Restoring cast iron (1 Viewer)

[Goatman Saint]

I need some help, and hopefully some of y’all can give me advice. My father in law is bringing down a stack of ancient family cast iron that was laying in a barn. Rusted, some had oil stored in it (automotive not cooking) and in generally horrible shape. But, me being who I am he threw it in a box for me. Other than putting a sanding disc in my die grinder and just sanding it out, any advice on how to rebuild these essentially? They are far beyond SOS pad and vinegar

 

[evilsaint]

Fine wire wheel and a die grinder then re-season.

 

[egautr1]

This is a good question. My M-I-L is a cast iron collector and has resorted and re-seasoned a bunch of them.
She buys them off ebay and then restores them. Do you know what brand they are? Her favorites are Griswald and Wagner which i believe were made in PA.
Anyway there are several ways to do it and this article explains it a lot better than I could and I believe is the same process my MIL uses.
She usually does the Lye method or the Oven cleaner to strip it and then slowly re-seasons it by coating in oil and baking at high heat UPSIDE DOWN in the oven with a pan underneath to catch the excess oil. She will do this several times until she has a good 'coat' on the pan.
The article below is a good starting point. You should post some before and after pictures if you do it. I love cooking with cast iron. Good luck!!

How to Restore Rusty and Damaged Cast Iron Skillets and Cookware

These are the best methods for stripping off old seasoning, getting rid of rust, and making old, damaged, and vintage cast iron skillets, pans, and cookware as good as new.

www.seriouseats.com

 

[Goatman Saint]

This is a good question. My M-I-L is a cast iron collector and has resorted and re-seasoned a bunch of them.
She buys them off ebay and then restores them. Do you know what brand they are? Her favorites are Griswald and Wagner which i believe were made in PA.
Anyway there are several ways to do it and this article explains it a lot better than I could and I believe is the same process my MIL uses.
She usually does the Lye method or the Oven cleaner to strip it and then slowly re-seasons it by coating in oil and baking at high heat UPSIDE DOWN in the oven with a pan underneath to catch the excess oil. She will do this several times until she has a good 'coat' on the pan.
The article below is a good starting point. You should post some before and after pictures if you do it. I love cooking with cast iron. Good luck!!

How to Restore Rusty and Damaged Cast Iron Skillets and Cookware

These are the best methods for stripping off old seasoning, getting rid of rust, and making old, damaged, and vintage cast iron skillets, pans, and cookware as good as new.

www.seriouseats.com

I will. I love cooking with it also, and have my grandmas set that I’ve added a couple pieces to as the years have gone on. Maybe some day I’ll steal my moms good stuff but until then.

 

[BroKV]

Between my cast iron and smoker, I am in heaven.

 

[Saint_Ward]

People who restore cast iron cookware are going to give you better practical advice than this metallurgist. That link above seems great.

It depends on how much rust.

However, your only options are mechanical abrasion, then heavy re-seasoning. The real key, if you have to remove substantial material, is to keep it as flat as possible, don't over shoot the abrasive, use the least amount possible to do the job.

Other than vinegar, citric acid is good at removing rust from most steels/irons.

How It's Made

Where is Lodge Cast Iron Made? Learn step-by-step how cast iron is made at our Foundry, the oldest and longest-running cast iron manufacturer in the USA.

www.lodgecastiron.com

Cool video from Lodge cookware, how they make their cast iron cookware. They do use steel shot to originally clean them, but older cast iron is usually a lot smoother, so you don't want to ruin that, if you can help it.

 

[Yoweigh]

This is the method that's worked for me:

First, get yourself some Barkeeper's Friend and a metal scrubber. Go to town on the cast iron piece and remove everything you can get off without too much trouble. That should get rid of the nasty parts.

Next, put it in the oven on a self clean cycle. That will burn away what's left of the existing seasoning layers. Now you should have a clean but probably rusty pan.

Scrub with barkeeper's friend and hot water until the rust is gone. Dry immediately and put it on the stovetop to cook off what moisture is left.

Once it's nice and hot, rub it all over thin layer of an oil with a high smoke point. (I use grapeseed) Cooking surface, underside, handles, all of it. Wipe it down again to make sure the oil layer is super thin, but be careful not to leave bits of lint. Now put it in the oven a few degrees above the oil's smoke point for an hour. It will polymerize and become a nice coat of protective seasoning.

Repeat that oil rub -> oven step a few times for good measure.

 

[staphory]

I would be concerned with the pieces that hat had automotive oil on them. You really need to remove that as some of the additives are nasty.

 

[Swamprat]

Love my black iron...used to tell the kids if they saw the black iron or Magnalite on the stove first thing in the morning, it’ll be a very good day!

In fact, gave our oldest son black iron pot for Christmas.. first dish will be deer sauce picquante this weekend.

 

[Madmarsha]

I would be concerned with the pieces that hat had automotive oil on them. You really need to remove that as some of the additives are nasty.

This is def. what I was thinking. Personally, I just wouldn't.

Then again, there's probably people still using pans with flaking non-stick coating.

 

[Madmarsha]

I love my cast iron but as I get older, I'm gonna need a lot more upper body strength.

 

[Zack Lee]

I have not been left much from relatives but I have kind of become the collector of all the cast iron. I have my great grandmothers, my grandmothers and I have my great aunts Deutch Oven. I have a few other pieces that I picked up like my fajita pan. All are in great shape except the Deutch Oven so this is a great thread, thanks!

my great grandmother raised my grandfather and mother (and even me for my first 8years or so) and hardly ever cooked in anything else.When I look at that thing I often ponder just how many meals that is lol

 

[Maxp]

Using the electrolysis method is by far the best way to restore old cast iron cookware I have seen.

 

[flygirl]

I need some help, and hopefully some of y’all can give me advice. My father in law is bringing down a stack of ancient family cast iron that was laying in a barn. Rusted, some had oil stored in it (automotive not cooking) and in generally horrible shape. But, me being who I am he threw it in a box for me. Other than putting a sanding disc in my die grinder and just sanding it out, any advice on how to rebuild these essentially? They are far beyond SOS pad and vinegar

I use nothing but cast iron. I have a cast iron wood stove in the kitchen of my cottage, and while I do have backup, I heat my cottage with the wood stove. PA winters can be cold. All of my stovetop cooking is done on top of the wood stove, with cast iron skillets, Dutch oven, etc. While I am fascinated by the "battery charger electric" way of cleaning cast iron, (google it), it also terrifies me. All of my pots and pans were bought at yard sales, so if they are rusty, I throw them in a raging campfire for an hour or so. Pull them out and scour until grey, then season them. I suppose even cleaner could save some work, but I've never tried that. My life is literally "Little house on the prairie", and I love it. If it weren't for my Amish neighbors keeping their freezers in my outbuildings, my electric bill would be $35-50 a month.

 

[Goatman Saint]

I would be concerned with the pieces that hat had automotive oil on them. You really need to remove that as some of the additives are nasty.

Those I’ll probably throw in a fire and then bead blast to clean and go from there. If all else fails I’ll just polish the inside and then finish from there