand blast them. Worked good, then we just reseasoned them. We wipe heavily with crisco then put in the oven after we bake and turn the oven off. Then you dont have to worry about burning them. Just dont forget they are in there before you use the oven again! When they get warm they stay that way...ouch!
Denim Deb
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I always have to check my oven B4 I can use it anyway. Hubby likes to put dirty dishes in there. :/
Denim Deb
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Rather have the bread than the dirty dishes! I don't know how often I'll think I have all the dishes washed and then open the oven door. 
Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
Yeah, I had the same experience. Someone brought me a couple of old cast-iron skillets to clean up. I have a sandblaster, and I tried it, but it worked unevenly. It was too slow where the encrusted old baked-on oils & fats were pretty thick.the funny farm6 said:
So then I tried a wire brush. I've got a wire brush that fits on an angle grinder...
A lot of people who don't own an angle grinder have wire wheels or brushes (pretty cheap to invest in) that fit on an electric drill...
Anyhow, that worked well and quickly. I got down to clean cast iron. After that, then I washed them up like ordinary dishes and kitcheware. And then the owner gave them a good seasoning, and the pans looked and functioned just fine.
Blue Egg Jo
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Someone told me that I could use Pepsi or Coca Cola to clean an old cast iron pan. Well, that thing looked terrible and was probably 20 years old. I bought a Lodge from Target for around $20, and I was frustrated that it wasn't getting seasoned properly. I was using olive oil after every wash, too, and I did not use soap on it. Then, I had some lard left over from making soap. I put a couple tablespoons in the pan, left it over a low heat for 4 hours, and let it cool down. After just that one time, that pan could fry eggs in it without sticking!! Lard is not just the trick; it's only part of it. You have to let the lard really "cook" into the cast iron by heating it up using low heat.
I clean up the pan with no soap, just very hot water. I make sure to squeeze the sponge out of any soap before using it on the cast iron. Do this for my Staub, as well...that is the one pan I will want to get buried with. LOL
I clean up the pan with no soap, just very hot water. I make sure to squeeze the sponge out of any soap before using it on the cast iron. Do this for my Staub, as well...that is the one pan I will want to get buried with. LOL
ilvalleygal
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Soak in Coca Cola to remove rust -- not Pepsi or anything diet, then scrub with some steel wool. Yes, it works.
Animal fats (real lard, tallow, bacon drippings) can tolerate higher heats and are far more preferable than vegetable oils or shortening which will smoke really bad and eventually develop a sticky residue inside the pan.
If I come across some iron that needs seasoning, I use my husband's gas grill. The grill gets pretty hot and the iron will smoke so it's nice to keep it outside instead of disabling smoke detectors.
Iron keeps a better season if you turn the heat down while cooking. Eggs release better if you turn the heat off and let them sit a minute or two before removing from the skillet.
After using, I wipe or scrape the skillet or pot with hot water, maybe a scrubby and then store it upside down in the oven. The next time I use the oven, I can always tell when it's pre-heated when I smell the iron. That bit of oven pre-heating also helps keep the outside gunk cooked and it flakes off before it builds up to much.
That's what I do and it's worked for me for many, many years.
Animal fats (real lard, tallow, bacon drippings) can tolerate higher heats and are far more preferable than vegetable oils or shortening which will smoke really bad and eventually develop a sticky residue inside the pan.
If I come across some iron that needs seasoning, I use my husband's gas grill. The grill gets pretty hot and the iron will smoke so it's nice to keep it outside instead of disabling smoke detectors.
Iron keeps a better season if you turn the heat down while cooking. Eggs release better if you turn the heat off and let them sit a minute or two before removing from the skillet.
After using, I wipe or scrape the skillet or pot with hot water, maybe a scrubby and then store it upside down in the oven. The next time I use the oven, I can always tell when it's pre-heated when I smell the iron. That bit of oven pre-heating also helps keep the outside gunk cooked and it flakes off before it builds up to much.
That's what I do and it's worked for me for many, many years.
- Thread starter
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Mr.Andersson
Power Conserver
I knew, I saved my drippins for some reason.. Been buyin turkey bacon, ,n cook w/veg oil now. So what is tallow?, and Crisco cant be used, cause it's veg oil ?
Ok I have dug out my old files there are 3 problems with cast iron.
Crusts are usually carbon based and can be removed by burning off the carbon or sand blast, grinding or elbow grease take your pick.
Rust is a bit harder because rust tends to pit the surface and mechanical methods usually cannot get down to the bottom of the pit. Burning will only work with a 'reducing flame' a flame that is starved for oxygen. Since rust is oxidized iron. A flame rich with oxygen can actually produce more rust, a reducing flame can steal the oxygen from the rust and leave the iron in place. [This oxidant/reducing effect is well known by potters but I don't remember any potters posting here?]
Coke and rhubarb both work by dissolving rust by chemical action, if the solution can get into the pits it can dissolve the rust. It really is not the acid that does the job, vinegar doesnt work. The phosphoric acid in Coke turns the red rust to black iron phosphate [Naval Jelly will do the same], I assume oxalic acid works the same way but I have never used it.
My preferred method is electrolytic removal. The rust is removed by attaching the cast iron to the positive side of an auto battery and the negative to just about any form of iron in a salt bath [plastic pail] the rust will come off first before the cast iron is attacked. The nice thing is that you can reverse the electrical connections to do a minor plate job on the surface of the cast iron which tends to smooth the surface.
Re-seasoning , yes lard will work but your reason is wrong, the smoke point of lard is in the 361-401 F range while refined vegetable oils are in the 401-450 F range [depends on the source and pretreatment of the fat/oil] old used lard or bacon grease smoke even lower than the range indicated which are for refined products.~gd
Crusts are usually carbon based and can be removed by burning off the carbon or sand blast, grinding or elbow grease take your pick.
Rust is a bit harder because rust tends to pit the surface and mechanical methods usually cannot get down to the bottom of the pit. Burning will only work with a 'reducing flame' a flame that is starved for oxygen. Since rust is oxidized iron. A flame rich with oxygen can actually produce more rust, a reducing flame can steal the oxygen from the rust and leave the iron in place. [This oxidant/reducing effect is well known by potters but I don't remember any potters posting here?]
Coke and rhubarb both work by dissolving rust by chemical action, if the solution can get into the pits it can dissolve the rust. It really is not the acid that does the job, vinegar doesnt work. The phosphoric acid in Coke turns the red rust to black iron phosphate [Naval Jelly will do the same], I assume oxalic acid works the same way but I have never used it.
My preferred method is electrolytic removal. The rust is removed by attaching the cast iron to the positive side of an auto battery and the negative to just about any form of iron in a salt bath [plastic pail] the rust will come off first before the cast iron is attacked. The nice thing is that you can reverse the electrical connections to do a minor plate job on the surface of the cast iron which tends to smooth the surface.
Re-seasoning , yes lard will work but your reason is wrong, the smoke point of lard is in the 361-401 F range while refined vegetable oils are in the 401-450 F range [depends on the source and pretreatment of the fat/oil] old used lard or bacon grease smoke even lower than the range indicated which are for refined products.~gd
