Media Blast cast iron pans/kettle?

[pancho400cid]

I came into possession of some cast iron cookware including a large (18" ) frying pan and a kettle (you know... short, stout, with handle and spout and removable lid...)

Never seen a kettle like that but looks like you could set it very near/in the coals of a campfire and have boiling hot water pronto.

All the items are rusty - especially the inside of the kettle. I'm leaning toward wire wheeling most of the surfaces, but can't wirewheel inside the kettle very well.

I'm tempted to media blast it. I have a HF portable blaster that I have coerced into actually working.

As for media I have black beauty coal-slag media which tends to leave a "tooth" on the blasted surface. I could also try walnut shells or...???

Obviously I will scrub with lots of soap and water to remove the abrasives, rinse thoroughly and re-season after cleaning.

Comments? Thanks!

 

[ratdoggy]

How about a scotchbrite or some steel wool with dish soap?

 

[ssdave]

Do electrolysis on it to remove the rust. Depending on whether it's pitted or not, that may be all it's needed. I've done dozens of cast iron pans with electrolysis, that's the way to clean them up.

 

[rlitman]

Lodge shot peens their stuff. That's a great way to get a good surface on cast iron. Abrasive media isn't going to give as smooth a finish (it'll be toothier), but I suppose it could be used for cleaning. Have you got glass beads perhaps?

The only trouble I'd have with media blasting a frying pan is the question of what else is in the media. If you're blasting in a cabinet with used media, I'd be concerned about lead contamination, either from paint the media has been used to blast, or from the heavy metal contamination that comes with coal slag. Walnut should work on the carbon but I don't believe it'll do anything to the rust.

As for the kettle, these were not made to drink from that I know of. They're made to put on a wood stove (though I keep mine on a crane in my fireplace) to make steam. They're always going to be rusty inside, and any water you have in them will always be nasty with rust.

 

[Kaizen]

google season rusty cast iron. like said depends on your amount of rust. cast iron is so good because it builds up a coating. this coating makes it smooth over time. blasting with anything more then plastic beads might do some damage. i'd try and do the methods on the internet before I blasted it

 

[Zeke]

Do not remove any carbon deposits. I use a rotary wire cup and for the stubborn stuff I break out the knotted wire cup. Meanest MF'r in the cabinet. This will burnish the metal. Wipe down with a damp cloth if you must — I use mineral oil.

If you blast them you will have to burnish them any way and you won't benefit from any carbon deposits in the pores which is what seals these things.

They are ready to be re-seasoned after burnishing, which to the cast iron freaks is a religion of it's own. You will have to cook something sacrificial before you cook any meals. Avoid boiling meats or thin soups at first and NEVER wash them.

My wife belongs to some sort of nazI CI group on the web. These people are so snobby about all of this that they closed up to new members. wtf? Anyway, she seldom participates but rather gleans all the info and passes it along to me. Then I decide what shop tools will get the job done.

BTW, if they are real rusty, they may be a lost cause. When rust is down in the pitting you have to decide if it's worth it. You can cook a couple of sacrificial acidic meals like tomato soup (be sure to add oil, butter, something to your recipe) and let that acid go after the deep down rust. Believe me, it will and you will taste it.

If you go this route, they still have to be seasoned after surface cleaned and may have to be re-seasoned after the soup. That's the thing with CI, treat it just wrong and it will fight you. Treat it with care and Teflon is a thing of the past.

Healthy eating!!

 

[strutaeng]

scotchbrite and lots of cheap bacon to season.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Do not remove any carbon deposits. I use a rotary wire cup and for the stubborn stuff I break out the knotted wire cup. Meanest MF'r in the cabinet. This will burnish the metal. Wipe down with a damp cloth if you must — I use mineral oil.

If you blast them you will have to burnish them any way and you won't benefit from any carbon deposits in the pores which is what seals these things.

They are ready to be re-seasoned after burnishing, which to the cast iron freaks is a religion of it's own. You will have to cook something sacrificial before you cook any meals. Avoid boiling meats or thin soups at first and NEVER wash them.

My wife belongs to some sort of nazI CI group on the web. These people are so snobby about all of this that they closed up to new members. wtf? Anyway, she seldom participates but rather gleans all the info and passes it along to me. Then I decide what shop tools will get the job done.

BTW, if they are real rusty, they may be a lost cause. When rust is down in the pitting you have to decide if it's worth it. You can cook a couple of sacrificial acidic meals like tomato soup (be sure to add oil, butter, something to your recipe) and let that acid go after the deep down rust. Believe me, it will and you will taste it.

If you go this route, they still have to be seasoned after surface cleaned and may have to be re-seasoned after the soup. That's the thing with CI, treat it just wrong and it will fight you. Treat it with care and Teflon is a thing of the past.

Healthy eating!!

This is what I've done with my CI cookware. Works every time.

Wear a mask when using the wire wheel (as if that needs to be said)

 

[Zeke]

BTW, our pride and joy is a 20" skillet that is great for paella.

 

[n8n]

Do electrolysis on it to remove the rust. Depending on whether it's pitted or not, that may be all it's needed. I've done dozens of cast iron pans with electrolysis, that's the way to clean them up.

This.

Also, to clean up caked on cooking debris, lye crystals and/or oven cleaner before electrolysis are the win.

I have yet to find the perfect solution for what to do between electrolysis and seasoning. My last batch did not turn out well as the oil I was using for seasoning didn't want to flow flat on the cast iron. I read on another thread here of someone using a vinegar rinse/dip, I may try that on the next few I try to do. (some of my cookware is pretty bad; it just needs to be stripped back to iron and started over. Such is life when you buy cast iron at thrift stores.)

 

[csp]

Self cleaning oven cycle to take them down to bare metal, followed by electrolysis to remove the rust.

There's lots of info on the web on how to season. I use Crisco for mine and I do wash them every time they are used. Never in the dishwasher, but always by hand. We use our 15+ cast iron pans and skillets for almost every meal cooked on the stovetop and many in the oven as well.

 

[Capt Chrysler]

My son did a bunch last winter with Evapo-rust. http://http://www.evapo-rust.com/

Capt. Chrysler

 

[pancho400cid]

nazi CI group

LOL! I'd love to join just to ask what kind of dish soap is best for CI!

Hmm....

Hadn't though of Evap-o-Rust. I have most of a gallon of it.

None of this stuff appears to have any cooking gunk on it. Just rust. I agree the gentler the better.... just cleaning inside the kettle is going to be an issue - really rusty.

Also as said... some concern about what's left after the blasting. Guess I'll start with gentler measures and see how it goes.

 

[ssdave]

Electrolysis is real easy inside a pot. Fill it to the brim with washing soda solution. suspend a large bolt or other steel item in the middle of it, don't let it touch and make sure the hookup wire is not shorted to the pot. Hook up the positive terminal of your 12 volt battery charger to the suspended bolt and the negative terminal to the pot. It will foam a lot, and the rust will all be magically removed over a day or two of "cooking'.

You can wire brush it off as needed through the process, it may need to be brushed to completely remove the rust. Brush off the black crud that forms on the bolt also, and it will work faster. Continue the alternating brushing and electrolysis process as long as needed to get it clean. Usually takes about 24 hours to do a moderately to heavily rusted pan.

 

[j p smith]

Look at the threads under "Cast Iron Skillet Restoration" in the Fabrication & Techniques section

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Regardless of how you do it, you'll almost definitely need to season them again for a while before they start really making tasty food. For that matter, never use soap or detergent on any saesoned cast iron cookware.

Tommy

 

[KEH]

The way I was taught to clean iron ware was to build up a good wood fire and let it die down to a bed of coals. Put the iron object into the coals and cover with coals. When the iron gets red hot remove it from the coals and allow to cool slowly. If something is rusty to the point of being pitted, the rust will be removed but the pits wont. Iron will be left with the gray color of new iron. Will have to wire brush some residue from seasoning off.

