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Cast Iron cook ware question

O

old

Well-known Member
Location
Camdenton Missouri
Well I pulled a few piece of cast iron cook ware out of the dirt today. So how does one go about bring it back to being usable?? Other then being a bit dirty and rusty it is in good shape and would really prefer to be able to use it again.
Thanks for any ideas
What I have done was use a wire wheel on a couple pieces and then put them in an oven and got them warm then oiled them am I on the right track or?
 
That's all they ever did in the "old" days.
Maybe boil up some fat or lard in it, to season it, and wipe her clean. That's what is recommended for cast iron.
 
The last one I cleaned up used the coarsed wet/dry sand paper and soapy warm water. Cook in it fairly regular. Of course glass bead or sand blast is the other option.
 
OLd. We have a lot of cast iron units. Bean pot skillets, large frying pan etc. we clean em this way. Build a good size fire. Put em in before the fire reaches full bloom. The over cook grease/food and dirt will burn down, Let em cool down naturally and then wire brush em, then light coat of cooking oil to keep em from rusting. wash be fore using. Regards LOU.
 
Old, you're on the right track - you want to "season" it in the oven. Go to http://www.countrysidemag.com/ and search Cast Iron Cookware. They have had seveal articles on this topic.
 
I'd use a 4 inch angle grinder and an 80 grit flap wheel on them. Then a couple TB spns lard in them and heat them up hot! Do it outside, there will be a lot of grasy smoke.

Gordo
 
Old: if you've ever used electrolysis for cleaning tractor parts, it's the method the pros use for cleaning cast iron cookware as well, particularly items with collector's value like Griswold, Lodge, or similar. Abrasive methods tend to drive the dirt into the cast iron, making it even harder to get all of it out. If it's only lightly coated with rust you can get away with it, but it's not the best method. Whatever you do, you'll have to re-season it when you're done, but it sounds like you know that already.
 
One of those things where you unload a bunch of stuff and forget what all was in the box and then you go out and look for something else and you find this stuff that should not be where it is. As far as the wife goes it is not her kitchen it is MY kitchen and she knows to stay out when I am in there cooking. I DO ALL the canning and most of the other cooking also
 

I build a fire, cover the pan with coals until the cast iron is red hot, remove from fire, let it cool slowly, wire brush the grey scum off, then you have a gray, new looking pan. Season with cooking oil. If there is rust on the pan the red hot treatment loosens or burns it off.

KEH
 
Old timers threw them in the heating stove to burn them clean, then seasoned them and started all over. You're not s'posed to clean a cast iron skillet REAL good. . .

We've got a stack of skillets and dutch ovens out in the barn. My father-in-law bought every one he ran across. . .

Paul
 
Hay old,
Didn't mean to pull your chain that tight. I enjoy gardening, cooking and producing most of our own food like you. It's just a lot easier when both me and the wife do it together. I as you, put stuff where I can find it, and it vanishes for a while. smile, we all get older and more forgetful every day. Looking forward to your gardening and tractor related posts in the future.
Loren the Acg.
 
I cant imagine cookware out in the dirt, but hey you never know. I would wash it off, rub olive oil on them and heat them. Maybe wipe them out and redo the olive oil and reheat.
 
I know somebody that pulled a skillet out of a dumpster. He took it home and just started cooking with it. He said you can't wash cast iron because it will ruin the seasoning.
 
I bought a house that the previous couple did not get along very well. The wife would throw skillets at the old man and they were never retrieved,, Found a couple in the shrubbery almost buried.
 
Got some myself that were Grandma's. Been used and abused. But she always putem in the fire when they got what she called "grimey" and so I do to. She always canned outside "too hot, no a/c back in the day" and thats when she'd clean them. Then rub them good with lard and season them again.
 
On the gardening side of things would you believe?? I still have lettuce that I planted back in Oct growing and radishes?? I have just planted 100 onion sets plus more radius and turnips. All in cold frames and thinking about make a couple more cold frames. Need to figure out how to get my green house home that my mom gave me years ago just one of them round to it things and never seem to get round to it
 
My wife restored one in a day that I thought was too far gone to even mess with. Strip off what rust you can with a wire-ball pot scrubber in soapy water. Coat it in canola oil and stick it on the oven for a while, then wipe off the rusty oil with a junk towl, re-apply the oil, and stick it back in the oven. Keep repeating until it's black. I was really surprised at how quickly it started looking good.
 
