Chrome plated cleaning

[S Walker]

Just picked this from salvation army. The inside is very dark, looks like someone seasoned it. What is the best way to clean it? Electrolysis or lye? Should the inside be plated or bare iron?

 

[Doug D.]

I'm not seeing anything in the photo that begs using electro. Lye and a little elbow grease would probably be all you need. Seasoning afterwards would be only necessary to the areas where plating has worn off. Plating appears to have been done to pieces in their entirety, although some pieces which have the plating totally and evenly worn off the cooking surface but are otherwise intact can make it appear that a partial plating was done.

 

[S Walker]

Here is a better picture of the inside.

If I E-tank it. Will the e-tank remove the chrome plating?

 

[Doug D.]

Parts of plating that are already compromised are at risk of being removed by electro, but intact plating is unlikely to be affected. But, again, I don't see anything there that looks like it could benefit from electro cleaning, which is primarily for rust.