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Cleaning rusty cast iron skillets?


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Not sure if this is where this goes, if not please move. I am the NEW owner of 3 OLD 12 inch cast iron skillets? They have legs on them.....for outdoor cooking. Anyway, two of them are rusty inside and out. The third has several rusty spots on the inside. I think I can take care of the third one, but where do I start with the other two. Really would like to save them and use them. I have heard everything from using Bartenders Friend to soaking them in Coca-Cola. Anyone have any "experience" with this? Thanks.

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If you have a motor repair shop or other place where they "blast" parts clean with corn cob bits, that's the fastest and easiest way to clean them. That's what my Hubby did, and all I had to do was re-season them.

 

I know we have an extensive thread here about this; I'll look it up tonight for you. wink

 

 

bighug

 

 

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give me a wire brush or a steel wool pad like SOS or Brillo!

 

lots of elbow grease and away I go!

 

now if they have baked on yuck... oven cleaning spray works great.

 

there are so many ways to clean cast iron.

 

 

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Here's one link (below) to do electrolysis cleaning of rusty parts and cast iron -- mentioned on the papadutch link above.

 

Westy, you wanted to know about washing soda, go to the following site and scroll all the way to the bottom and see his note about making washing soda.

 

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

 

Oh yes, and if you follow some of his links you can get to the one about cleaning rust with cola. The guys on my dutch oven group talk about that and say it works well. Otherwise scrub and dry and season immediately.

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Whitewolf, if you ever want to get rid of one of the legged skillets, please let me know. I'd like one with a lid if you have a spare, please. Will pay going rate if not too high. Serious.

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I don't know about de-rusting them. My grandma always cooked with cast iron and after she washed a skillet she would rinse it and put it back on the stove. She would turn on the fire just enough to see all of the water evaporate. That way she was always sure they were completely dry and never had rust.

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If you use a mixture of vinegar and salt, you should be able to scrub the rust off an old cast iron skillet. Then, you re-season it. I have revived an 1860's skillet in just this way. When I was doing a Civil War cooking demo, a collector of old skillets came up and GAVE me one that needed this treatment. It works just fine now.

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Bri... if you do a search for cast iron, and I put in for 3 yrs back, then scroll to approx Jan 17, 2007, click on one of the messages and you will see (scroll to the top) the whole thread of what the ladies do in caring for the cast iron... Different seasoning methods, washing with soap or not to (we do), other cleaning things, whether to use wood or metal, which cast iron is ok to use, etc. and then you pick the method(s) you want to mess with. Of course there are other conversations before and after that time. You've got some reading to do.

Regards,

Amber

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oh baby!!! now I am washing!

 

Want to make your own "laundry soda"? Take baking soda, spread it out onto a cookie sheet and bake it in the oven at a little over 300 degrees for an hour or so it will drive away a water and CO2 molecule thus making washing soda.

At temperatures above 300o Fahrenheit (149o Celsius), baking soda decomposes into sodium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide.

2NaHCO3 -> Na2Co3 + H20 + CO2

 

http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp

 

 

thanks for this Link Amber... you read my mind!

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This is a method I saw on "how Clean is your house"

Cut a raw potato in half, cover cut surface of potaro with dish wash liquid and rub the rust off the rusty cast iron.

I Don't have a rusty cast iron pan to try it on though.

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I buy every old cast iron pan I see in thrift stores, hubby thinks I am wierd but tolerates it. I scrub them with salt to get out the rust, then dry them over heat on a burner. When they get all dry and dried out looking, remove from heat and spray with cooking spray (Pam) and let it soak in. Wipe off excess with paper towel after it cools. Mine season well using that technique. I have used soap and scrubbed but you have to rinse really well, and dry over heat. That is the only way I can keep mind from rusting, just can't get them dry enough in all the pores without using fire. You will LOVE cast iron cooking!! (And if you miss a little rust...well...that's one way to get your iron intake up - ha!)

 

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Originally Posted By: Cricket
Maybe the care of cast iron threads should get copied into the "Best Of" or "Manual" forums?


I'll be happy to take care of the 'Best of MrsSurvival' part!

If anyone else thinks highly of a thread, please go here, http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthr...ge=1#Post175861

and give me a link to it, and I'll be delighted to nominate it for voting for the 'Best'!!!
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This won't work for everyone, but we just toss the cast iron into a fire and let the heat do the work. Then you just season. We've done some really ugly pieces, season, and put into use.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My grandma always cleaned her cast iron of rust by cutting a lemon in half, sprinkling salt in the pan, and then scrubbing with the cut side of the lemon. Then she'd rinse it and dry it or reseason.

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  • 2 years later...

I love this website: http://papadutch.hom...net/~papadutch/

 

here is the cast iron care/repair section:

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadut...h-oven-care.htm

 

Hope this helps! smile.gif

 

On the advice of the lady from the Lodge Factory Outlet, I put my cast iron in my self cleaning oven and tried that method. By the time it was cool enough to touch, I had an oven full of rust buckets! It takes it down to the bare metal and makes it much worse (in my opinion). I wouldn't recommend trying this unless it is a total last resort! It took me about a year to get most of the pieces back to the point where they looked right and everything didn't stick like crazy!

 

I have found that the best way to get a skillet or any cast iron piece in shape is to fill it about 1/3 to 1/2 way full of cooking oil and use it to cook home made French fries. Put it in the oven to cool and leave the oil in it. It won't hurt a thing to leave it there covered for a day or so. If there is debris or potato crumbs in the bottom, strain the oil, wipe it down with a paper towel and use it again. After doing this 2 or 3 times it will be perfect!

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just got some "new" old pans. Not the highest quality, but can't beet the price (free). Took an air powered disc sander to the bottoms to get them smooth(er) then followed with some scotchbrite. Sandblasted the outsides, beadblasted the insides, then smoked the kitchen by putting them on the burner and painting with bacon fat till they turned black - but a slick, smooth black.

 

Even built a rack to hang them from, of which I am immensely proud (no mod to the walls, supports 20+ pans). Painted to look like beaten bronze. Will take a pic when I get my camera back from repair.

 

Oh - took an hour. 5 pans. I know some call it sacrilegious, but they are a heck of a lot nicer than they came new.

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We wirebrush the ones we get if the rust flaking has produced a rough surface but it doesn't look hopeless. Whoever drops by gets handed a brush and a layer of newspaper to cover the leg. Takes several days sometimes.

 

My late brother in law used air tools. We've been talking about getting an air compressor. Could you point me to a primer on what to look for?

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We wirebrush the ones we get if the rust flaking has produced a rough surface but it doesn't look hopeless. Whoever drops by gets handed a brush and a layer of newspaper to cover the leg. Takes several days sometimes.

 

My late brother in law used air tools. We've been talking about getting an air compressor. Could you point me to a primer on what to look for?

 

Air compressors - it depends on what your use will be, your power source, and what you want to spend. I went through 4 of the $1000 Box store compressors for my sand-blaster before buying a $3000 Ingorsol Rand. It was the biggest unit that they had for 220v. It has outlasted the other 4 combined by 10 years of daily use.

 

Aluminum heads run hotter and faster and put more condensed air into the lines (bad thing). They get their CFM through high speed which wears them out faster. I'd recommend cast iron heads.

 

I do have a little one for running my nail guns when I'm on the roof or something. Its a porter Cable and for what it does, it is excellent - was about $150. But it won't run a sandblaster. Not enough volume.

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