OT Reconditioning cast iron cookware

I have some old cast iron cookware I want to but back in service any one know how to recondition it the proper way.

I use cast iron cookware all the time. I condition mine by washing it by hand and then rub the inside with shortening then put it on the stove on medium high heat and wait for it to start smoking. Then turn off the heat. This puts a coating on the inside that provides the nonstick. I then never wash the inside again. For clean up I get the pan hot and put water in it then scrape it with a metal egg turner and dump the water down the sink. Really works well.

Leonard

clean it up and get all the rust off coat it with bacon grease and put it in a 400 degree oven for about a half hour. Use light coating of grease so it doesn"t run off the sides and puddle. You may have to repeat a time or two if it is really pitted. Some people prefer vegetable oil, but I think bacon grease does a better job. Should be able to clean up after use with just warm water and dishrag, rarely a little dish soap, if you season correctly. Never put in a dishwasher or you start over.

So removing the rust can this be done with a wire brush on a grinder or do I need to sandblast it?

Use electrolysis to remove any bad rust

A wire brush will work fine. I also coat mine with grease and bake them like the above poster.

BTDT on many old stuff I have picked up over the years. I wash them real good then heat them up and oil them real good, then let cool and do a salt and paper towel clean and then use them. Matter of fact I do not own any frying pans other then cast iron ones and because of that I have had problem with my iron count being a tad high

If it is rusted then you can wire brush it off or even have it sand blasted. If it is just dirty and grease covered have some one that has an electric oven with the cleaning cycle run the pan/skillet through the cleaning cycle. The old grease will be turned to ash and will wash off easy.

Then just wash the pan/skillet and then re-season it. I use lard. I rub it into the inside of the pan with a pretty thick coating. I put it into the oven with the temperature set at 250 degrees. I leave it in for maybe 1/2 hour. Let it cool and wipe the excess lard/grease off with a paper towel and you are ready to go.

Ok thanks guys I am going to give it a try tomorrow we have had them laying around for a good while and Im tired of seeing them rust away.

There is a lot of folklore about cast iron. Everyone has their own opinion. I"ve flown in the face of most of it. Probably going to insult everyone here with what I"m about to say: It isn"t rocket science. Iron is slightly porus, will absorb whatever oil/grease you put on it. I regularly run mine through the dishwasher. Scrape the surface with a metal spatula to get old food deposits off. Have even attacked with power wire brushes and power sanders, as well as brillo soap pads. Rinse or wash soap and other deposits off. When I"m ready to use, just a spray with Vegalene or Cisco spray and ready to go. No heating, "seasoning", none of that folderoll.

I buy a lot of cast iron pans at flea markets and yard sales, and resell them. When I get a lot of real crusted ones, I build a wood fire outside, and pile them on when it is down to hot coals, covering them... When cool, wipe them off, rub a THIN layer of Crisco on, and heat in an oven at 450 or 500 for an hour, let cool in oven.. I never had one to crack yet..

While we don"t run ours thru the dishwasher (they tend to rust before we get them dry), we DO wash by had with soap, then hand dry. We just use oil or butter when we use them, and it works great. We never "season" them either. Found it to be a HUGE waste of time.

I've heard of guys sanding them progressively with a DA working up to 400 grit just like bodywork til smooth then seasoning. Us, we never seemed to get them to non stick and usually use stainless pans. That and I can't stomach the idea of puting away a pan that just had a batch of taco meat or something like that cooked in it and not washing it with soap.

You wipe the pan out with a paper towel and hot water when it cools down, the next time u use it heat it to sterilizes it, wipe it out again, oil it and it's fine to cook with, you never use soap on cast iron cook ware!

If they get real thick I sand blast them. It takes a little extra seasoning after that to get a nice coating on them. I always wash them in soap and water but never use a wire or brillo pad. Do use the 3M pads same as ones I use to clean head, blocks hydraulic components etc in the shop, always, just rinse good, put back on the burner and oil them down when hot. Inside and out. You can throw a pan cake on them without any oil next time used, with medium heat, no stick. Heat kills all germs if you are afraid of that. I got tired of eating all that teflon etc as it always comes off of the pans.

I've heard that apple cider vinegar will remove rust on cast iron cookware.

I got a used one some years ago and it looked a little greasy so I used my sand blaster to clean it up. Looked like new after that. I never "wash" it but just heat up water in it til it boils. Then use a metal spatuila to scrape it clean under running water. Works great. Probably safer than eating off a non stick teflon frying pan too.

I dug mine out a few months ago after very intermittent use the last few years and are now using them almost always. I never use soap to clean them, if they are even a little too warm when I use it or don't get it all out, I can taste soap in the next dozen meals ( I am pretty sensitive ot certain tastes; soap and onions especially). hot porus iron really does suck things in. I just use water, scrape and a paper towel.

as far as seasoning goes, I had one pan that was the one I wanted to use for size, but stuff really did stick too it. I had been wiping and reheating with a little olive oil. I decided to go ahead and really re season it with fat and after i did that its good and non stick. So now instead of oil, I just drop a little dob from the grease jar in, coat and heat and then wipe with a paper towel. haven't had many sticking problems since.

I would say the best way I saw to season one was when I was on scout trip, and one of the leaders had a new pan. two hours and two pounds of good fatty bacon later, he had it nicely seasoned. I have never tried to recondition a really bad one, but I think i'd try electrolosis as my first choice for rust then season immediatly.

One thing to watch out for is suger. I've been told a few times, suger will pull seasoning out of the iron and from my experiance, it tastes like it too. A little doesn't seem to be a problem, but deserts or high suger foods seem to be an issue.

Try rubbing it with a raw potato and either some baking soda or salt.

Cooked a lunchtime omelet in one of the pans I worked on this morning and it worked out well, minor sticking and I cleaned it up with water and and a spoon and wiped it out with a paper towel. I am trying to think up something good to cook for supper to use it again.

Wipe it down good with some crisco and bake some corn bread in it. That seems to help put a good season it the pan and your belly.

By the way, I add some cream corn to the jiffy mix and drizzle honey on top before I put it in the oven. Makes a nice sweet crust and pretty much turns cornbread into cake.

Wagners are good pans.
They will outlast the people frying with them if you care for them!
I have 2 Wagners, looking for more, I bought both of these out of a barn in a box for 20 dollars last year. Now the better half thinks I will scratch her glasstop electric stove! Always something.