Cast iron

[Special T]

Your not likely to have lead leaching out of the iron, but where do you think all the steel from Chernobyl went? US mills are pretty carefull about radiation contamination, but china.... Not so much. It think there goal was dilution..

[quadrafire]

Just for entertainment I looked this up.
  I guess I been doing it wrong, but oh well...
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

Interesting read.

[quadrafire]

Just for entertainment I looked this up.
  I guess I been doing it wrong, but oh well...
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

I have a 10 in, and a 12 in cast iron skillets, both in need of proper seasoning. one was about 5 yrs old, the other about 30. (neither are collectables) I have only washed with water, but they were in sad shape, sticky and couldn't fry chicken without losing the skin. I thought what the heck----- I'll strip 'em and start over.
I thought about electrolysis, but didn't have anything handy for the anode. So I used the oven cleaner method. I sprayed them both, put them in a plastic garbage bag and checked in 24 hrs. a bunch of "gunk" came off, but still needed more treatment. (my wife bought the low odor "weak stuff"). I scrubbed in a sink with warm water and a brillo pad, until any loose debris was removed. Then dried and reapplied more "weak" oven cleaner. I repeated this for 5 nights. (Hint---Use extra strength). Finally all the years of build up was gone and I was down to bare metal. Then I took 320 wet/dry sandpaper and gave it a good scrub in the water.
I went to the store to get flax seed oil. $20 for 16 oz (organic) Don't know if this was really necessary, but i'm in it now (what's left will get eaten on my cheerios).
I soaked the now clean skillets in water, and washed w/ dishsoap and rinsed again. Put them in a 200 oven to dry. "Man do they rust fast". I used an old T-shirt, but paper towels would be fine. I rubbed each with the flax oil, covering every nook and cranny. Wiped with dry cloth so there were no pools/drips.
Place in oven that was resting at 200, cranked it up to 525 when it came to temp I set the timer for 1 hr. let cool to 200 then repeated. I am on the 3rd cycle as we speak. They are slick when they come out. I have the oven fan running as it stinks up the house a bit.  For the next treatment using a hot pad to hold, I re-coat with the flax oil, and wipe off the excess. It is tempting to let more remain for a build up, but I am trying to be patient.
(Don't want to see the electric bill next month) LoL.
I think I will be keeping my eyes open at garage/estate sales for old cast iron. It is definately worth the effort.
In the future I may try electrolysis just for the heck of it.
I will update after 6 or 8 cycles of seasoning.

[quadrafire]

After 5 rounds of oiling and baking, the surface of these looked outstanding. Nice patina, kina bronze colored. They will blacken with more use.
I put the #10 to use this morning. I thought frying an egg would be a good test. A small amt of canola oil and heat added the egg, looked beautiful until I tried to turn it...... ugggg that sumbitch was adhered like glue. All that effort. What the heck. I am at a loss. This seemed like it would be perfect.
I have the other skillet to try. Maybe I will be frying bacon in it for awhile before I try a fried egg.
If any of you try this method of stripping and coating with flax seed oil let me know.

[NRA4LIFE]

Did you add the oil before heating?  If so, try it the other way around.

[quadrafire]

Did you add the oil before heating?  If so, try it the other way around.

yes

[quadrafire]

PS: Do not spray the oven cleaner anywhere near your wifes non-stick baking sheet.... Just saying.
She now has an aluminum baking sheet.... she just doesn't know it yet 

[washelkhunter]

Oh..........that is bad. 

[Ice Cap]

Once you have seasoned a cast iron pan it needs to be used several times before it will start to be a non-stick surface. That nice patina it has from seasoning needs heat to turn it into carbon. The more you use it the better it will work!

[quadrafire]

PS: Do not spray the oven cleaner anywhere near your wifes non-stick baking sheet.... Just saying.
She now has an aluminum baking sheet.... she just doesn't know it yet 

PSS: Can't use oven cleaner on aluminum. I am ruining my wifes kitchen rapidly.

[pianoman9701]

After 5 rounds of oiling and baking, the surface of these looked outstanding. Nice patina, kina bronze colored. They will blacken with more use.
I put the #10 to use this morning. I thought frying an egg would be a good test. A small amt of canola oil and heat added the egg, looked beautiful until I tried to turn it...... ugggg that sumbitch was adhered like glue. All that effort. What the heck. I am at a loss. This seemed like it would be perfect.
I have the other skillet to try. Maybe I will be frying bacon in it for awhile before I try a fried egg.
If any of you try this method of stripping and coating with flax seed oil let me know.

[quadrafire]

Haha. I'll try to pull it out of the trash before the garbage comes to show the carnage. LOL

[quadrafire]

These 2 pics were after stripping and the seasoning process. I had heated them on the stove top a couple of times as well (with some crisco) . Not sure what the dark spots are. I have a gas cook top, maybe there are hotspots on the burner  . Kinda dissapointed after all the work, but will keep at it.

The other pics show what not to do!!!! The pan on the left was a very nice non-stick baking sheet. I had the pans on it when I sprayed the oven cleaner. It is now a stripped steel baking sheet (you can see some of the remnant nonstick in the corners. The Right pan was a nice plain aluminum cookie sheet. Had a bit of grunge that i thought I could remove easily. (Didn't read the label on the oven cleaner). Not for use on aluminum.
It is toast.
Wife was pissed, but not surprised, as I tend to F a lot of things up.

If I find a good yard sale cast iron in poor shape I will photo document from the beginning of the process. 

[wraithen]

Pretty sure the dark spots on those skillets are the "good" parts as far as doing it well. My stuff was the grey color and I used the bacon fat technique. Cooked it a couple of hours in the oven and then turned off the oven and let them sit til I needed them or the oven. Instant nonstickines and works until I leave something in them too long and have to scrub. Then I just do touchups. After every use I just get the pan really hot on the stove and rub some veggie oil on it. Haven't had any issues doing it the old fashioned way. 

[quadrafire]

Yea.... I think I may have overdone it a bit. Good learning experience. The metal is in good shape regardless, so could always strip and get a do-over.

I have some venison sausage cooking as we speak, and it is not sticking at all.