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RESTORING CAST IRON COOKWARE - part 2
Part 1, the removal of grease and carbon,
was covered in the last issue on page 5.
After following the steps outlined there
you could have a piece that is fairly well
restored with little further effort unless
there was rust lurking under the grease.
If that is the case or if you are starting
with a piece that is obviously rusty, the
hardest part of the restoration is still
to come.
Steel wool, scraping, using a power wire
wheel, or acid dipping are all methods of
rust removal. Steel wool is slow and not
very effective except on the lightest of
rusts. Scraping is useful for areas
heavily encrusted with rust or on smooth
surfaces as you will find on the inside of
skillets, for instance. An old wood
chisel or sharpened screwdriver work well
as scraping tools. Be careful not to
gouge the surface of the iron when
scraping. Your editor has not had
experience with rust removal using acid so
will not report on its use here. Several
collectors have reported good results
using white vinegar, or other acids, from
lemon juice to muriatic acid. Are any
readers familiar with using any of these,
or other acids, who would be willing to
share their knowledge?
A wire wheel, mounted on a bench grinder
or other suitable motor, works well under
most conditions. The bigger the wheel and
more powerful the motor the better but a
6" wheel and ¼ HP motor are fine. You can
even use an electric drill with a wire
brush although it will be slow going. For
areas where a large wire wheel won't get,
try a cup brush in an electric drill,
useful especially for inside muffin pan
cups. Some rust is very hard to remove,
but if you flip the wire wheel over
occasionally it will act as if it had been
sharpened and cut the rust faster. Neither
fine nor coarse wire wheels will damage
CAST IRON COOKWARE NEWS is published
bimonthly by Steve Stephens. Copyright
1988 by Steve Stephens, All rights
reserved. No part of this work inay be
reproduced without written permission from
the publisher. Subscriptions are $15 and
begin with the January issue and end Dec.
31st. Regardless of when you subscribe
you will receive any back issues for the
year. Send subscriptions and all material
to; Steve Stephens, 28 Angela Ave.,
San Anselmo CA 94960 (415)453-7790
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the surface of the iron unless you apply
too much pressure for too long a time in
one spot. This is particularly true on
corners and edges of the pan.
A word of CAUTION: Always wear eye
protection when power wire brushing. The
wire brush will throw off some bristles
with enough force to stick in your skin.
This is harmless unless it is your eye
that is hit. Also, be very careful when
working with a piece with a bail handle.
The bail can be caught suddenly by the
wire wheel with disastrous results. The
editor had a bail wrap several times
around the motor shaft, fortunately with
no injury other than the ruined bail and,
thus, the piece.
Sandblasting is to be avoided as it
changes the texture of the pan's surface
and also makes it a lighter color.
Glass bead blasting might be a good
alternative and the editor has plans ro
try it out on some muffin pans with nooks
and crannies that can't be reached by wire
brushing.
A final cleaning of ground surfaces
(inside of skillets, tops of griddles,
etc.) can be done with a fine grit (80-
100 grit) wet or dry sandpaper. This will
leave the surface shiny but there is a way
to make it less so which will be covered
below.
Scour the piece with cleanser and a stiff
brush or steel wool which will remove any
remaining dirt and leave the piece clean
enough to cook in. Rinse and dry well.
Now, you can either oil the piece with your
favorite cooking oil OR, before you oil, do
the following; Put the clean, dry piece(s)
in a conventional oven and heat them to
475-500 degrees. They only have to stay
in the oven until it reaches that temperature.
When the pieces are cool enough to
handle wipe them with cooking oil. Some
people like peanut oil; others use solid
shortening. One collector even mixes lamp
black in his oil which makes the piece
almost black. What the high temp oven
treatment does is turn the iron quite
dark. If the piece comes out somewhat
bluish your oven is too hot so use a lower
temperature next time. The iron is not
harmed by being turned bluish. You now
have a restored piece of cast iron
cookware that is ready to season for use
or just to display as it is.
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An assortment of very early and fancy skillets in
the author's collection. Probably dating from
around 1860 to 1900, most of these were made with
one pouring lip which was usually placed on the
left hand side of the pan. Many have heat rings
on the bottom while others are smooth bottomed or
have very short feet. Common to virtually all of
these particular pans is a very high degree of
workmanship, casting quality and design.
