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YouTubeI picked up a couple of cast iron pans at the thrift store yesterday. One is kind of sticky and gross and the other is kind of rusty and some of the seasoning has flaked off. The internet tells me that I can strip the pans with oven cleaner or stick them in either a self-cleaning oven or a fire. Does anyone have any experience with any of these methods? I'm a little leery of using oven cleaner on something I'm going to cook food in, and I don't have a self-cleaning oven or fireplace. I'm looking for either advice or help.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion » Q&A
Stripping and reseasoning cast iron
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CDS sherman
East Franklinton
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i have a pavement flameflower. that might work.
Posted 2 years ago # -
jimbach
Short North (WP division)
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How to Season Cast Iron Cookware
This is basically the technique I've used in the past.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Bear
The woods
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jimbach wrote >>
How to Season Cast Iron Cookware
This is basically the technique I've used in the past.Yep, that.
Should emphasize, though, especially since one of them is rusty -- make sure in the steel wool de-crudding stage to remove all rust, especially rust that's on a cooking surface.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Cookie
Flyntonville
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Bear wrote >>
jimbach wrote >>
How to Season Cast Iron Cookware
This is basically the technique I've used in the past.Yep, that.
Should emphasize, though, especially since one of them is rusty -- make sure in the steel wool de-crudding stage to remove all rust, especially rust that's on a cooking surface.Right, except I'm kind of stuck at this part:
First place the cookware in a self-cleaning oven and run one cycle OR place in a campfire or directly on a hot charcoal fire for 1/2 hour, until dull red.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Anne
King Lincoln
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here are some other ideas on it: http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/cast-iron-pan
Posted 2 years ago # -
lifeontwowheels
Highland West
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TaraK
probably at the coffee shop
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Coming from a family of cast-iron only cookers (though I'm not one), I was always told to do as little to them as possible. Before you try chemicals or burning it off (which can be tricky), I'd try some hardcore cleaning and seasoning. Can you describe the surface crud a little more?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Twixlen
Westgate, Columbus
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On the pan that isn't rusty, maybe try adding a little oil to it, and cleaning it with coarse salt? I got a pan out of my grandma's house that hadn't been used in a long time and was very sticky, but decently seasoned underneath... I added coated the whole thing with fresh oil, then used a rag and coarse salt to scrub it. I rinsed the salt out, and dried it and it was fine (but for the faint warp to the bottom, which is probably why that pan wasn't in rotation).
Posted 2 years ago # -
Manatee
The eternal present
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lifeontwowheels wrote >>
Manatee wrote >>
I've only ever used butter in my cast-iron skillet, is that a problem?
I can't help it if butter is the currency of God's love :DWhat about pork fat?
That's like... maybe the God of the weekend? I don't mess with that everyday. But it's definitely a deity, no doubt ;)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Twixlen
Westgate, Columbus
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Manatee wrote >>
lifeontwowheels wrote >>
Manatee wrote >>
I've only ever used butter in my cast-iron skillet, is that a problem?
I can't help it if butter is the currency of God's love :DWhat about pork fat?
That's like... maybe the God of the weekend? I don't mess with that everyday. But it's definitely a deity, no doubt ;)
I confess to having reinstated the can of bacon grease on the back of the stove - it was always there when I was a kid. It's the magic can.
Posted 2 years ago # -
claw71
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I once stripped a beloved cast iron skillet to shiny bare metal while camping in a dry bog. The alkaline nature of the moss dissolved the organic compounds of the seasoning.
Make a paste out of baking soda and let that sit on you pans overnight. That should do the trick. TO season them I would give serious consideration to bacon fat. If not go with shortening. Apply a thin layer and place in a hot oven upside down over a cookie sheet or some foil until that fat bakes in. Let the pan cool and do it again.
Don't cook with anything acidic until you're about 100 years old and the pan is so thickly seasoned NASA begs you to let them use it for heat tiles on the new shuttle.
Posted 2 years ago # -
StowCbusCleveland
Jackson Township, Canton, OH
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I use a cast-iron pan all the time and I love it. Granted, I am by no means an expert on cookware or cooking in general and I didn't click through all the links to find out if this was already said, but I basically scrub the hell out of it with steel wool until it's down to it's base form. Then I coat the thing with oil and then use a paper towel to make sure the whole thing is coated and also to pick up some of the excess oil. After that, I bake the sucker in my oven on the middle rack at like 450 or more degrees for an hour, leaving it upside down and putting a baking sheet with foil on it on the low rack so any dripping doesn't hit the bottom of the oven.
I am open to being corrected on the technique, but this is the rough translation of how I remember being taught and I've managed to do it several times without totally ruining the pan or burning my apartment down.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Manatee
The eternal present
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Twixlen wrote >>
Manatee wrote >>
lifeontwowheels wrote >>
Manatee wrote >>
I've only ever used butter in my cast-iron skillet, is that a problem?
I can't help it if butter is the currency of God's love :DWhat about pork fat?
That's like... maybe the God of the weekend? I don't mess with that everyday. But it's definitely a deity, no doubt ;)
I confess to having reinstated the can of bacon grease on the back of the stove - it was always there when I was a kid. It's the magic can.
I admire you and your fat in the can. Ha. :) I have some fat in my can...
Um, but really, okay I'll get busy rendering bacon grease (it will be very tedious I'm sure), but is butter bad to use? I use it all, all the time. Then I scrub the pan out with hot water while it's still warm, dry it thoroughly and put a new layer of butter on there. Nothing's sticking so far and the pan looks pretty...?
Posted 2 years ago #
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