I screwed up last fall and left my 2 Lodge cast iron fry pans on the porch at camp. With the snow and rain, they've rusted up pretty good. Looking for suggestions on cleaning the rust off and re-seasoning. I was thinking of the rotary wire brush that I use in my 1/2 inch drill, to clean the rust. How about the re-seasoning part? Thanks

Tom

Two suggestions

http://www.realsimple.com/food-reci...ion/cleaning-seasoning-cast-iron-skillet

http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html

The very best way to remove rust is via Electrolytic Rust Removal

Then reseason normally via one of the many methods on google.

Thanks for the links, guys.

Know a guy who used the methods others mentioned. Afterwards, he deep fried a turkey. After the turkey he dropped the cast iron skillet in the 375 degree peanut oil for 30 minutes. That bad boy came out slick and perfect as a shiny new penny. I am sold on this method of seasoning.

Holy $hit.....that's a great idea. Did he just hang it to let it drain and cool after wiping off the excess oil? Or did he then bake it to set the seasoning? Enquiring minds want to know.

Eight more days and I'll be cook'in at the American Royal with Dizzy Pig brother. Wish us luck!

Mike

Good Luck! Let us know how you do.

That's a great idea! Bet it season's the heck out of em.

Unfortunately,, I use my turkey fryer for boiling traps these days.

Fortunately,, none of my CI needs seasoning.

That makes sense, I have a dutch oven I use for deep frying and its always looking good

He just wiped them down a little and hung them out to dry.

Outstanding Mike. Chris has been winning too. Have fun. I envy you!!! GO D PIG!!

PS---Stay sober so you have some postable pics. Is postable a word??

tag

Molasses and water mixed and let them soak. It works.

Clean with hot water and a hard bristle brush (no steel brushes). No grinder or electric drill wire brushes. Never use soap. Takes the seasoning and oil off.

Let dry.

Best seasoning is crisco lard out of the can. Heavy coat. Heat on the grill or in the oven.

If the pan is rusty, how much seasoning can be present?

Anything goes if the goal is bare metal.

Now, that sounds reasonable to me.
Get the rust off, and don't rough it up much.
I'll confess to using a wire brush on a angle grinder.

I have too, to clean up a new-to-me pan prior to reseasoning. It does no harm.

I did use a rotary wire brush in my cordless drill. I knew I was going to have to re-season it, anyway. I went to the Lodge web-site, and it says that pans are usually seasoned many times in their lifetime. After viewing their video, a bunch of videos popped up from Youtube. One of those showed a chef cleaning a badly neglected pan with a cup brush. After the cleaning, I covered in lard and baked at 350 for 1 hour. Got a nice finish and deep, dark color. They don't even look like the same pieces I started with.

The only problem with baking on a good seasoned finish is the smoke it produces. Anyone have any idea on how to deal with that?

As I have mentioned before, I used a gas grill to do this, but don't have it any more.

I'd say like the self cleaning oven, do it when you can open the windows?

One of the clips I watched, recommended putting
aluminum foil on the rack below the rack you rest your pan on, to catch any drippings from the oil/lard. I just coated it thoroughly, but didn't over do it. Turn the pans upside down, so as to eliminate pooling of the oil in the pan. At 350 for 1 hour, I had virtually no smoke. There is a definite odor, but I didn't see any smoke. I think your temperature would have to go well beyond 350 to get it smoking. Olive oil may burn at 350, but you wouldn't use that, anyway. Good Luck.

Have you tried in your Weber?

A lot of times, the dogs do a prewash on the pots and pans which necessitates a soap and water cleanup.

I usually reseason each time after wiping with a clean towel and thermal drying on the stovetop.

When the pan is hottish, I spray whatever spray oil I have in the kitchen (Safeway or Kirkland) and wipe with a paper towel.

I get the CI hot enough to where it just barely smokes and have the range hood on high. As that 'bakes' on, I'll spray/wipe a few times.

I've done bare CI like that, but it takes a bit o'time.

Heck, I have bead blasted and sanded a pan for a customer before. If it is rusted or rough, you can't hurt it. Its just iron.

Its the odor and the smoke...its bad, but it works

What Weber? I don't have any Webers.