Cast Iron Pot

Bill B · January 06, 2019, 11:16:19 PM

So I was rooting around in the basement and found two cast iron Dutch ovens. One is a well known brand Wagner that is going through its second round of seasoning. Can't wait to use it, the other is a turn of the 19th century, was going to call "turn of the century" but hey we are in the 2000's now

. Anyways this is a N. Brighton with a heat ring and "gate marks". Thinking of trying the electrolysis method, there's a lot of crusty stuff to remove. Bill

thorhammer · January 06, 2019, 11:27:25 PM

Bill, you can wire brush it, wipe it out, then scrub with a half potato coated with salt. I will send you a tube of seasoner oil I swear by, rub it down then fry a full batch of taters in canola oil and discard. you will be good to go after that; just wipe down after use with the stuff I send or veg oil, not bacon grease. Animal fatty acids taint good for it. clean only with hot water and a scotch brite pad MAYBE, or rag, no soap. Shoot me yo address, I have to send some stuff to Alan, Tom and Dominick and will get it out asap.

John

mo65 · January 06, 2019, 11:27:51 PM

Hey Bill, we soak 'em in lye water...it eats everything off back to bare iron...then you can season it.

Brewcrafter · January 06, 2019, 11:54:13 PM

My techniques when reviving abused cast iron: take it camping and throw it in the fire for the evening (literally build the fire on top of it), then hit it with the wire brush the next morning. Take it back to "from the foundry" condition to begin the seasoning process...
I suppose you could also bead blast it clean with the proper media.

Bill B · January 07, 2019, 01:05:32 AM

Thanks guys for the advice. It's pretty crusty inside and what looks like cement, the rust looks like a piece of cake with a wire brush and some scrubbing. John, pm sent, I just finished a Wagner Dutch oven using oil and the result was so so. Bill

Frank · January 07, 2019, 11:14:28 AM

I have had great luck with putting them in a self cleaning oven for a cycle. They come out like brand new.

CapeFish · January 07, 2019, 11:16:30 AM

Those are great, after you have cleaned out all the rust and gunk fill it halfway with cooking oil and heat eat up till the oil catches fire, wait for all the oil to burn out, pot good to go and you won't have any metal tastes

Dominick · January 07, 2019, 08:25:52 PM

The best seasoning oil for cast iron is flax seed oil or food grade linseed oil. Dominick

Bryan Young · January 07, 2019, 09:10:42 PM

Nice Dutchy Bill.

My old Japanese remedy for rusty cast iron from my grand aunty is to boil the cast iron pot in a mash of Okinawan sweet potato (purple sweet potato) and water. Something in the sweet potato will naturally eat away at the rust leaving you a clean cast iron pot. I have yet to try but my grand aunty swears by it to clean rusty cast iron tea pots.

JoseCuervo · January 07, 2019, 10:43:04 PM

Quote from: Bill B (Tarfu) on January 07, 2019, 01:05:32 AM
Thanks guys for the advice. It's pretty crusty inside and what looks like cement, the rust looks like a piece of cake with a wire brush and some scrubbing. John, pm sent, I just finished a Wagner Dutch oven using oil and the result was so so. Bill

You might get a lead test kit to be on the safe side. A lot of weights were made from old wheel weights melted down in cast iron pots.

Rob

Dominick · January 08, 2019, 01:11:57 AM

Jose, if that were the case wouldn't there be an obvious ring of lead in the pot? Dominick

JoseCuervo · January 08, 2019, 02:41:23 AM

I don't know Dominick, but would tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to food and safety, for the most part

. I am also no metallurgist, but have seen a couple of lead stained pots (my dad has one he melts solder in to sweat a copper pipe railing that is lead all over the bottom, not a ring) and one with a shiny ring only. I think the lead only sticks to cool(enough) metal so it may depend on if you are using a charcoal fire like my dad, a forge with the whole pot red hot, or somewhere in between (a propane torch maybe). This is just a theory..

There may be no need to worry, but was this basement pot a family heirloom or a garage sale find?

I don't think a visual only inspection is safe without more information available. They used to seal food tins with lead and that turned out very bad.

Rob

Dominick · January 08, 2019, 03:13:51 AM

Okay...I got it. Dominick

PacRat · January 08, 2019, 04:31:08 AM

Thanks for all this great advice...I love cast iron.

Bill, What are 'Gate Marks'? Also. if I were you, I would want to know what the 'cement' like substance is. I would assume that the porosity of cast iron could really hold on to lead even if it looks cleaned out. I think a lead test kit is good advice.

Dominic, Flaxseed oil has been my favorite oil for seasoning. I have a friend who use to work at an oil distributer and she swears that flaxseed and linseed are one in the same but that flaxseed is safe for human consumption but that linseed has additives. I know the difference between linseed and boiled linseed is that boiled has a solvent like mineral spirits added so that it will dry. Regular linseed stays sticky without the solvent. Just to be safe flaxseed should be considered optimum.

My Grandpa gave me my favorite pan. He had a pile of them in his yard and I asked him for one. I picked out a very rusty Griswald but it had the best feel and balance. That pan just gets better and better with age, I would never part with it.

Now that I got my comments out of the way, I have a question. My newer pan is a lodge. The casting texture is very course. Does anyone know if it would be advisable to run an orbital sander around in it to smooth out the texture or will it smooth out on it's own as the black builds up? My Griswald had deep pits from the rust but now after many years is as smooth as a baby's bottom.

Bill B · January 08, 2019, 04:35:30 AM

Rob, there is no history on this DO. The outside of the DO looks like it was used on a wood fire due to a large amount of charing on the bottom. Inside is as expected rust but there is a white/yellow hard and smooth coating around the top 2". At first thought it was eanameld but it is too coarse to be enamel. I'm thinking either cement or animal glue. Gonna try the electrolysis method this weekend to see what I get. I have a lead test kit and will give it at test after.

PAC, gate marks are formed during the casting process where the molten iron was poured into the sand mold. Gate marks are not found on CI after about 1910. It is used as a way to date early CI. As I'm just getting into the history of CI, the older CI has a finer grain, thinner side walls, and lighter than contemporary items.

Here's a link to a good website on cast iron.....http://www.castironcollector.com/cooking.php

I can see this cast iron becoming an obsession.....kinda like fishing reels 😱

Bill