Is this one of those - you get what you pay for?

[Mike S.]

I bought a CI dutch oven/outdoor dutch from Harbor Freight about a month ago. I really liked that lid was almost flat and could be used as an extra skillet on it's own.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-inch-cast-iron-dutch-oven-44705.html

I know it's a cheap alternative to Lodge etc., but should it be so much of a rust bucket?
I tried burning the "cosmoline" from the thing in the oven, when it looked clean, I seasoned the thing with grapeseed oil and then re-seasoned for the second time. When I tried using it, there was a layer of goo like substance at the bottom of the pot. I am assuming I went with too much of oil and should have turned it over upsidedown to avoid pooling.
So I put it into the oven again on cleaning cycle. Too bad I didn't think of taking pictures, but both the pot and the lid came out very rusty in some spots. I tried scrubbing it with potato and salt, not very helpful, switched to HD wire scrubber and baking soda. It cleaned of the most of rust and resesoned the pot, this time with coconut oil. After it cooled off I tried wiping access of the oil from the inside of the pot and got very rusty looking paper towels. Tried it for the second time, same orangy deposit, only a bit lighter color.

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Am I doing something/everything wrong?
Should I try electrolysis, or just make a literally "rusty" flower pot out of it and buy a Lodge?
Thanks,

 

[Doug D.]

Most bare clean iron will continue to flash rust until you get a seasoning on it. Washing it under cool running water with Dawn, scrubbing it with a stainless steel scrubber will help minimize it. Dry it with paper towel, then further by heating in a 200° oven. Then crank it up to 350-400 and then wipe on a thin layer of canola, PAM, or Crisco shortening. Then wipe as much off as you can with preferably a cotton terry towel before returning it upside down to the oven for 30-60 minutes.

I'm seeing a few of the salt and potato thing lately, and it's really just a waste of salt and potato. You also don't need anything exotic in the way of oil to put on a basic first seasoning, especially on a piece you intend to use.

See the topics here: http://www.castironcollector.com/restore.php for further reading.

 

[Mike S.]

Thank you for the links.

I guess I was doing it wrong to begin with. Following wrong recommendations :frown:

I also just finished seasoning the lid, but used grapeseed instead of coconut. Look at how different the pieces look and when I wipe the lid with paper towel, no residue at all and it feels slick as it should.

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I am tempted to try re-seasoning the pot with grapessed as well.
question: should I strip off whatever is there already or apply the new seasoning on top of what i got?

Thanks,

 

[JeremyT]

I found that grapeseed also went sticky on me on a CI pan I acquired. I ended up just using vegetable oil and then just started to use the pan and it ended up seasoning itself for the most part.

 

[RandyR]

Just use it, deep fry some fish and chips.

When all done, wipe out the pot as dry as possible, then place it in your oven At 350F for about 20 minutes, take it out and give it one more wipe down. Then place it back in the oven and crank it up to 500 F for about a hour, then let cool off in oven.

Nice and seasoned!


P.S.
Of course, wipe a nice layer of cooking oil on the outside too, so you get the all over seasoning!