Well at least if you do the growing the harvest and then the canning and cooking your sure it is done right or your dead LOL Plus yu know it is the way you like it LOL
 
I've cleaned some up, including a 15 gal kettle, with electralosis(sp?).

For the smaller skillets/pans, coat them with lard and put them upside down (so the fat can drip off) in the gas grill on medium high for about an hour.

They'll come out good as new and all the smoke stays outside.

Tim
 
Well you can use them out in the shop to soak parts with some ATF. But if you do get a hankering for some ham n beans, burn it out first.
 
old, Wire brush if you like, Bead Blast, or sand blast to smooth up, break out your LP burner.. boil water a couple of times, fill with oil, and start frying potatoes. It is that easy and simple.
Later,
John A.

PS,
Old timers would take a cast iron pot or pan to the creek, use creek sand & water and make a slurry to clean the pan and smooth up the casting imperfections. Cast iron is very forgiving I have seen pans pulled from house fires and still being used 30 yrs later. Hope this helps!
 
New cast iron pans have no polish .Older pans had a smooth bottoms.I polished a new pan with a disc sander 80 grit discs.Make sure the bottom is flat.A pan with a bulged bottom wont conduct heat well.
 
If they're so bad you need an angle grinder or wire brush, they're too far gone for me. Takes all the patina and experience out of them. My Aunt Rose, who lived to be just a few months short of 104, told me to never use harsh cleaning methods. Usually, she just wiped hers out with a paper towel. NEVER use steel wool or Brillo pads. Almost any stuck on food can be cleaned by boiling water in them. She told me, "If you ytake care of your pans, they'll last longer than you will."

Most of my pans are Griswolds from size 3 to 10, with several 8s. I'd like to find a 12 or 14, but have to compete with collectors.

Larry
 
I got some rusty muffin/cornbread cast iron pans
at an auction...sandblasted them..washed good in soapy,(Dawn)hot water..bioled some lard in them
on the barbeque grill..wiped out with paper
towels after cooled down..look ok, work ok !
 
I have put them i a self cleaning oven and came out looking new. Have also used wire wheel, both work very well on Griswolds. Season when done and use. Gordy in Mn
 
Do just what you said, wire brush it and season it with good cooking oil. Done.
The local scout master loves his cast iron cookware. He got a good skillet for the scouts at a yard sale and asked me to give it a polish on the inside.... polish it I did! I used one of those flapper-sanding discs on an angle grinder and gave it a terrific polish, the only problem was, after that he could never get it to season properly... big oops on my part.
A few years back I found a good Griswold pan in an old farm dump that we were cleaning up. It probably had been there 40 years but my wife cleaned it and Seasoned it. In spite of considerable pitting it cooks well.... funny what will tickle the wife most to death!
Enjoy your iron!
Cal
 
I can still hear my Mother complaining after all us kids left the nest that all her skillets were sticking the food to them. Five minutes later, I watched her wash one in dish washing soap. A no-no! Washes out the seasoning.
But, Old, I owe you one so I'll give you the IDEAL method to clean your skillets...just schedule you a fishing trip to Canada in a couple of months and troll the skillets behind the boat...all day if you want. At least if it don't clean them up good, you can't worry and fish at the same time...I realize I'm not much help with your problem but at least I made you smile! ohfred
 
do you have a electrolisys tank set up? thats what I use, put it in there for a couple of days,then grease them down good while warm with some lard or bacon grease( supposed to use a grease that wont turn rancid I'm told ) and throw them in the oven or on the gas grill and leave them for a couple of hours. glad you mentioned this I have a dutch oven i need to get cleaned up.
 
Nope I do not have a electrolysis tank set up so I can not do that. I guess maybe I should set one up one of these days but then it would not be used all that much I think but could be wrong
 
LOL ya but I can say at least if I have them iron pots and pans out in the dirt the ATF can not find the gun I might have close by either LOL
 
While buying a non stick cookware, the first thing that needs to be checked is the coating which is used.Non stick cookwares coated with Teflon is harmful for Human Body. It has a substance called Carcinogen which can initiate cancer. There are several coating which are 100% natural.Ecolon is one of them. Neoflam is manufacturing non stick cookwares coated with Ecolon.
 
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