Re surfacing a cast iron skillet

[FTG-05]

I've done it before. It takes all of the old seasoning off. I've never had a problem.

When I was a kid, my uncles would have fish fries cooked over a wood fire on a grill on a huge cast iron skillet. When they were done, the would drain the grease, tie a rope throught hole in the handle and toss the pan in the cold water at the lake. It cleaned the pan instantly. They then coated it with grease and put it away for the next time.

It didn't warp, it didn't crack, it didn't cause the fall fo the Nation. It cleaned the pan.

Regardless of whether you've done it before, recommending that someone take cast iron, heat up in a fire, then hit with cold water is excellent advice if your intent is to permanently destroy the cast iron pan.

Cast iron cannot take fast temperature changes, whether it's high temperatures while the pan is cold nor cold temps when it's hot. That's a simple recipe for cracking and warping. - neither of which is fixable.

In short, it's very poor advice.

 

[CGVT]

Regardless of whether you've done it before, recommending that someone take cast iron, heat up in a fire, then hit with cold water is excellent advice if your intent is to permanently destroy the cast iron pan.

Cast iron cannot take fast temperature changes, whether it's high temperatures while the pan is cold nor cold temps when it's hot. That's a simple recipe for cracking and warping. - neither of which is fixable.

In short, it's very poor advice.

Thanks for your input. It works fine. I've yet to see a cast iron pan warp.

Relax and have a beer.

 

[CGVT]

Good you didn't have any accidents. This may not be the case for all pans.

Why would they do this each time they used the pan? All it takes is a quick wipe when it's cooled slightly. What the OP is talking about is a crust built up over years of use/misuse.

Most likely because they were drinking all day and they thought it was cool to toss the pan in the water an watch it sizzle.

We kids thought it was pretty cool.

I imagine the real reason was to cool it off quickly so they could put it away.

I don't know for sure. I was a kid.

I'm sure if he heats it up and hits it with water the crust will come off, probably with much less hassle than most of the other methods suggested in this thread.

It's a $1.00 pan. If it cracks from the rapid temperature change, what has he lost. If it works and saves him tons of hassle, it's a win.

 

[rs3902]

Thanks for the advise, but I'm not going to risk ruining it just yet. I've scrubbed like he'll, I even got a wire brush for my drill and took that to it. It worked, but it was slow moving. I'm going to try the oven cleaner tonight and some more scrubbing after the chemicals take effect. I didn't want chemical warefare on this, but desperate times...

 

[mmurray]

I can sadly tell you from personal experience that the cleaning cycle on an oven will 100% make your cast iron look brand new! I accidentally turned on the cleaning cycle and forgot my wife's cast pan that was handed down from her great grandmother... came out of the oven like it was coming out of a new box!

You friends with a neighbor that has a self cleaning oven? Bring them dinner and ask to use their oven!

 

[rekoob]

When mine are looking real bad I just run HOT water over it and scrap it off with my pizza stone scrapper. I have used oven cleaner on one before when it was really bad. good luck with the oven cleaner, I would keep a nice coat on it for several hours.

 

[hopjedi]

Odds are the piece you have is fairly old, possibly antique. I recovered a similar conditioned piece from my spouses late grandfather's estate and found after cleaning and research of mold pattern/marks, that it was cast between 1885 and 1892. I found a website called WAGS that helped me out. First thing to do is strip off old seasoning with spray on oven cleaner and place in plastic bag to keep it moist while it works. Remove from bag and scrub with brush under warm water to remove the layers of seasonings. Repeat as necessary. Or, soak piece in a lye solution. Or, use electrolysis. Descriptions of these methods can be found in detail on the WAGS site.
Never sandblast as you will remove some of the metal as well as the seasoning which will affect the patina. Always use brass brushes or plastic as steel will score the surface also.
When done, reseason and use for another hundred years.

 

[rs3902]

Thanks everyone for the advice!
After several coats of oven cleaner and soaking/scrubbing/ repeating for several days. The pan is fully stripped! Now that I can finally see the metal I can see that it is in fact a Wagner! I'm excited about it! Now time to re season and get cooking!!

