What to Do Now?

A

Amy W.

New member
We got a dutch oven at a church tag sale. It says DO and a 10 on it. I am trying to clean it. It had crud, so I did the oven cleaner for about 5 days. We squirted it off, and let it dry. Now it is covered in light rust, but wasn't before. What step next? Vinegar? I appreciate your help. I can't wait to cook with this!
 
If it wasn't there when you rinsed it off, you have what is called "flash rusting". I try to get my stripped & cleaned iron dry as fast as possible by towel drying it and immediately sticking it in a 250 degree oven for 15 minutes. Even them I'll usually get a little, especially in high humidity. The good news is it's nothing to worry about. It'll wipe off when you apply your first coat of seasoning. More very good info on initial seasoning can be found here.

http://www.castironcollector.com/seasoning.php
 
Amy W. said:
thank you so much. so DO NOT use vinegar? and it is SO humid in Ct right now.
Click to expand...

vinegar... or really any mild acid that you want to use... is for loosening up heavier rust (more than just 'flash rust')... if you want you can probably just wash it with cold water and use a 'scrubbie' pad... or you could just rub it with a little bit of very fine steel wool... or as Doug mentioned, when you go to put oil on it for the seasoning process... the rust will be wiped away in the process of rubbing oil on... and then rubbing it back off during the initial seasoning.
 
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