Cleaning The Ultimate Easy Fast Way

T

TFlood

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Folks,

Why not this? Brass bristle brush on the end of a drill. So fast. So easy. Attach to drill. Drill-clean piece for a few minutes. Done.

Right now, I have a frying pan in an electro-bath. It takes a long time, has a big setup, and some cleanup. If it's fine to just use the brass brush on the pan, then I can't see why I'd continue with electrolysis, even though its interesting.

Tom

---------- Post added at 05:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:30 PM ----------

Additional bonus: no flash-rust possible.
 
The brass color will transfer to the iron. Not good. Difficult to remove. Even worse if you work it too aggressively and mark the iron or change its surface texture in any way. Those experienced in using a wire wheel or brush and power tools will tell you to use a stainless steel brush and practice on a cheap piece of import iron before risking damage to a collectible. Collecting organizations today advise against it altogether. Electro and lye have come to be the methods of choice because they pose no risk to the iron.
 
OK fair enough. Now, what about for just a newer, non collectable lodge frying pan, that's only for cooking and not for show. I just need non-stick performance. Brass brush, steel brush, or neither?
 
Non-stick is more a function of seasoning and cooking technique than of cleaning method. I have an old 1950s Lodge #10 that was factory polished smooth as glass and a 1970s one that was unground. Both are well-seasoned from use and cook equally well. The later one originally had a bad seasoning on it I removed with lye; the older was coated in surface rust I removed with electro.
 
I have been wire brushing my iron for over 30 years, always with a steel wire wheel, not stainless steel which would be expensive and might be more aggressive to the cast iron being harder than the mild steel (I think) of the inexpensive 6" wire wheels I use. I have never seen a 6" stainless steel wire wheel but, undoubtedly, they must exist.
 
The collecting community has tried the "science based" flaxseed oil method and found it wanting. As have I.
 
Sorry, doug, can reiterate? Not sure what "wanting " means here. And I presume you refer to the seasoning link I posted.
 
Meaning lacking in a certain required or necessary quality. "they weren't wanting in confidence" synonyms: deficient, inadequate, lacking, insufficient, imperfect, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, flawed, faulty, defective, unsound, substandard, inferior, second-rate, poor, shoddy. (Not belaboring the point, just copied from an online dictionary entry.)

It all sounds good in theory, and it looks good when applied, but there are repeated reports of it flaking off in use, enough to make most of the experienced collectors who have tried it just go back to the old standbys, Crisco, canola, PAM, etc.
 
Yeah, you know, I actually found it worked good in the past on an older lodge pan with a smoother surface. Now however, with a newer lodge that has rougher surface, the flax oil seasoning was coming off back down to the bare metal upon scrubbing off some egg that really stuck to it. It was the first use (cookin' some egg) and it was one of the thin green scrubby pads I've always used.

http://www.sourcingmap.com/kitchenw...owl-dish-scrub-cleaning-pad-pcs-p-271772.html

Is there a good posting or something you can direct me toward for instructions of your old "trusty" seasoning method?
 
About the instructions..
Is it necessary to do an incremental pan heating for coats 2 and beyond? Perhaps you can just heat the pan enough to melt the crisco, then wipe excess, then put in at 500 degrees.
 
Bear in mind the steps I describe on that page are just one way of going about it. You can look at a half dozen youtube videos on the subject and each will be slightly different (and each will say their way is the way it must be done). The important parts, however, are getting the pan clean (using the popular methods) and dry (best done by getting it hot), and applying the oil/fat in an extremely thin coat before baking it. Some like to raise the iron to 500° before applying any oil/fat, in order to darken the iron itself and help even out residual dark spots. Some like to tie the temp to the smoke point of the oil, or to always let the pan completely cool in the closed oven before proceeding further. But you can be successful with a range of temperatures and times. Crisco works, PAM (original) works, as do a few others in getting that first base established. One or two coats is plenty for rust prevention and storage, and for a base to begin cooking on that will only improve in time.
 
Doug, I found your recommendation to use cold water to reduce the flash rust on a raw cleaned pan to be very effective. I did a quick towel dry and immediately put it in a 200° oven and slowly raised the temp to 500° and left it for an hour. This gave the CI that wonderful dark patina that you mention. I let it cool to about 200° and then started my seasoning.

I find the comments on flaxseed oil interesting. I am a sucker for a scientific approach vs an anecdotal approach, so I am using flaxseed on my first couple of Griswolds. I almost want to do a pan half flaxseed and half grapeseed (or Crisco/Pam) so they would both have the same treatment and usage as far as heating/cooking/cleaning. Has anyone done that?

I am using flax on a mint large logo #12 skillet that looks like it was never used, the milling marks look like they were machined in yesterday. So far I have about 4 coats of flaxseed, but haven't cooked in it...yet. I guess you don't want to mix oils...right? Maybe I will just put a couple more flaxseed and then start using it.

Here are a couple of pics with just mineral oil...it is quite a beauty! I'll post some pics after I finish the flaxseed seasoning.
 

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Well done, DSpang. Doug, do you think that if I have a new Lodge, have done proper stripping and a few coats of crisco, should it be able to perform as a non-stick surface for eggs? Or, would such performance only develop after a lot of use?
 
An initial seasoning really only serves to ward off rust and establish a base coat. You'll need to cook with it, and probably use a little more oil/fat than usual until you get a substantial seasoning built up.
 
Doug D. said:
An initial seasoning really only serves to ward off rust and establish a base coat. You'll need to cook with it, and probably use a little more oil/fat than usual until you get a substantial seasoning built up.
Click to expand...
So do you even do more than one or two coats of the "baked on" oven seasoning? Do you just coat it once after cleaning, bake it at 500 to seal the initial coat and then continue the seasoning process by cooking in it?

What is YOUR favorite oil?

I realize that more coats may be needed if kept as a collector, but I am talking about a skillet destined for use.

Thanks!
 
Like most, I started out using Crisco, then tried refined grapeseed and liked the results a little better. For user pieces, I just oven season the one time and wipe down with a little canola or PAM, as I also do after each cook and clean. For collection-only pieces, I like USP mineral oil, because it looks good and doesn't get sticky in storage. I put a nylon zip tie through the handle on those to remind me in case I want to use them at some point.
 
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