# Stripping old cast iron skillet



## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I have an old (not valuable) cast iron skillet I need to recondition. The old seasoning coating is bubbly in some spots on the inside and the outside. Should I scrape that all off first before I reseal on it? I had it in a 500 degree oven yesterday for about an hour and some stuff did scrape off easily, but not all of it. How heavy handed can you get without damaging them?


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Try this thread :
http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f78/cast-iron-you-555/


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## Genevieve (Sep 21, 2009)

have you tried oven cleaner on it first and then cleaning it?


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## JustCliff (May 21, 2011)

I would either use oven cleaner or sand blast it to get everything off and start anew. 
I use bacon grease some other oil and a little powdering of flower to carbon it up. Pre-heat the pan then put the grease on so the pores will open up and grease will get into it. 
Then heat to as hot as your oven will get and stick it in till it looks "dry". You will get some smoke so turn a fan on and open a door. 
When I re-season a pan, I put it on the very bottom rack whenever I bake anything. greasing and flouring it each time before it goes in and leaving it in till the oven cools from, whatever you baked. 
I do something that most don't and a lot say is a no no. I use a fine steel wool or 3M pad on the inside bottom of the pan. It's like sanding between paint coats. My pan bottoms are very smooth and non stick.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

Have you try a metal brush on a grinder ,I clean my cast pots every year that way to eliminate the burn crust buildup on the outside and to keep the interior smooth then I just give them a good coat of oil and cooked them in the BBQ or oven ,my pots are daily users and they just look new. Caution ,never used chemicals on cast steel pots.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

I've seen so many different ways I just decided to pick something a try it. Soo...I stuck the skillet in my campfire. Fire on top, fire below. Left it all night. Took it out and the black seasoning was cooked off. I washed everything off and the used 120 grit sandpaper on my orbital sander. That worked pretty sweet. Then I used oil and paper towels to rub and rub and rub until my paper towels were clean. Stuck it in my oven at 500 for about an hour. When it was cooled off I oiled it again and then a third and final time. Pan looks nice, everything is smooth and black, but I don't know if I will be going g through the process again any time soon.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

No one can said is easy lazydaisy67 but pots and pans need care too just like anything else .I make time every year just like checking my supplies and survival/camping gear
especially since I do lots of cooking and baking on them ,but I haven`t bought a pot in a very long time ,cast is forever friend, so enjoy it.


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

DH & I rescue and restore CI for a hobby. We currently have about 200 pieces restored, and another 100 or so waiting in the wings.

We use a lye bath since we do volume, but Easy-Off and a black plastic trash bag works (just a little slower). Spray the piece liberally and place in the bag. Set in the sun (heat makes it work faster) and leave it for a week or so. Use gloves when removing, rinse if off -- repeat as often as it takes to get all the gunk off. The oven cleaner (or lye bath) can't hurt the cast iron no matter how long you leave it on. We've also used our house oven-cleaning cycle, but had a really gunky piece that caught fire half-way through the cycle YIKES! So we went to the lye bath.

After the lye bath, we put our iron in an electrolysis tank, again because of the volume. But you can also use plain old white vinegar. Spray with full strength vinegar and let it set for about 20 minutes. Scrub any residual gunk and any rust spots, using cool-warm water. The vinegar neutralizes the lye and helps get rid of rust. 

You can use 000-steel wool or a stainless scrubby (Walmart has 'em) -- the vinegar will eat up the steel wool pretty quickly, but no biggie. You can use a stainless brush, too, for crevices and cracks, or a dental pick. DO NOT use brass -- it discolors the cast iron! 

Continue the vinegar & scrubbing until no rust comes to the surface. I use a little dish soap, too, at this point. Don't leave the vinegar on for more than an hour at a time -- it will etch the cast iron and make it difficult, if not impossible, to season. 

Rinse with cold water -- this helps slow down flash rusting. Put the pan in a 200degree oven for about 30 minutes to dry and heat. The pan may look kind of rusty, but don't worry. The seasoning will take care of that.

Pull the pan out and liberally coat with Crisco. Some people use lard, bacon grease, canola oil, coconut oil, etc, but we have the best results with good ole Crisco. A basting brush or a cheap paint brush works well for this. 

After coating, wipe everything off with paper towels. Those blue shop paper towels work best for this -- they seem to absorb better than regular paper towels. If the pan has flash rust, it should wipe right off. Keep wiping until the towel comes clean. Pay special attention to numbers & letters, crevices, casting flaws, etc, that tend to hold more oil.

Put the pan, upside down, in a 300degree oven for about 20 minutes. Putting the pan upside down keeps oil from pooling on the cooking surface. After 20 minutes, wipe down again, and return to the oven -- upside down. Bump the temp up to 425 and let the pan "cook" for 2 hours. When time is up, turn off the oven and let it and the pan return to room temp before opening the oven.

Repeat the entire heating/oiling/wiping/heating/wiping process for two more cycles. Your pan should have a nice chocolate brown to black coloring and is ready to cook. 

For cleaning, I usually just wipe out the pan. Sometimes if I have to use a scrubby and dish soap, it'll pull some of the seasoning out. So I wipe some bacon grease in the pan and put it in the oven at 425 for a couple of hours to cure it -- good as new and ready to go.

Throwing in a fire is a BAD idea -- fires aren't controlled temp and can burn, warp, or crack cast iron. Burned CI looks cherry red (as opposed to the dull rust color) -- once you see it you'll know the difference. And it'll be nearly impossible to properly season. In the old days, people would bank their CI in the coals to clean it, which is an entirely different proposition, but it takes practice. 

We don't recommend sand blasting or machine sanding 'cause it can make it difficult for the seasoning to "take. We have used glass beads LIGHTLY with some decent results for some items.

Let me know if you have any questions.
Terri


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