KEH

 

[Zeke]

This.

Also, to clean up caked on cooking debris, lye crystals and/or oven cleaner before electrolysis are the win.

I have yet to find the perfect solution for what to do between electrolysis and seasoning. My last batch did not turn out well as the oil I was using for seasoning didn't want to flow flat on the cast iron. I read on another thread here of someone using a vinegar rinse/dip, I may try that on the next few I try to do. (some of my cookware is pretty bad; it just needs to be stripped back to iron and started over. Such is life when you buy cast iron at thrift stores.)

So you endorse electrolysis but it doesn't work out for you.

Can I get a little help over here, please?

 

[ZRX61]

If you're blasting in a cabinet with used media, I'd be concerned about lead contamination, either from paint the media has been used to blast, or from the heavy metal contamination that comes with coal slag.

I'd be more concerned with not knowing where the pan has been for the past 60 years...

 

[Zeke]

I'd be more concerned with not knowing where the pan has been for the past 60 years...

Geez, it's a iron pan. Sorta inert. By the time it's seasoned it ought to be sterile. AFA lead is concerned, and any other metals that aren't radio active, I would certainly think that the cleaning, seasoning, sacrificial cook up would just about negate anything that could be wrong.

However, if it glows in the dark, throw it away. Better yet, take it to the hazardous waste depot so they can contain it in 5 feet of concrete and ship it to Utah on Uncle Sam's dime.

 

[csp]

For that matter, never use soap or detergent on any saesoned cast iron cookware.

Soap or detergent won't touch the seasoning on a properly seasoned pan. I do it EVERY day.

 

[BearsFan315]

Same here, i have a dutch over set, and a standard fry pan all Lodge, only thing i cook in. i get done with them, wash them, let them air dry light coat of oil. btw i used dawn dish soap. thing is i never let them sit and soak for any extended period. best to clean them while still warm.

Lodge has some info on rust and reseasoning... Seasoned Cast Iron Use and Care

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.

something that caught my attention on their site: Don’t use in the microwave

 

[StingRay]

If you decide to media blast get rid of the media afterwards. I blasted the outside of a skillet that had been used over a fire and was all caked with ****. The blast media was so contaminated with oils that it was useless after that. You couldn't solder a joint or paint a part that had been blasted after that. Had to change out the media in the cabinet for it to be useful again.

 

[n8n]

So you endorse electrolysis but it doesn't work out for you.

Can I get a little help over here, please?

It does a fantastic job on cleaning, and leaves a good surface for paint prep... just the last step apparently needs to be different before reseasoning

here is another thread on cast iron skillet rehab

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=265151

although honestly unless they are exceptionally crusty or rusty (now I've had both, which is why I've taken a few down to bear metal) I'd probably just scrub them up real well with a chore boy pad or something to smooth out the carbon layer and reseason rather than completely stripping.

Last one I did I bought on a flyer because I thought that I could see a hint of a Griswold logo; that's how crusty it was. Turns out it *was* a Griswold but not a "real" one, it was one of the later Griswold-branded Wagner castings. Still a nice skillet and worth the $12 I paid, but probably not worth the time I've put in it and the storage tote that I threw out after using it for a lye bath and then electrolysis

 

[garmar]

Do not remove any carbon deposits. I use a rotary wire cup and for the stubborn stuff I break out the knotted wire cup. Meanest MF'r in the cabinet. This will burnish the metal. Wipe down with a damp cloth if you must — I use mineral oil.

If you blast them you will have to burnish them any way and you won't benefit from any carbon deposits in the pores which is what seals these things.

They are ready to be re-seasoned after burnishing, which to the cast iron freaks is a religion of it's own. You will have to cook something sacrificial before you cook any meals. Avoid boiling meats or thin soups at first and NEVER wash them.

