Salvage and Season Cast Iron Cookware
By ChrisjobCast iron is incredible. It’s like nature’s non-stick surface. I have a 12” skillet, a round griddle for tortillas, and a large, rectangular griddle/grill pan, all of which I absolutely baby, adding flavor layer by layer, and avoiding soap, and many times water, at all cost.
So, I was stoked to find this cast iron Dutch oven at a thrift store for $4. All it needed was a little TLC and a round of seasoning, and I knew it would be my new best friend.
So, scour garage sales and your grandparents’ house for all the cast iron you can get your hands on. Don’t be afraid of the condition. This stuff is immortal, and anything can be salvaged and recycled. Then, follow these steps to get it into shape, and you’ll never reach for Teflon again.
Ingredients:
Cast iron skillet, griddle, or Dutch oven
Oven cleaner and plastic grocery bags
Electric drill and fine wire brush bit
or
Sand paper and steel wool
Vegetable oil (pure veg, or canola or peanut) and coarse salt
Vegetable shortening (or lard)
Oven, cooking range, and sheet pan
Heavy duty pot holders or oven gloves and tongs.
Safety glasses, work gloves, and dust mask (latex gloves also recommended)
Tip: Cast iron gets hot ALL over, including the outside and handles. As such, you’ll need to allow sufficient cooling time on your cooktop, so don’t embark on this process if you’re expecting company and don’t want to leave it out.
Preparing the Cast Iron
1. Assess the state of your cookware. Mine was very dry, a bit dirty, and had severe rust along the lid.
2. Begin by GOING OUTSIDE, and spray oven cleaner all over your piece. Then, wrap in a plastic grocery bag (or two) and leave overnight. (Don’t leave outside if it’s raining.)
3. The next day, wash thoroughly with soap and warm water. It’s okay to use soap at this point, since there’s not a useable layer of seasoning.
4. Dry completely. Donate an old towel to this process, as it will turn black.
Removing the Rust
5. The amount of rust will vary from piece to piece, but unless your cookware was perfectly cared for, there will be some, even if you can’t see it.
6. If the rust is minimal, a quick scrub with fine sandpaper and steel wool may be all that’s necessary. If the rust is significant, like mine, procure a fine wire brush designed for an electric drill. You’ll find these in the hardware store next to the saw blades and grinder attachments. They cost around $3.
7. Attach the brush to a drill. Use a heavy-duty, corded drill; a 7-volt Black and Decker won’t cut it for this job. Wearing safety glasses, gloves, and a dust mask, begin to remove the rust. Work slowly, and don’t dig into the surface, or it might not heat evenly. In the photo below, you can see where the rust has been removed.
8. Once finished, clean all the dust off with a towel.
Cleaning the Cast Iron
9. Place the cookware on your cooktop and heat on high, and turn the exhaust fan on HIGH. Pour equal amounts of coarse salt (such as kosher salt or a coarse sea salt) and vegetable oil in the inside. Roll up a paper towel, and hold it with your tongs, and wearing your gloves, scrub the mixture until it turns brown and looks burnt, about 8-10 minutes. Don’t worry if you see some black specks.
10. Remove from the heat and allow to cool thoroughly. Then wipe out the salt and oil. From this point on, do not use soap on your cast iron.
Seasoning your Cookware
11. Heat your oven to 220-240 F. Coat the entire piece of cookware with vegetable shortening, or if you’re okay with using animal products, you can use lard, or even bacon grease. I find shortening to be particularly gross (I refuse to cook with it), so I recommend using disposable latex gloves to eliminate oily and blackened fingers. Do not use a liquid oil for this, as it will only get sticky and gooey.
12. Place the cookware on the top rack of your oven, with a sheet pan underneath to catch any drips. Turn on the exhaust fan. After twenty minutes, wearing your safety gloves, take out the piece and wipe away any excess oil with a paper towel.
13. Bake for two hours, then turn off the oven and allow it to cool. If the piece is large, like mine, you may want to repeat the process with the cookware upside down.
Caring For Cast Iron.
