Cast Iron Cookware discussion thread...

[kronin323]

IDK about cast iron specifically but usually cleaning off old wear-and-tear on vintage collectibles devalues them. But recall these BS&R pans aren't really valuable from a collector's perspective and people refurbish them all the time.

Of those pans, the 10" skillet had by far seen the most use. Not rusty but really gunked up. Unfortunately I didn't take proper "before" pictures but I'll tell ya, there was so much buildup on the bottom that it'd completely buried the heat ring. Then the outer sides had thick, pebbly buildup.

I tried the steel wool and soap but barely made a dent. Switched to using an old utility knife to cut and scrape the stuff off. Made better progress, got rid of the stuff around the heat ring and some of the stuff on the sides. But still, it was going to take forever.

Ended up using a 3" crimped wire wheel brush with a drill. Here's a pic after my initial test to see how'd it work. The streaky lines in the cleaned part, that's part of the remaining seasoning.

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This pic also shows more of the rock-hard buildup I was having to deal with, after some removal already...

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I only had a little time here and there to work on it, especially since I was limiting the duration of each session to avoid burning out my drill. And some of this stuff would take minutes of concentrated action from that wire wheel before it would come off. But as I made progress, it was looking amazing as bare cast iron...

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But I still had a ways to go. There was still some stuff on the bottom inside the heat ring area, and about 1/5 of the outside still looked like this...

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And the inside had this thick ring that I hadn't even tackled yet...

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While meanwhile I'd already worn out one wire wheel, was having to start another...

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This weekend I was working on it again and tried removing some of that inner ring. It was just as tough as the outside part! I was like, "at this rate, it's gonna take another month or so just to strip this thing..." So, I decided to try the self-cleaning oven trick. Besides, my oven needed some cleaning anyway...

The self-cleaning cycle runs at about 800 degrees for four hours and breaks down anything organic. And it worked amazingly well! Here's it coming out of the oven; the brown stuff looks like rust but it's actually the burnt seasoning...

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While the sections I had already polished clean remained pristine...

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Some soap, water, and steel wool removed it but there was still a dull grey residue with hints of brown. I hit it with the wire wheel and it came right off easily. I was able to clean the entire pan in less time than it'd been taking me just to work a small section...

So next was reseasoning it. I'm using the flaxseed oil method I mentioned earlier, though this time I'm baking it at 500 degrees. I've done three coats so far and plan on at least eight. I'll save any more pictures until it's done...

But this has been so easy, using the oven self-cleaning method. The other pans, I had planned to mostly just touch up those, but now I'm thinking of treating them like this one, strip them completely and reseason from scratch...

Remember the gunky old pan I posted earlier? It now has 8 coats of seasoned flaxseed oil and is done. It turned out beautifully, though not perfectly... The shine on these is not fresh oil, that's the baked on seasoning, perfectly dry...

You may notice some spots and stuff on the cooking surface. They are entirely cosmetic and have no texture; the thing feels smooth as glass. What happened? Two things...

The lighter spots, after cleaning it to bare cast iron I put it on the stove for a minute to dry completely. At the same time, The Wife was cooking a batch of her stinky chicken wings (one of the like only three things she knows how to cook). They spattered a little bit on my pan and left those stains, wouldn't come off...

Then those darker patches - when seasoning, you first apply a layer of oil and then you wipe off the excess. You really have to go after it, wipe it as dry as you can. On my second round of seasoning, I didn't wipe it well enough and those dark patches are the result, excess oil pooling up. But again, entirely cosmetic. This thing is like twice my age and now it's like a new pan.

 

[kronin323]

So how does it cook?

Tried some eggs, the best non-stick test. Even though it's seasoned with 8 layers of flaxseed, it should still be considered "young" seasoning and a little more oil than usual should be used until the seasoning matures better. So, scrambled eggs...

After just using a wooden spoon to remove the eggs, it already only had this left in the pan. My non-stick anodized aluminum, though admittedly well-worn, doesn't perform this well.

And this is after wiping out with a paper towel. No water, no wok whisk, just a wipe. Perfectly clean. I'm amazed.

And the breakfast tacos were pretty yummy, too...

That was yesterday. Today I cooked up another batch of scrambled eggs with the same result. But The Wife likes her eggs sunny side up, the most difficult test. And here we go...

I didn't even have to use a spatula to remove them, they just slid right out. And again just a paper towel wipe got it completely clean...

While The Wife got to enjoy perfectly cooked sunny side up eggs...

So, this reseasoning method is a success, in my book.

 

[kronin323]

Next project, another 10" pan, this one a deep skillet for frying.

Next to the one I just reseasoned...

Note is has the same thick layer of buildup near the top of the sides...

And the bottom doesn't have a heat ring...

While the lid, that top handle identifies this as one of BS&R's Red Mountain series, the earliest of the three series they manufactured...

And the underside, the irregular positioning of the dimples identify it as an earlier Red Mountain example, later ones had them geometrically spaced. This thing might have been made as early as the 1930s...

 

[kronin323]

First, stripping off the old seasoning with a session in the oven using its self-clean cycle...

Before...

After...

Then all cleaned up...

How it looks as bare cast iron next to some seasoned stuff...

And it's now oiled and in the oven for its first of 8 layers of flaxseed oil seasoning...

 

[NoFair]

Got some flax seed oil on the way

 

[kronin323]

Got some flax seed oil on the way

Hope you made sure it's the 100% stuff; a blend won't work very well, or so I've read...

 

[kronin323]

That deep skillet and lid are done. Some before and after pics...

 

[dh4645]

I have a nice big lodge brand one. Always thought we'd use it in the firepit but think we've only done it once in like 6yrs

I even bought a special thing to pick up the lid

 

[kronin323]

I have a nice big lodge brand one. Always thought we'd use it in the firepit but think we've only done it once in like 6yrs

I even bought a special thing to pick up the lid

Are you talking about the camp dutch oven, like this?

(random internet pic)

 

[dh4645]

It's probably that size, but does not have that nice lip on the lid to set coals.