# Rusty Cast Iron Cookware



## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

How do I clean really rusty cast iron pans??? My hubby suggested sand blasting them??? Some are really bad... Thanks in advance

PS: I imagine this has been addressed before in here but I am lousy at trying to find stuff... duh


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Wash them out with water and a burlap cloth. Cover in lard. Oven at 200 degrees for a couple hours. Repeat. If that doesn't work light rubbing with steel wool as well.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

If they are really rusty then full them with white vinegar or apple vinegar over night.
Next day pout vinegar into another rusty dish & rubber the pan that sit over night clean with a cloth.


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

All very good suggestions, thank you...


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## txcatlady (Sep 26, 2013)

I used the molasses route. 1 part molasses and 9 parts water to cover CI in a plastic trash can or tote with a lid. I soaked them for 3-5 days and scrubbed with a grill brush and seasoned them. Did great. I did use bacon grease this time instead of crisco shortening. After using, lightly grease and back in oven. Should be fully seasoned soon. I have only cooked cornbread lately and that was reason I redid it. Did not stick. Skillets I fry in don't need to Re season. Oh and this will get nasty after a week!


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

I usually just use coarse salt and really scrub them to remove rust. 
I had one that was really bad. I used electrolysis. Amazing results. It really removed all of the rust, but I took it out, rinsed it, and set it in the garage and never followed through yet to finish and season it. So I can't tell you how it turned out yet.


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## JackDanielGarrett (Sep 27, 2010)

I spray mine with easy-off oven cleaner, wrap in clear plastic and put out in the sun for a couple of days. My fav is to use a wire brush on a drill and bring it all back down to fresh metal.

Jack


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

You have all been awesome with your replys but some of them are alittle flaky rust... how do I remove that before I can scrub them... Any thoughts on that sandblasting??? I don't want to pit the cast iron... Hubby says the sand shouldn't pit it but....


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

I collect and restore old CI. I don't recommend using a sand blaster, a wire brush, or a campfire (too hard to control temps) -- they tend to make it difficult for a pan to accept seasoning. Here's how I restore...

If you're only cleaning one or two pans that are really cruddy, you can use Easy-Off heavy duty oven cleaner. Cover the pan(s) with the cleaner and place in a black plastic trash bag for a couple of days (outside in the sunshine helps speed things up). Rinse off the cleaner and scrub with either a stainless steel scrubbie or 4-aught steel wool. Repeat if necessary. The oven cleaner CAN'T harm the pans. If you have more than one pan, you can set up a lye-bath tank, or put them in your oven-cleaning cycle -- be prepared for a bump in your electricity costs, though, and I've heard (but never experienced) that the oven's high temps can crack a pan. 

For rust, you can go elaborate and set up an electrolysis tank, or you can use a vinegar bath. It's suggested that you only use a 50/50 solution of vinegar/water and never leave it in more than 30 minutes at a time, since the vinegar can etch the CI. I usually spray 100% on the piece, leave it for 5-10 minutes and then scrub with the aforementioned scrubbie and/or a stainless brush (for crevices). The vinegar spray/rinse also helps neturalize any lye/oven cleaner. Rinse the pan with cold water to slow the flash-rust processes and put the piece in a 200 degree oven.

Once the piece heats up, remove and coat liberally with Crisco. Wipe all the excess oil off (I use the blue shop paper towels as they seem to absorb the excess oil best.) Place the piece back in the oven, upside down, and bump the temp up to 300. After the oven reached temp, "cook" for 20-30 minutes, remove the piece and wipe it down a second time to remove any additional oil. Return to the oven (upside down), bump the oven up to 400 and when it reaches temp, "cook" for 2 hours. Turn off the oven and allow the piece to cool naturally. The pan should have a nice, black, uniform and non-oily surface at this point.

At this point the piece is ready to use. Every time I use a piece, I lightly coat the outside with Crisco, and then use Crisco or bacon grease to cook with. When I'm done, I usually let it cool a bit, put WARM water in the pan for a few minutes, and use a Lodge scraper (teflon goodie available on their website) to loosen any hard stuff. I'll scrub lightly with a plastic scrubbie, wipe dry, heat a little bit and wipe on some Crisco. Wipe off the excess, turn the pan or pot upside down on the burner. Now I use a heat gun because I have one available, heat to 300 and turn the burner off. I'll check it once or twice to see if there's any oil drips/puddles than need to be wiped up. Once the pan is cool, it gets put away.

Remember that with CI, you can reduce your cooking temps -- especially on the stove top. With my old stainless on an electric stove, I'd normally cook at 8. With my CI, I usually cook at 4-6. Also remember that CI hold temps for a whole lot longer. If you are baking something, let it sit for 5 minutes or so before you try to remove the item (cakes, breads, etc). 

Love, love, LOVE my cast iron. This process works really well -- we have re-furbished about 200 pieces in the past year and have about 100 more to go...


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

I forgot to mention... be sure to use gloves with the oven cleaner or lye bath. 

Also, three 200-300-400 degree cycles make for the best surfaces. A lot depends on the age of the piece -- pre-1940s has better iron than post-war, but some companies milled or polished surfaces until just lately. Lodge currently has a rougher surface on their new stuff because they pre-season at the factory.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

You might want to take a peak at this link: http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f78/cast-iron-you-555/

Can you share some pictures of the amount of rust and can you tell us how deep the rust is on the pieces you are trying to work on?

In the past, if it hasn't been too bad with rust, I'll place my cast iron into the sink and run very hot water over it and rub it down with stainless steel wool. After that, if it isn't looking good enough, I'll use my drill with a brass brush like shown below till it is looking great ...

If it is really bad - follow the instructions above for using oven cleaner --- I haven't ever found cast iron bad enough to need oven cleaner, yet ...


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

Thank you NaeKid... I did look at the site and got lots of good information... I have appreciated everyone's advice and will work on my pieces and let you know how they turn out and what method worked the best... Thank you all again


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

Some of my befores & afters...


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## Beaniemaster2 (May 22, 2012)

tleeh1 said:


> Some of my befores & afters...


Wow... thanks for showing me those... you have given me hope  hahahaha


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

Oh -- we've had some much worse ones that the first pic. Some I didn't think we could save, and a couple ended up being cracked under the rust and/or gunk. Some don't turn out perfectly, but they can be used again, or at least displayed.


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## JackDanielGarrett (Sep 27, 2010)

tleeh1-That pan with sections for corn bread was the worst cast iron I ever tried to clean. So many corners. I cleaned it, seasoned it and baked corn bread, then cleaned it again. 

Jack


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

JackDaniel -- I don't know why everyone hates those cornbread wedge pans. It takes me virtually nothing to get the cornbread (or cake or brownies) out of them. I have a much harder time with the little cornstick-jobs. Two hints for cooking in cast iron: (1) pre-heat the pan. I usually grease mine up, stick 'em in the oven (electric) during the pre-heat stage, and for about 5 extra minutes after the oven get to temp. Then I pour in the batter -- you'll know it's hot enough if the batter sizzles on contact. (2) When done (toothpick or knife comes out clean), let the pan cool for 5-10 minutes before trying to remove the cornbread, or cake or whatever -- I think this is the real key to keep stuff from sticking. Finally, I'll run a knife or spatula around the edges to loosen, and 95% of the time, it just pops out.


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## JackDanielGarrett (Sep 27, 2010)

tleeh1-I agree with you, after that one time I used more oil and had somewhat better results. And I very much agree with the cornbread stick cast iron, they are a pain to clean. Again I should "over" grease them. 

I recall an older woman when she gave me a cast iron frying pan, she said, " Take it home and fry a lot of bacon." Those pans seem to had that carbon coating longer.

Your 100% right about keeping them greased.

Jack


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

tleeh1 said:


> JackDaniel -- I don't know why everyone hates those cornbread wedge pans. It takes me virtually nothing to get the cornbread (or cake or brownies) out of them. I have a much harder time with the little cornstick-jobs. Two hints for cooking in cast iron: (1) pre-heat the pan. I usually grease mine up, stick 'em in the oven (electric) during the pre-heat stage, and for about 5 extra minutes after the oven get to temp. Then I pour in the batter -- you'll know it's hot enough if the batter sizzles on contact. (2) When done (toothpick or knife comes out clean), let the pan cool for 5-10 minutes before trying to remove the cornbread, or cake or whatever -- I think this is the real key to keep stuff from sticking. Finally, I'll run a knife or spatula around the edges to loosen, and 95% of the time, it just pops out.


Great tip, if you are not making 10 batches.
Thanks.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

From Lodge Cast Cookware.
Rust?! Don't Panic, it's not Broken

Without protective seasoning iron can rust.

It's really easy to fix. Scour the rust, rinse, dry, and rub with a little vegetable oil.

If problem persists, you will need to thoroughly remove all rust and follow our re-seasoning instructions 
https://www.lodgemfg.com/content/useandcare.asp


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

Well, Crabapple -- if you have 10 batches, you just need 10 pans! 

If you grease and don't heat, the pan gets sticky (and I personally think that's where a lot of that built-on gunk you see comes from). 

The Lodge instructions for 'refurbishing' are a good rule of thumb for maintaining your cast iron. Just remember that the new Lodge stuff has a rough cooking surface because they are pre-seasoned at the factory and have that roughness to hold their pre-seasoning on during the process. The older CI tends to have a much smoother surface (sometimes even milled) that makes it easy to get to the non-stick level. 

One manufacturer, BSR (Birmingham Stove & Range) offered their cookware in two finishes: regular & milled. The milled surfaces were more popular in the northern and western states while the regular surfaces were more popular in the south.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

I had a rusty CI skillet. Washed it in hot soapy water and a copper scrubby scouring. Then put it back on the stove on high until the water evaporated off. Then sprayed it with Pam and wiped it with a paper towel. Now I do the same routine every time I use the pan and it sticks less than Teflon pans. And it's much healthier than Teflon by a country mile!


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

Chime in to say great thread. Love my cast iron pan. The majority of this thread was a well learned read.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

I've been cooking with CI for half a century and never used dish soap on mine. Use hot water and scrub pad when needed. Dry wipe with oil and hang it up. Some of my pans are at least 70 yr.s old. Corn stick pans maybe older.
I don't boil in them of course and never use tomato type sauces in them.
Yesterday I cooked a large pan of pepper steak in my largest one.


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## marlas1too (Feb 28, 2010)

I agree meerkat -never usr soap sometimes I will boil some water then wipe them out then coat with a light coat of lard then hang up and mine have been passed from my moma and should be around 100 years old ---if taken care of they should last 200 years or longer


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