Cast Iron Question

Ye Olde Party Palace

Ye Olde Party Palace

Knows what a fatty is.
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I have a small (#5) cast iron skillet that is in desperate need of reconditioning. My slightly warped mind came up with the thought that the next time that I fire up the UDS, I would put the skillet into the fire basket to burn off. I do have several questions about doing the burn off. Will the heat in the basket be enough to burn off the old seasoning and such? Will the old seasonings and such give off any bad flavors? Is this a good or STUPID idea? Help me Brethren. :confused: :rolleyes:
 
it could be too hot, and warp the skillet.
maybe someone more knowledgeable will come along
 
There are a few threads on the forums about how to refurb old rusty cast iron pans/skillets etc.

Give the search feature a try at the bottom of hte page. I'll look as well and post the link if I find it.
 
Make a mixture of 1 cup Molasses and 1 gal water and soak the skillet in it for 3 days then rinse it and scrub with a wire brush it will come out clean & shiny CI.
Rub it down with a light coat Flax seed oil and start it off in a cold oven set it to 350 with the inside pointed to the oven floor for 1 hr. Leave it in until the oven is cold iron. Do this every day for 1 week then every week for 1 month then every month there after.
 
Bludawg said:
Make a mixture of 1 cup Molasses and 1 gal water and soak the skillet in it for 3 days then rinse it and scrub with a wire brush it will come out clean & shiny CI.
Click to expand...
I'll have to try that next time. I've been putting CI in the oven and running a cleaning cycle. That works but really stinks up the house. I've heard that oven cleaner and stick in plastic bag for a couple days softens the old seasoning but have not tried it myself.

If you do choose to burn it out, I can't imagine that you could get enough heat using charcoal to do any damage. Just DON'T splash water on it or otherwise cool quickly and you should be good to go.

Here's a pretty good blog about seasoning CI (except I don't agree with her concern with damaging CI in the cleaning cycle. Anything hot enough to damage CI would melt the oven walls themselves! :twitch: )
 
I have most of my cast iron seasoned up nicely. I'm not even sure when or where is acquired this one, but was sorting through and found it again. Guess that I didn't clean it up when I got it, but being a #5 it would be a nice size for a couple of eggs. I know about throwing it in a fire, but really don't have a good place for that. I might try Bludawg's idea (sounds doable). Thanks for the help.:-D
 
You might try electrolysis to remove the rust.

Buy a box of washing soda, you can use baking soda but it doesn't work as good. Get a plastic container big enough to completely submerge the skillet in. Mix some of the soda with water, you will need an electrode, a steel rod will work fine. Get a cheap battery charger, connect the positive lead to the skillet and the negative lead to the electrode. Make sure the two don't touch, plug the charger in, you should see bubbles coming off the skillet, leave it over night.

The next day remove the skillet from the water/soda solution, the skillet will have a black coating on it, take a pot scrubber and running water and clean the black off of it. The skillet will be shiny new.

Then just cure it like any other skillet.
 
This is a 10 1/2 skillet that has 3 coats so far of Flaxseed oil, i did mine at 480 for an hour putting a coat on and wiping away the excess and putting it in a cold oven and let it warm up with the oven.
Castiron_zpse79c7799.jpg
 
Whenever I recondition cast iron I just throw some oven cleaner on it, put it in a black trash bag, and leave it in the sun for a few hours. Then I throw it in a big plastic tub, scrub it down, and then I wash it in the sink.

After that it's like everyone else said as far as seasoning it goes.
 
Throw it in the fire, right in the hot coals, using a good thick insulated cooking mitt,
drag it out, wire brush it, oil it down with crisco or lard, throw it back in the fire, cook
it again, re-oil it and start using it.
 
Bludawg said:
Make a mixture of 1 cup Molasses and 1 gal water and soak the skillet in it for 3 days then rinse it and scrub with a wire brush it will come out clean & shiny CI.
Rub it down with a light coat Flax seed oil and start it off in a cold oven set it to 350 with the inside pointed to the oven floor for 1 hr. Leave it in until the oven is cold iron. Do this every day for 1 week then every week for 1 month then every month there after.
Click to expand...

I tried using flaxseed oil to season my skillets a while back after stripping the old seasoning with lye...they looked great, but when I started cooking on them, the nice black seasoning flaked off. I just did another one, and used a couple of coats of lard...that seems like it worked much better. It cooks great, and no issues with anything flaking off.
 
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