really rusty cast iron how to restore

cackle

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
106
Reaction score
0
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
There is a junk yard type of place a couple of miles from where I live and I went yesterday looking for some cast iron pots and a low lip skillet. Well I found a cornbread pan, a fish fryer ans a small 2 quart pot. They are really rusty and will require more than just the normal seasoning. How do I restore these to the point I can season and then use them?

This place is unbelievable several acres of used stuff some of it is in old chicken barns but a lot is just sitting out in the weather. That is where I found the 3 pieces I bought yesterday. I paid 13.00 for them. About 6 months ago we were in the market for a french door and picked one up from there for 20.00. Nothing wrong that a little cleaning and paint did not fix.

Thanks

Susan
 

VT-Chicklit

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
302
Reaction score
0
Points
94
Location
Lake Champlain Islands
Use a wire brush that you can get at any hardware store. You scrub the pans with the brush until the rust is gone, then you season each piece with Crisco or oil by heating the piece in the oven until they are very hot then wiping all the surfaces with the oil. Wait until the pieces cool then wipe off the excess oil.
 

Cassandra

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
527
Reaction score
2
Points
103
My granny used to say let the kids play with it in the sand. :) (to remove rust from cast iron)

Cassandra
 

patandchickens

Crazy Cat Lady
Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
3,323
Reaction score
6
Points
163
Location
Ontario, Canada
Wire brush and/or coarse steel wool, LOTS of elbow grease, then wash it very well with soap (yes!) and water to get the teeny particles of rust out of the pores, then totally reseason as if new.

If there is burned-on 'glaze', not just rust, you could have a bonfire out back with the pan(s) in it when you start the fire. The next day when all has cooled, fish them out, rinse, and reseason.

Have fun,

Pat, who should really retrieve the *big* cast iron skillet from hte basement and de-rust and reseason it, now that the kids are making such a big dent in how much I have to cook :p
 

roosmom

Almost Self-Reliant
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
999
Reaction score
1
Points
108
Location
Upper Peninsula, MI
:) Please look on the back of the cast iron and see if there is a made in usa stamp. I mention this because in my experience , the ones made in japan or somewhere else have a tendency to become rusty again easily. If it is made in usa then you found quite a deal!!!
By the way, I never "wash" my cast iron. I only rinse and scrub it out with hot water and put it on the burner to heat excess water off of it. I do agree with patandchickens tho for the first time-use a wire brush and soap and water. If all else fails, you can burn it in a bonfire like patandchickens said too. We did have to do that a few weeks ago to a skillet we found at the junkyard. Luckily it was a Wagner. We saw that AFTER it had been thru the bonfire. It was too rusty before the fire. Good luck.
 

ams3651

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
233
Reaction score
1
Points
84
Location
NE Pa
i know someone who took a sand blaster to some that were really bad, if you have one available to you. And I second the statement about the rusting again. I dont know where my set were made, I gave up on them but If I could pick up an old set from a auction or somewhere I would. My gram has had the same set as long as I can remember, I think the old ones were made better.
 

cackle

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Jul 27, 2008
Messages
106
Reaction score
0
Points
83
Location
North Carolina
I will check to see if there is a USA stamp on them. The fish fryer actually looks like it may have been handmade.
My husband has a wire brush for the drill and we are working on them. So far they are cleaning up pretty good. I have before pictures and once we have cleaned them up I will do before and after pictures.
 

VT-Chicklit

Lovin' The Homestead
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
302
Reaction score
0
Points
94
Location
Lake Champlain Islands
I have several pieces of cast iron. My favorites are an old Dutch Oven (with legs) that was my mothers, and I also cherish her deep cast iron skillet.

She said, when she gave the skillet to me, it was the present that her mother and father gave her for her thirteenth birthday. (My grandparents were very practical people and times were tough). She had wanted a doll for her birthday, but they gave her the skillet instead, to put into her "Hope Chest". Mom told me the skillet was a big let down (an unterstatement, I'm sure) but her parents knew that there would come a day when she would apreciate it. It took many years, but they were correct. My mom just turned 74, in August, so I guess that would make that skillet 61 years old. I now use it to fry fish in the winter, when the guys go ice fishing, or to fry chicken in it the rest of the year. The food gets better with each use!
 

pioneergirl

Wannabe Pioneer
Joined
Jul 22, 2008
Messages
1,186
Reaction score
8
Points
128
Location
Washington
I personally cannot use cast iron ....yet. I have a smooth top stove, and the cast iron will break the top when it gets hot. HOWEVER....my grandma used to take a new piece camping with her. She would take it to the creek and bury it up to the handle in the sand where the water gently washed it away. It would swirl the sand around, and 'scrub' the pan. Then she would put it over a fire with boiling water to kill any 'creek critters', lol, then season it with the oil. Worked like a dream! lol I would say the steel wool and the wire brush are the ideal tools (given you don't have a creek or sandbox, lol).
 

poisonivie

Sustainable Newbie
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
6
I know this is an old post but the easiest way to clean rust off any thing metal is koolaid .Grape is best but other will work you mix the koolaid strong let soak for few mins and scrub with scratch pad.If all is not removed the first time let sit back in mix for little longer. Depending on how much rust will mean how long it takes. You can all so boil it the koolaid in the pan heat seems to help reduce the scrubbing. Hope this helps.
 
Top