 

[Homercidal]

Odds are the piece you have is fairly old, possibly antique. I recovered a similar conditioned piece from my spouses late grandfather's estate and found after cleaning and research of mold pattern/marks, that it was cast between 1885 and 1892. I found a website called WAGS that helped me out. First thing to do is strip off old seasoning with spray on oven cleaner and place in plastic bag to keep it moist while it works. Remove from bag and scrub with brush under warm water to remove the layers of seasonings. Repeat as necessary. Or, soak piece in a lye solution. Or, use electrolysis. Descriptions of these methods can be found in detail on the WAGS site.
Never sandblast as you will remove some of the metal as well as the seasoning which will affect the patina. Always use brass brushes or plastic as steel will score the surface also.
When done, reseason and use for another hundred years.

Why would I want to keep the patina?

I thought the whole reason for blasting was to remove everything but the bare metal and start seasoning again.

 

[rs3902]

So now that I've got this pan refinished, clean, and lightly seasoned. What is the best way to keep it in the best shape possible and get that great seasoning and nice black color without it getting all caked up and crusty like it was before? I know not to use soap, but what do I do when it needs some scrubbing?
So far I've cooked bacon, eggs, and a quesadilla and grilled cheese ( I was amazed at how nice and even everything cooked). And I just ran some hot water and wiped it down with paper towels. But I'm cooking a steak on it tonight and I think it's going to need a better cleaning after. So what's the best way to keep it in good shape?

 

[Cranny04]

After you've cooked your steak:

let the pan cool slightly

Pour a couple of table spoons kosher salt into the pan and mix with some of the fat in the pan

Take tongs and a bunched up paper towel and scour the pan with the salt and fat mixture.

Then clean as you normally would.

I also wipe the cooking surface with some crisco before I put mine away.

 

[FTG-05]

So now that I've got this pan refinished, clean, and lightly seasoned. What is the best way to keep it in the best shape possible and get that great seasoning and nice black color without it getting all caked up and crusty like it was before? I know not to use soap, but what do I do when it needs some scrubbing?
So far I've cooked bacon, eggs, and a quesadilla and grilled cheese ( I was amazed at how nice and even everything cooked). And I just ran some hot water and wiped it down with paper towels. But I'm cooking a steak on it tonight and I think it's going to need a better cleaning after. So what's the best way to keep it in good shape?

Continue doing what you're doing now plus once you're done cleaning it, put it on the stove and warm it up. Once it's completely dry, wipe it with a very thin layer of oil/crisco/lard on the cooking surface, elsewhere as needed.

Good luck!

 

[krazydave]

I read a while back when I was trying to re-season a pan that you shouldn't use vegetable oil to season it as it goes rancid and gets sticky.

And at the time, that's what I was trying and it was in fact sticky.

So I would agree with that and use lard or Crisco instead.

 

[dr_al]

throw that pan in a hot fire then let it cool, wire brush it, then work on reseasoning

 

[FTG-05]

I read a while back when I was trying to re-season a pan that you shouldn't use vegetable oil to season it as it goes rancid and gets sticky.

And at the time, that's what I was trying and it was in fact sticky.

So I would agree with that and use lard or Crisco instead.

Veggie oil, lard, crisco, it's all pretty much the same. If you have a sticky, rancid pan, then you a) used too much oil and b) you didn't get the oil hot enough.

The process of seasoning burns off most of the veggie oil/lard/crisco leaving only the hard carbon molecules behind. This is the hard black smooth non-stick surface you're looking for. Carbon can't go rancid like unburned oil.

You'll have to clean that sticky mess off the pan, use electrolysis, oven cleaner, lye, mechanical (sanding, flap paper etc.). Whatever you do, don't listen to the "throw it in a hot fire" types; note how they never tell you about the very real danger of permanently warping or worse, cracking your cast iron.

Then use very light and thin coats of your favorite oil/lard/crisco/whatever on slightly warm and dry cast iron, then heat it up in the oven to over 375 or so with the pan upside down so any oil doesn't collect on the surface. When I season or reseason my cast iron, I usually will take it up, in stages, to around 450-475 degrees or so. As I said, use very light and thin coats of oil; the surface of the CI should look almost dry.

Good luck.

 

[dr_al]

my bad, its worked for hundreds of years. it was a fast reply and i should have said hot brush fire, so the fire has no big bed of coals and goes out fast... but they don't make cast iron like the used to.

 

[Darrin]

I usually throw my skillet in a camp fire for a while. I imagine you could put it in a grill of some sort and get okay results. A wood stove would be another option. I have also sand blasted one in the past and that worked pretty good.

That's the best way IMO. Rust spots can be hit with fine sandpaper.