So I came into possession of these four pans. They're very very old and haven't been used in easily 20 years.
Should I keep to a thin coat of Crisco or oil then an hour upside down at 350, or take extra steps because they're so old and rusty?
Not picture but I also need to do my Dutch oven, because someone washed it with soap after using it as a deep fryer.
You want to remove as much of the rust as possible before attempting to re-season. I'd try an SOS pad and hot water first, and if that doesn't get it, I've heard of people using disc sanders.
Steel wool and rock salt to clear the rust, then yeah, Crisco or whatever for an hour. Fry a whole E36 M3load of bacon after, then do it again.
When my Dad was still working he sandblasted a couple really old nasty cast iron skillets to remove rust and general nastiness. I got a 10"one. I forget what I did before the first time I used it to cook something. Probably stuck it in the oven with oil in it.
Twenty-five-ish years later, it's perfect--black and well-seasoned. I probably use it once a month or so, mostly to bake cornbread.
I do thin coat of bacon grease on upside down pan at 450 for an hour and I'll repeat for several coats. I'm probably going to do one today that's much worse. I'll let it soak in vinegar to eat the rust off.
Hell, you can use oven cleaner if you want to clean them like that. Itll guarantee you get a nice clean surface.
For coating, peanut oil is what my Dad and I use.
Pretty much any nut oil or fat will polymerize and crosslink to a nice hard surface eventually. Controlling the thickness of the coating is the important part. You don't want to do a thick coating first though as it is somewhat fragile and will actually flake off.
I'd recommend that you read through this and follow this process. The author isn't actually very scientific, and she doesn't know linseed and flaxseed are the same oil, but the process is agreed upon in pretty much any good food blog. Too bad it takes so damned long to do
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
Steel wool and hot water used to remove the surface rust. I wiped on a thin coat of bacon grease, then wiped it off, and it's in the oven.
350 degrees, I put it in for the preheat though, on top of my pizza stone but upside down. In an hour I'll pull it out, wipe on wipe off, and repeat.
Any of the above will work. I usually season them the first time with Crisco on my grill to keep the smoke out of the house.
Mr_Asa said:Hell, you can use oven cleaner if you want to clean them like that. Itll guarantee you get a nice clean surface.
For coating, peanut oil is what my Dad and I use.
Pretty much any nut oil or fat will polymerize and crosslink to a nice hard surface eventually. Controlling the thickness of the coating is the important part. You don't want to do a thick coating first though as it is somewhat fragile and will actually flake off.
I'd recommend that you read through this and follow this process. The author isn't actually very scientific, and she doesn't know linseed and flaxseed are the same oil, but the process is agreed upon in pretty much any good food blog. Too bad it takes so damned long to do
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/
Cooks Ilustrated also recommends flaxseed oil, it's tough enough to run through an industrial dishwasher several times. It is a bit pricey compared to regular canola vegetable oil, but we've seasoned our pan a few times and it does seem to hold up longer.
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5820-the-ultimate-way-to-season-cast-iron
Bonus. One of these is an old Wagner Ware. 1920s to 49, by the markings and the finish.
Holy E36 M3 the 11" in the oven now is an Erie from 1905-1907.
Steel wool, sea salt, then bacon grease and avacodo oil or grapeseed oil are my go tos
ECM is very proficient in the topic of cast iron. Here is one of her old threads on the subject
I follow this guy on YouTube
Lotta cast iron cooking and tips
RevRico said:Bonus. One of these is an old Wagner Ware. 1920s to 49, by the markings and the finish.
Holy E36 M3 the 11" in the oven now is an Erie from 1905-1907.
Wow you got some cool pans. I'm jelly.
I warm them up a bit of oil or Crisco in there, not smokey but quite warm. Turn off heat, sprinkle with lots of salt and rub vigorously with a clean towel (pick an old one, it can't be used again). It fills in cracks of expanded metal and seals on cooling.
You may have to repeat this, but never use water again to wash it! Kills the glaze. Cowboys and campers use sand.
Eggs spin around like a skating rink
Why does all this salt not cause rust?
I do have a standard care routine that works very well. I'll be adding chain mail to my salt and scrapers eventually.
These were just ancient, and surface rusty, which I don't get from my other irons. I'm honestly not even sure where they came from. I grabbed then from my moms yesterday cause I don't have any iron here at the new house, but they came from someone else, I'm guessing my great aunt that died when I was a teenager.
Mndsm said:Steel wool and rock salt to clear the rust, then yeah, Crisco or whatever for an hour. Fry a whole E36 M3load of bacon after, then do it again.
As a bonus, you get bacon as a byproduct!
My wife's family is from Alabama now living in Illinois and this is a question only some yankee like me would ask. You grew up knowing what to do here.
spitfirebill said:Why does all this salt not cause rust?
Salt crystal is tought enough to break apart food particles, but not tough enough to grind through the seasoing surface. Basically, the seasoning is like paint on a car- as long as it's sealed, salt can't do anything.
I also think it'e a better choice than sand, since it's a far tougher crystal- so it could wear down the surface.
On a tangent. you can season stainless steel pans, too. I considered sanding my newer lodge or finding some older and smooth surface cast iron. Then I saw some videos showing how to season stainless steel with coconut oil. Since I had the pans already, it saved me time and money to get pans. Now I have some egg specific stainless pans.
Keith Tanner said:Mndsm said:Steel wool and rock salt to clear the rust, then yeah, Crisco or whatever for an hour. Fry a whole E36 M3load of bacon after, then do it again.
As a bonus, you get bacon as a byproduct!
You guys don't just have a jar of bacon grease by the stove all the time?
I gave the Erie 4 coats. I'll give it another one tomorrow afternoon before I do the Wagner Ware. No basis, but I feel like a long cool down then another coating would help.
Presently my attention is at my vacuum chamber project, hand pumps are NOT the answer with a 1.5 gallon chamber.
Keith Tanner said:Mndsm said:Steel wool and rock salt to clear the rust, then yeah, Crisco or whatever for an hour. Fry a whole E36 M3load of bacon after, then do it again.
As a bonus, you get bacon as a byproduct!
Exactly. Everyone wins!
RevRico said:Keith Tanner said:Mndsm said:Steel wool and rock salt to clear the rust, then yeah, Crisco or whatever for an hour. Fry a whole E36 M3load of bacon after, then do it again.
As a bonus, you get bacon as a byproduct!
You guys don't just have a jar of bacon grease by the stove all the time?
I gave the Erie 4 coats. I'll give it another one tomorrow afternoon before I do the Wagner Ware. No basis, but I feel like a long cool down then another coating would help.
Presently my attention is at my vacuum chamber project, hand pumps are NOT the answer with a 1.5 gallon chamber.
I used the last of my bacon grease next to the stove last night to pop popcorn. Always save bacon grease.
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