Cleaning old cast iron pots

[Rajun Gardener]

This is a post from August 2019 I posted on tomatoville and a few other sites, I thought I'd post it here since we all love cast iron!!.

About 2 weeks ago I decided to clean up Mom's old cast iron pots and started researching the process. I decided on the soaking them in a Lye solution method which worked for the pans NOT in bad shape but it didn't remove the hard crusty bits. So today I'm doing what I said I wouldn't do, stinking up the house with the oven on self clean loaded with cast iron. Doing my part to help global warming!!

I have every door and window open with fans and bathroom exhaust vents going. It got so bad I had to step outside and use the leaf blower to help get the smoke out. I hope the neighbors don't call the fire department from the smoke rolling out of the windows and doors.

The good news is it seemed to be the worse part and the smoke has slowed down to hardy anything now. I sprayed 1/2 a can of air freshener in the A/C filter and that helped tremendously.

If I keep collecting old cast iron I see a used stove to keep outside in my future, I can't take this smelling up the house. Now I know why every Youtuber mentions something about his wife complaining when he cleans cast iron.

On a good note, I picked up an unmarked Birmingham Stove & Range, Century Series Skillet made sometime from the early 50's- 66 before they started putting "Made in USA" on them.

I had to grab it since it's lighter than other skillets and was made with the smooth bottom. It's crusted up too and needs work but it should be worth it in the end.

Here's what I'm burning.
the new BSR skillet

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The pieces that were soaked, that lid is also BSR to fit the pan in the last pic.
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This was my Mom's pan and all it was used for was frying chicken since we were kids.
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Here's the Dutch Oven I finished last week. From research this is a 1950's Lodge dutch oven with a self basting lid. The bottom is so smooth compared to the new Lodge "Pre-seasoned" stuff available now.

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More to come as they finish stinking up the house!!

I worked on the pots till about 11 and finished the 1st round of seasoning, they came out good and should get better with a few more rounds of seasoning.

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[Rajun Gardener]

Remember that old BSR skillet? How's this for seasoning?

[maxjohnson]

Those are some fine restoration results. Didn't know you have a cooking channel too.

I read up on the pro and cons about this method and the 'throwing it in the fire' method from various people. The main concern is that some oven reach such high temps 900-1000*F and this could damage the cast iron, heat burn which permanently changes the color, and cause warp or crack. I think each oven is different and there are various factors to consider. I'm guessing it's safer if it's a thick iron and the oven don't get too hot.

Some people said the grease and cruds caught on fire during it. I guess a safer way to reduce fire and smoke would be to lye soak it first and give it a quick scrub down.

I seen people doing the cleaning using an outdoor grill too, seems like a good way to not have to smoke up your house.

I might attempt this on a cheaper cast iron, but I'm too afraid to do it for the collectible ones.

[worth1]

Evenly heating up cast iron will not hurt it at 900 to 1000 degrees.
The problem is if wind gets to it and causes a crack and or warp if it cools off unevenly.
The permanently changing of color is from rust flash over after it is dried out so much from the heat.
The more humid it is the worse it will be.
You cant change the color of cast iron it is only surface.
Easy off I have found will remedy this and remove that color.
Think about it, the cast iron is molten when it is poured.
Cast iron is not a tempered carbon steel that will change temper when heated up that much.
High speed steel you can bring up to a very high heat and it wont change temper well past blue.
In the old days they didn't have high speed steel and only had carbon steel for cutting tools for lathes and so on.
Good lathe beds and ways are flame hardened or induction hardened.
The cast iron in these old pots and pans are not of the very best quality anyway they dont need to be.
Nickel content and so on.
To get to what is called the critical point you have to go way beyond what a self cleaning oven will do.
Critical point is when the iron or steel loses it's magnetism.
I even put my anodized magnetite in self clean to clean it.
Looks like new.
There is so much carbon in cast iron you dont even need not do you want a lubricant to machine it and it creates dust not chips or shavings.
My old 12 inch lodge skillet came out of a house fire and it is running just fine.
Last, I have seen several videos on these skillets and the people don't know anything about metallurgy just from some of the comments they have made.
Sorry to come off like a know it all but I have been welding and machining for many years since about 15 years old.
Not forcing anything on anyone just giving out information.

[worth1]

Here is one of the things.
Bought the whole set back in around1984 or so and were a mess after all these years.

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[brownrexx]

I don't have before and after pictures and these frying pans were not collectable ones but hubby has brought home a few really ugly ones. One I remember was used outdoors as a dog bowl for a long time.

We have a wood stove at our cabin and he just put the pans inside with the fire for several hours. I was amazed at how nice they looked when he was done.

We just use the pans as decorations though. I do not usually cook in them. I am not a cast iron fan. Several of the corn bread pans on the right are modern Lodge ones.

My favorite one is the "spider" which was used to cook over a fire.

20190913_143011 by Brownrexx, on Flickr

[JohnJones]

Here's a 1950's era ummarked Wagner I restored for my sister. She found it at a garage sale for $3. Pretty common older skillet, bit still very nice. Sorry I don't have the before, but it was BAD.

When a pan has caked on layers of burnt oil and grease, I usually try to use an outdoor grill or fire pit to burn off the worst of it before using my indoor oven.

[JohnJones]

This is the guy I learned from. His point about using a very small amount of oil and wiping it off frequently in the seasoning and maintaining process is very good advice...

[worth1]

The cast iron looks great.
I use it about 90% of the time unless I have a big soup or something going.

I have a stainless BBQ grill brush I use with almost pure Dawn dish washing liquid to scrub the bottoms of the skillet every time I wash it.
Seems to help a lot.
I'm never going to let them get that bad again.

[Rajun Gardener]

Did Ya'll see the video I posted here? Another video about cleaning CI on a grill.
viewtopic.php?f=100&p=11361#p11349

[EdieJ]

I've never tried to restore an older skillet, I was never sure how to so I've passed on many at yard sales etc. Thank you for the tutorials!
I do use mine (I have 3, all bought new many years ago) all the time. I mostly clean after use with salt and a quick rinse then re-season, except for the grill pan - it does get Dawn and a scrubbie. They all still look like new and are almost like non-stick even with sticky stuff like fried apples.

[worth1]

Whats up with Griswold, I have never seen one in my life I know of.
Is the north hoarding them?
Of course when I was a kid I didn't go around looking at cast iron cookware brands either.

[brownrexx]

The company started in Erie PA and these pans go for really high prices with collectors. I don't have any but I did see once that collectors are very finicky and they even test pans with a level before they will buy them. They go for hundreds of dollars.

[worth1]

One of my imported cast iron lids had that been in a fire look to it.
This is by no way any evidence that cast iron has been in a fire.
All it is is rust flash over from being completely void of all oil and in humidity.
The bottom of the lid had that rusty red color and I forgot to take a picture of it.
But all I did was use bar keepers friend on it and a stainless steel brush.
In no time at all the red color was gone and it looks like normal cast iron.
The main active ingredient in this stuff is citric acid.
Sour salt if you will.
Citric acid is one of the best things around to remove rust.

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