Rust & Cast Iron

[sherpa]

I have an old cast iron kettle that has some rust in the bottom of it. The kettle has been seasoned in the past but it got left unattended for awhile. I wanted to know if there is an easy way to remove the rust in the bottom and get it back to a useable condition.
Sherpa

 

[SPIKER]

Sherpa:

as far as removing the rust in the bottom, good ole hard work will do it using some steel or copper wool. though I have used glass bead blasting to totally start freash on some of my old cast iron pans the "HAVING THE BLASTING CABINET" made that a no brainer. do not use SILICA based stuff on them though! black beauty sand or wallnut sheals would work too.


reseason like a new pan after cleaning... I have several duch ovens I never even used but I can't live with out my cast iron pans!!! the rest "ech". A good SS stew pot works better... though I am intrigued by those 3~4 foot across cast iron "Witch Kettles" that can bee seen hangin full of stuff out front of peoples places... a bit too heavy for the average thief to run away with /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

MarkM

 

[stevenf]

Sherpa, I'll have to concur with the previous post about rust is a pain but not a problem to get out of cast iron. I cook for a couple of hundred people (mostly scouts and scouters) every month and most of my side dishes are made in cast iron. What you need to do is heat that pot up until its good and hot 350 or so get some fine steel or brass wool and good quality cooking oil and heres the ugly part wipe the oil around in the pot and get after it with the wool until your seeing some shine all with the pot good and hot after you've done a good job of cleaning the rust out wipe out as much of the residue as you can with paper towels and let it cool a bit. Once it cools down so you can touch the pot with your hands happily rinse it out good with hot water and scrub with a nylon type scrubby. Put the pot back on the fire heat it up good to get all the water out once the water is gone reoil it lightly and let it get good and hot preferably covered once it cooks your oil on as good as you can (it'll be smoking) wipe it with paper towels again and store with the lid off and upside down or right side up with a paper towel in the bottom works as a desicant. Now heres the fun part every time you get a hankering for bacon for the next month cook it in your pot and smear the oil around inside it good as your cooking the bacon then go thru the easy clean process heat to boil 3/4 full water with lid on scrub around with nylon scrubby to get any clingons off dump the water and dry out on fire until thouroughly dry again. Its best to not apply fresh oil when storing but every time you get ready to cook preheat your pot and oil it then otherwise you'll end up with rancid oil in your pot and get to go thru another cleanup the pot ordeal.
Steve

 

[sherpa]

Good information! the only problem is working on the kettle while its hot. It has a very small opening on the top which would not allow handling while hot. You have given me some good things here to do which I had not thought of.
Thanks,
Sherpa

 

[Junkman]

I have found that cast iron pots and pans that I find at flea markets are often very rusty. As long as they don't have any cracks in them, I will pick them up and use after cleaning. I find that spraying them with Oven Off Brand oven cleaner will bring them down to the bare metal quickly, usually within a half hour. Then I wash with soapy water, and season in the oven with bacon grease. Works for me every time...... now if you have a way to keep the wife from burning things in them, please let me know. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
This is a Griswold that I found at a flea market a few months ago for $5. I am waiting for warm weather to clean this one. I only spray oven cleaner outside. The fumes are too much to use it in the house. Once it is cleaned, it will look just like they did when you bought them in the store.... grey cast iron. Once seasoned, it will be a great stew pot.

 

[JASTN70D]

I did find a way to keep the wife from burning things in our pans. Well it tuns out it was a real dumb idea I found out the hard way it is both cheaper and easier to just keep buying new pans /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[DaMadman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have found that cast iron pots and pans that I find at flea markets are often very rusty. As long as they don't have any cracks in them, I will pick them up and use after cleaning. I find that spraying them with Oven Off Brand oven cleaner will bring them down to the bare metal quickly, usually within a half hour. Then I wash with soapy water, and season in the oven with bacon grease. Works for me every time...... now if you have a way to keep the wife from burning things in them, please let me know. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
This is a Griswold that I found at a flea market a few months ago for $5. I am waiting for warm weather to clean this one. I only spray oven cleaner outside. The fumes are too much to use it in the house. Once it is cleaned, it will look just like they did when you bought them in the store.... grey cast iron. Once seasoned, it will be a great stew pot. )</font>

<font color="black">The Way you keep your wife from burning stuff in your cast Iron is buy her Teflon coated stuff and hide the cast iron stuff or ask her not to use it. Or you could just do all the cooking yourself. hahahaha

My wife won't use my cast iron stuff, She is one of those home chef's that Emeril talks about all the time that don't know what the knob on the stove is for. (Cooks everything on high heat) I do the cooking (Dinner and such)and she does the baking. (deserts and such) </font>

 

[Junkman]

The problem has resolved itself for the most part........ she asks what I want to eat, and I ask where she wants to eat. Once a decission is made, then all that is left to do is call for reservations and drive to dinner... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[stevenf]

junkman, Now that is a slick idea. I'm taking notes now! You say you use oven cleaner on them and it eats thru the rust and seasoning to bare metal now thats cool. Do you have to heat the pot at all or just squirt it on cold and let it sit for thirty minutes. What a great idea cut thru all the old stuff and rust and then reseason it. Now I can't wait to go to a flea market I always see cast iron and its always so rusty that I've never bothered as I'm particular about my iron and like it to look nice while I'm cooking. I've got a 5 gallon cast iron kettle that I treasure I can cook 10lbs of dried beans in it without stirring more than once every thirty minutes or so and it does a beautiful job of cooking baracho beans, stews and chili. Now if I can remember where I saw this pot I saw and turned it down because it was so rusty it must have been a 20 gallon pot and I think they wanted $20. retail it'd cost over $200. it was a beauty a little oven cleaner and good as new I can't wait.
Thanks for the great tip.
Steve /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Junkman]

Depending on how rusted it is, will depend on how much oven cleaner and how long it must stay on. I usually just spray and wait about an hour, then wash and decide if it needs a second cleaning. I will be doing one tomorrow, because the wife burned the pan so badly that it will take a complete re seasoning to repair it. I knew that there was a reason that most of the collection of cast iron is in the cellar.... she can't find it to destroy it...... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif