Cast iron help

[Night goat]

Hey guys,

Cast iron Help needed

My girl brought home some Dutch ovens, baking pans, and a fry pan that have been sitting in her grandmas garage for years....

Needless to say they are currently....orange.... Rusty as hell....

How do we revive these? I have half the mind the mind to sand blast them, but..... I know there is probably a better way

I have my personal cast iron collection, but, I only deal with occasional surface rust... Never revived anything this rusty, but means a lot to her....

Any oldskool techniques?

[Jason]

Don't sand blast them. Lots of good videos on you tube. Best way I have found for really rusty pans is to build a good camp fire and put them in it until it's glowing red. Then let it slowly cool. After that you can start the seasoning process.

[wadu1]

Lots of ways to clean cast iron, you can put them in a very hot fire or use the electrolysis method. Cast iron collectors use he later. Then re-season them.
http://www.castironcollector.com/electrolysis.php

[trophyhunt]

  and you can use electrolysis to remove rust, you tube will show how.  Worked on my Dutch oven. 

[trophyhunt]

Wadu1 beat me to it.

[magnanimous_j]

Try this:

https://www.amazon.com/Ringer-Original-Stainless-Cleaner-Patented/dp/B00FKBR1ZG

I use it very sparingly. It will strip the seasoning right down to the metal. If you get too carried away, it will also strip the skin right off your fingertips, as I learned the hard way. But it works really well.

[wadu1]

Wadu1 beat me to it.

I've got some cast from the 20's that were brought back to life using that method.

[vandeman17]

Holy crap, mags back from the dead.

[yakimanoob]

I was given a set of lodge pans when I went to college and like a young idiot let them sit and rust for a few years before I learned to cook like a normal human. 

I had fantastic results restoring them in an every-day self-cleaning oven.  Basically cooks the rust to ash, then you can wash, coat with canola oil, bake as high as your oven will go until it stops smoking, and let it cool in the oven for a couple hours. Repeat the oil/smoke/cool cycle 5+ times until they look beautiful. 

Time consuming, yes, but simple as can be and I now use them all the time. 

I've read linseed oil is the best, but I was broke at the time and canola oil did just fine for me.  Just make sure whatever you use has a smoke point as high as possible (as long as your oven will get beyond that smoke point to cure it on). 

Good luck!

[yakimanoob]

Couldn't find the guide I used, but this one does a pretty good job of explaining it:

http://commonsensehome.com/season-cast-iron-cookware/

[quadrafire]

If I do it again, I'll try electrolysis. I did a couple with spray on oven cleaner. It worked but was a messy ordeal.
I've played with several seasoning recipes, but find that crisco wiped on very thin and placed at 350 to bake for an hour. I wipe the pan several times to keep any drips or bubbles from forming, placing it in the oven upside down can help. I will repeat this several times then fry a bunch of Bacon to Christen it.

[superdown]

I was given a set of lodge pans when I went to college and like a young idiot let them sit and rust for a few years before I learned to cook like a normal human. 

I had fantastic results restoring them in an every-day self-cleaning oven.  Basically cooks the rust to ash, then you can wash, coat with canola oil, bake as high as your oven will go until it stops smoking, and let it cool in the oven for a couple hours. Repeat the oil/smoke/cool cycle 5+ times until they look beautiful. 

Time consuming, yes, but simple as can be and I now use them all the time. 
I've read linseed oil is the best, but I was broke at the time and canola oil did just fine for me.  Just make sure whatever you use has a smoke point as high as possible (as long as your oven will get beyond that smoke point to cure it on). 

Good luck!

  I have done this dozens upon dozens of times it's one of if not the easiest ways of cleaning neglected cast iron cookware. I collect vintage cast iron and sell what i don't need or want in my collection when i am done cleaning and restoring a light season to an item.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Hhhhmmm

[KopperBuck]

Flax oil is supposed to be the way to go for seasoning. I can't find it locally, but I'm gonna try it.

http://www.thekitchn.com/i-seasoned-my-cast-iron-pan-with-flaxseed-oil-and-heres-what-happened-224612

[runamuk]

I have sanded then put crisco and left in the oven. Just left it in there so it cooked oil into it every single time I used the oven.

I have scrubbed others with salt then same seasoning treatment. A couple weeks if baking seems to always work for me.  And then never ever put acidic foods in them, tomato sauce in cast iron is bloody heresy.