cleaning old iron pots

[VTdeerhunter]

I agree with cleaning your cast iron in the fire, just make sure to keep your eye on it, I was at a friends cook-out/bon-fire and someone suggested this to him after we finished eating....he threw the pan in the fire, loaded up more wood and forgot about it. Neadless to say it no longer sits flat on the stove in the kitchen.

 

[ihuntsnook]

I did a small frying pan in a camp fire some years ago. Left it overnight with no harm done -- though it was a reddish color for a long time.

 

[crockett]

I am going to throw out the obvious- Navy Jelly. I know the stuff is poison but is it okay to use it to remove most of the rust and then boil, drain-boil several times to get rid of any trace of the poison? I don't know but it might be sort of like making lye hominy.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

I cleaned out a Dutch Oven last week, it had some kind of black coating on the inside that looked like a well cooked in finish. Unfortunately the dutch oven smelled like old socks. Elbow grease did not work, I had to resort to a rotary bronze brush on a power drill. I have cooked a couple of meals on it with no ill effects.

 

[crockett]

On any cast iron cookware- like a frying pan, if it gets a lot of build up- usually on the outside- you can put the oven on 500 degrees and heat it- it will soften the stuff and you can knock it off- wear oven mits.

 

[Grizzled Roberts]

Too late, the wire brush on the drill worked fine. Had I know about the 500 degree method I would have tried that. I am enjoying cooking with my flat bottomed Dutch Oven on my kitchen stove, I am reluctant to take it to an event! ( Just Kidding )

 

[Blizzard of '93]

deep skillet/fryer w/lid likely. still great for bakeing cornbread or biscuit bread though.

 

[buford87]

What the "modern " world calls a Dutch Oven nowadays is flat bottomed. What we call a Dutch oven is called a Camp Oven, or a Camp Dutch Oven. If you are ever in Sevierville Tn. you can go to the Lodge Outlet store next to Smokey Mountain Knife Works. There you can buy American made cast Iron cook ware. You can even look on the shelf of seconds For cook ware with slight cosmetic flaws. Was there last week and bought a 9" skillet and lid for my daughter to have ready for her when she finishes college..................watch yer top knot.........

 

[crockett]

Yeah, when I think of a dutch oven it has three stubby legs and a lipped top that will hold coals you shovel on top. You can invert the top and it becomes a frying pan of sorts.
And...my local supermarket has some cast aluminum "dutch" ovens that lack the legs and rimmed top but they are very light weight. Aluminum is impossible to clean IMHO but I have no idea if a cast aluminum cooking utensil is able to become seasoned or coated like the iron. The only reason I am interested is the light weight- I could pack it into a camp.
Any one ever use one made of aluminum- how does it work?

 

[gearheart]

GSI makes an aluminum DO with legs 12". Maca also makes one 9". Check out aluminum dutch ovens at A Happy Camper. I have a 10" aluminum DO from GSI no legs so I put a trivet under it to hold it up. It doesn't season but cleans up pretty easy so no problemo. :thumbsup: I know it ain't PC/HC but when I go canoe camping in this century I appreciate lightness.

 

[courdebois]

Got a nice 6 " skillet,rusty as ????, onion did not work,scoury pads etc,nadda,a 1 inch flapper(used for grinding sheet metal)on a drill an i had rust flying everywhere,took awhile but i got her clean, put some olive oil an stuck in oven at 300 deg. forgot bout it ,wife turned off oven hours later,wasn,t to happy,but skillet turned out great,used scouring pad to get off sticky baked stuff,re did olive oil,now ready for rondie

 

[jferguson]

I have mixed experience with the fire method:
1. Great success with cruddy, grease encrusted pans in my woodstove fire, put in at bedtime, left overnight--next morning, like new again. Done this many times.
2. Not so great success in an outdoor campfire--next morning, all the crud gone, but the iron was left with a reddish-orange hue which would not go away! Not good!
Any ideas of why the difference? I'll never do it outside again. . . .

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yep you formed a layer of condensation aka "dew" from the surrounding air as the iron cooled. This starts to form as soon as the iron, which is in contact with the ground, is cooler than the air. No grease or oil on the iron means no rust preventative. The air in a modern or wood fired oven is very dry, and most folks remove the iron item when it is still very warm but you can handle it with bare hands, and apply oil to it, and thus the cast iron pores are read to accept the oil/grease.

LD

 

[tenngun]

fill it with water bring to a boil.poor off. browm a pound of bacon remove meat let grease cool.throw in a nother pound and let it deep fry. repeat through three or four pounds until you have a few inchs of grease.let it cool down then heat until smoking pour off. fill with water bring to a boil then pour off. heat till dry and season it should be preety clean

 

[satx78247]

To All,

If you have really cruddy cast iron (like my treasured & "older than dirt" DEEP 14" dutch oven that I bought at a junk sale for 2 bucks) simply put it in the fireplace after you have banked the fire and head off to bed. By the next morning, it can be wiped out and reseasoned.

yours, satx

 

[Woods Dweller]

Great idea satx. Thanks. :thumbsup:

 

[satx78247]

WELCOME.

yours, satx

 

[Billnpatti]

It all depends on how rusty they are. If there is a thick crusty coating of rust built up from years of neglect you may have to resort to using a wire cup shaped brush in a drill to knock the heavy stuff off. Once you get the heavy scale off, you can use various grades of emery cloth to remove the rest of the rust. You will need to smooth out the surface the best you can so you can season it. A nice smooth surface seasons much better than a rough surface.

Now, if the rust is a thin coat, you may need to use only a 3M green scouring pad that you can get from WalMart or similar store in the kitchen suppy area. Those things really cut well but may need to be changed a few times before you are done because they will, like any abrasive, wear out with heavy use.

Once you have a nice clean and smooth surface, you need to coat it with grease (lard or Crisco) and put it in an oven at 400 deg. for 30 to 45 minutes. Let it cool then wipe it out and wash it out with just hot water. You can tell when it has been seasoned and if you need to repeat the treatment, do so until the pot is well seasoned inside. After that, all you should do to clean it after using it is to wash it with just hot water. Soap can ruin the seasoning. If something sticks to the pot and you have scrub hard with a scouring pad or have to use soapy water, you will need to repeat the seasoning process because scouring or using soap can, and most likely will, remove the seasoning.

 

[Billnpatti]

WD-40?????? In a pot you're going to be cooking in? :rotf: It might remove the rust but what about the flavor of the beans you cook in that pot? :barf: 'Taint the way I'd do it 'cuz there's just too may better ways to get it clean without giving it an unwanted flavor. Nope, ain't for me. :shake:

 

[Wes/Tex]

Nope, ain't for me. :shake:

Wow, me neither! Never, never ever use petroleum products on cookware, especially not iron cookware. Agree with the comments above about seasoning cast iron except my Mom had decided somewhere along the way that one should only use bacon for seasoning. Not complaining...not the way I love bacon! :wink: