Cast iron cookware "reconditioning"

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whoaru99

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Left my cast iron griddle thingy on the grill too long without use and it got pretty rusty.

Anyone else fiddle around with electrolysis to clean rusty cast iron?

The griddle is the cathode/negative, a piece of angle iron is the anode/positive. Solution is washing soda (sodium carbonate) and water.

It's hooked up to an old manual battery charger, running at about 10A current.

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fwiw, when we bought our current home in 1988 we discovered a smooth bottom 12" Wagner "Sidney" skillet sitting on the concrete floor in the corner of the basement utility room behind the water heater, covered with deep rust inside and out. It was so sad looking I nearly tossed it but eventually went at it with an angle grinder, wire wheels, and a light touch in the end with 240 grit flap discs. It came out brilliant, took seasoning very well, and it's been a go-to for meats from gas range to oven to propane grill. Very useful...

Cheers!
 
I just lightly sand it to get it kinda smooth and remove any loose rust. Wash it and dry it well, then use it just for frying stuff in lots of oil (chicken, potatoes, etc) for the first couple of uses to get it soaked with oil. The "seasoning" will build back up very quickly with normal use after that. I could be wrong but I think the rust catalyzes the oxidation of edible oils to make the varnish you want, so don't try to get all the rust off as long as the rust is stuck tight.
 
I can tell you one thing for sure. Don't listen to the usual advice about seasoning, i.e. baking oil onto your skillet at 350.

You want to use pork fat, not oil. Oil gives off blue smoke that makes your eyes burn. And you should season at 450, not 350.
 
Once rust is removed, on cast iron or mild steel, here is some free advice;

When I was working in commercial line kitchens, we used a high temp, neutral flavor oil. Sometimes in pro kitchens there is "high durability" fryolater oil, that works well. If there were solids on pan that needed to be rubbed off, we used a grill (cleaning) screen and/or salt as an abrasive.

These days, I'd use the highest smoke point oil I had, right now that would be refined canola oil, get it hot, turn on the fan, and scrub w salt if needed.
 
Even flaxseed oil (~250) works. It's all a matter of smoke points and adequate exhaust.

Polymerizing oil leaves a hard non-stick surface. Polymerizing oil sends off volatile compounds. You gotta do what you gotta do.
 
The smooth side probably could have been done somewhat reasonably with wire wheel and all. But, I messed around with working on the deeply ribbed grill side and said enough of that mucking around. Into the electric hot tub you will go.

The current has dropped off down to a few amps. Probably take a look in the morning and clean the anode, and flip it to side two.
 
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Bacon fat works well.

We had a deeply ribbed cast iron pan for years, not sure where it came from. Every time we used it was a smoke fest, some things did not cook right perched upon the ribs, and it was nearly impossible to clean without brute force. Life is too short for that so I tossed it with zero regrets...

Cheers!
 
I'm going to guess that you'll have a pitted mess by morning.

My best luck - either reclaiming surface rust or even with Lodge pre-seasoned - has been to use sanding disks until pretty damn smooth, and then at least two good seasoning cycles on a outdoor grill.
 
When I was a kid we dug up an old cast iron skillet in the side yard. It obviously was dirty and rusty. My grandad built a really hot oak wood fire in the driveway, put the skillet on it for a long while, pulled it out to cool, scrubbed it off, seasoned it in the kitchen oven with lard. Good as new.
 
Saturated fats re: polymerization.

Pork fat vs vegetable oils re: saturated fat concentrations.

It's not a question of works/doesn't work. It's a question of thoroughness.
 
DBhomebrew said:
Saturated fats re: polymerization.

Pork fat vs vegetable oils re: saturated fat concentrations.

It's not a question of works/doesn't work. It's a question of thoroughness.
Click to expand...

I've found that if I use a fast drying oil or one with a low smoke point, the "seasoning" flakes off because the oil hardens (polymerizes) before it soaks into the pores of the cast iron. But of course maybe I just didn't do it right; that's a real possibility :) I get the best results using a variety of oils and fats. Mainly just use the pans and the smooth slick finish develops naturally.
 
A side looking pretty good this morning so turned it over to let it work on the ribbed side.

Lots of rust muck/crud on the anode. Gave that a quick scrape down before I get ready for work.

Will check the B side this evening. Might have to go longer though as the connections aren't quite as clean as when starting so current is only around 5-6A.
 
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Agent said:
I'm going to guess that you'll have a pitted mess by morning.

My best luck - either reclaiming surface rust or even with Lodge pre-seasoned - has been to use sanding disks until pretty damn smooth, and then at least two good seasoning cycles on a outdoor grill.
Click to expand...

Naw, no pitting. Electrolysis cleaning is a thing amongst cast iron collectors / restorers, not something I dreamed up.

Far as sanding though, yeah, once I'm done with the electrolysis, I may look into that for smoothing the griddle side. They just don't cast and smooth them like they used to back in the day. Even one of my earlier Lodge pans is noticeably smoother finish than the later Lodge pans I've seen, but still not like the old Griswolds and such.
 
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I don't have experience with ribbed pans but the dutch ovens and frying pans I've helped restore or re-season are plentiful. first i use a stainless scrub bud and Dawn dish soap to get most of the rust off, dry it on the stove then make chili or spaghetti sauce. The acid in the tomatoes will remove the rust that's in the crevices. Most of the time if you got enough of the surface rust off you can't taste the minerals, if you do add more jalapenos. Again scrub with Dawn, rinse well and dry on the stove top. When hot use flax seed oil(3 link polymer) or high smoke point kind all over inside and out then put up side down on a 500* grill. Turn off the heat (kamodo user here) I shut the vents and the next day you will; have a non stick pan or pot.
 
To say I'm.pleased with the initial result is a bit of an understatement.

Basically, after the electrolysis and a quick pass with Scotchbrite to scrub off some residue and a rinse this is where it's at.

A few spots to clean up but this was quite minimal elbow grease so far.

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Big question now is how to store it over the next couple days.

I'm not quite done cleaning so not ready to season it just yet, but it will rust very quickly all stripped down.
 
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Decided to give the flaxseed oil a try.

Given the relatively low smoke point 225, what would be good seasoning temp? 250, 275, 300 maybe?
 
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Wow... despite the vent hood on high, that's some strong-smelling stuff when it's baking off.
 
Grill side near perfect.

Griddle side has a few small, out of the way spots of super-stubborn original seasoning that I didn't bother to go ballistic on.

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More stinky seasoning to come, but I won't bore you with more pan pictures. ;)
 
CornyKegs 300

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