14. Your cookware is now seasoned and neither will it rust..
15. Use cast iron almost anytime you please. I don’t recommend using it for rice, pasta, or anything with a lot of liquid until it is VERY seasoned, as it may discolor your food or make it taste a bit like metal. Cast iron will work on ANY cooking surface: your range, oven, grill, camp stove, or wood burning fire.
16. After using, let the pan cool slightly, then wipe with a paper towel and a little coarse salt. If there’s food stuck to the pan, you can wash in warm water only, NO SOAP. Be sure to dry thoroughly, then rub in a little cooking oil all over the surface, including the outside, bottom and handle.
Savor your cookware, and your grandkids will be able to pass it along to theirs.
Cheers.
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Jim
I have found that the best way to restore crusty, rusty and downright ugly cast iron is to do it the way the chuckwagon cooks in the old west did... toss it on the cook fire coals and leave it overnight.
We stoke up the firepit in the back yard and enjoy an evening by a roaring fire. Then, when there may still be some flames burning or the coals are glowing hot, I put in any cast iron that I have gathered recently right onto the coals. You want the cooking side facing in toward the fire, handles up in the air. Move some coals to the back side of the pans and griddles with a poker and then leave them there overnight. They will get hot... glowing hot and this will burn off any old, baked on guck and rust.
First thing in the morning, hop out of bed and check out your cast iron pieces. They will be beautiful like the day they came out of the foundry!
A while back I was at a garage sale and found a dutch oven. I picked it up and smelled it. It still had dried on spaghetti sauce on it. The garage sale lady said "Oh, you can have that." I gave her a dollar for it to make me feel better about the deal. Later, when I gave it the glowing coal treatment, it looked brand new. Okay, maybe there was a little black from smoke and some ash on it, but that washed right off and into the oven it went for seasoning.
So, avoid the toxic fumes, chemicals and harsh abrasion that ruins the pores of the cast iron, and enjoy a roaring campfire while you restore your cast iron pieces to like-new condition.
Try it, you will be pleased.
ronmaggi
About the only good use for Coca-Cola is as a rust remover. I havn't tried it on cookware, but it has served well on boats. Phosphoric acid is one of it's main ingredients, and the main ingredient in rust removers. Now you know why your teeth feel soft after drinking it! I believe it would probibly be easier than brushing it off with a drill. Just be sure to clean the Coca-Cola off real well, heaven forbid you should actually ingest the stuff!
demon64
Livens
Hi,
Its great to see that you are promoting the use of cast iron cookware.
Non-Stick (teflon) is the WORST thing you can use to cook with. Not only is it toxic, but your food will never taste right being cooked in it.
A few comments on your article...
First off, it is perfectly OK to use modern soaps to clean your seasoned cast iron. Way back when everyone used cast iron most soap was made with lye, and lye will dissolve the seasoning. In fact I use a lye bath to safely strip cast iron of its seasoning. Modern soaps have 0 lye, and dish detergent such as Dawn will not do any damage to your seasoning.
Secondly you can use pretty much any oil to season your cast iron, but you have to use a much higher temp to keep it from gumming up. Crisco (shortening) has a very low smoke point, and that is why you are able to season your cast iron with it using low temps. I usually use shortening as well, but I use my outdoor grill and between 400° to 450° temps. Vegetable oils like canola carbonize just fine at those temps. Cast iron has no problem handling temperatures at and above 500°, as long as its not heated or cooled too rapidly.
If you need help with your cast iron I would recommend this forum, http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl
They have great articles written by guys/gals who have been collecting and using cast iron for decades. Also they are very helpful in answering any questions you have.
Jeremy
jackin
el_wombato
DesigningMom
I loved my cast iron cookware until I injured both my wrists hand watering tons of container plants last summer and I had to give up using them. I did pass them on to our daughter for her first apartment though.
I have a different way of cleaning them...
Once your pan is cool and dry you may choose to rub it with a bit of olive oil placing a paper towel over it and store it in a place of your choosing.
kadeline
Caya123
felisaudis
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