My wife belongs to some sort of nazI CI group on the web. These people are so snobby about all of this that they closed up to new members. wtf? Anyway, she seldom participates but rather gleans all the info and passes it along to me. Then I decide what shop tools will get the job done.

BTW, if they are real rusty, they may be a lost cause. When rust is down in the pitting you have to decide if it's worth it. You can cook a couple of sacrificial acidic meals like tomato soup (be sure to add oil, butter, something to your recipe) and let that acid go after the deep down rust. Believe me, it will and you will taste it.

If you go this route, they still have to be seasoned after surface cleaned and may have to be re-seasoned after the soup. That's the thing with CI, treat it just wrong and it will fight you. Treat it with care and Teflon is a thing of the past.

Healthy eating!!

I must have run across this group inadvertently. I've only been there one day and already left and blocked the page. I made the mistake of answering a question about how everyone cleans rusted CI and I mentioned that my Dad works at a place where he has access to a bead blaster that shoots plastic beads and has been restoring old pans my Mom finds at yard sales for 10 years. I got mugged for "advocating" a process that destroys CI. I did some research and found this thread and apparently part of the process of making CI pans is they blast the living **** out of them with steel shot! How could plastic beads destroy CI?

I even got an official warning from of of the dozens of admins that runs that page. I didn't even reply. Just left because you can't argue with crazy.

 

[cowboy73]

LOL! I'd love to join just to ask what kind of dish soap is best for CI!

The not using soap to wash cast iron is only true if it isn't seasoned properly. A little soap won't hurt a cast iron pan that has a nice seasoning. My grandpa did most of the dish washing at his house. Always used soap and water to clean the cast iron skillets. After he was done rinsing them off, he would set them on the stove with the burner turned on low to dry them off.

 

[larry4406]

I bought a large blast cabinet and in the cabinet is a large cast iron roasting pan 12x20. Says Made in USA on the bottom and the letter "D" stamped under one handle.

Item has been blasted many times. Prior owner used it as a parts pan while blasting. Nice smooth appearance without pits. Wife wants to wash it, season it, and use it.

Thoughts?

 

[driftpin]

Used cooking utensils, whether spoons, ladles, or pots/pans, are one thing I would never consider buying or using. Simply-put, how do you know what they were used for? And, is it worth your health to find out?

Now I'm sure plenty of people will reply, "why, I bought a used dutch oven (or frying pan, or whatever) and it works just-fine!" Good for you, I'm glad, but I would never use or buy anything used.

Generally, cookware isn't very expensive, unless you're buying some gourmet cookware whose price is as-inflated as its reputation (Staub, le Creuset, both of-which my wife uses). Let's just say, the stuff was used in an illicit drug production facility, and ended up in a yard sale, consignment shop, craigslist, or wherever you find used items. Now you want to use this in your home? No thanks.

I'll buy new, because the potential risks aren't worth it to me. Having been in more than one 'crank' production facility, as a firefighter/paramedic, and fire inspector, and knowing the steps that the federal government takes to dismantle them, I just don't want to accept the risk, however remote. Maybe someone used it to mix diazinon, DDT, or some other carcinogenic, toxic substance before it ended up in the yard sale. Nancy Reagan was right, "just say, 'no.'"

 

[Tim Kennedy]

When I was a kid, my mom would clean her cast iron skillet with salt & wax paper --- sprinkle a liberal amount of salt in the pan/wad up a section of wax paper & have at it. When she was done she just rinsed it with hot water & dried it --- good to go.

 

[Stuart in MN]

This discussion is still going on?

Media blast it, wash it, never wash it, buy only new - it's all okay, you're not gonna die no matter what you do.

 

[GreyOwl]

With any used cast iron cookware it is almost mandatory to get a lead test kit from one of the local hardware stores. Melting lead in a cast iron pan will definitely ruin it for cooking unless you like a little lead poisoning
Mild soaps will not harm the seasoning but any lye based soap will strip the seasoning.