Lye Issues

S

StanleyC

New member
Hi guys.

I'm having some issues with stripping down my frypan. Ill start from the start in case It helps.

I recently got an old frypan from my parents (from the 80s), so I decided to strip it down. It's nothing special, it is a Chief brand with a wooden handle (Australia brand)

I first tried using easy off bam oven cleaner by leaving it on for 24hrs, but it still had a lot of crud as you can see in the images below.

Image Image

I washed it with soapy water and then heated it up on a stovetop to remove and residual water and then put it on high heat to try and remove some of the coating. After it cooled down I was able to peel off some of the season coating on the inside. I did this heating and pealing a few more times. It turned out quite nice I could see the bare metal! But not so well for the underside

Image

So I decided to try the lye bath for a faster result.
I bought some 98% Lye and put some in a bucket. Unfortunately the largest plastic container I had could not fully submerge it, so I rotate it every 12 hours or so :|

Image

Now it has been 2+ days and I am getting confused by the results.
I thought the peeling I did revealed the bare metal, but the lye has dissolved further and some of the logo is also starting to dissolve.

On the bottom there are still some parts that stick out and when I scratch them it shines, which makes me think its metal and not seasoning.

Image

Now my question is did I do something wrong or is this not cast iron? I assumed it was cast iron since it was quite heavy and the texture looked like gray cast iron. I put a magnet up against it after the lye bath and it wasn't magnetic(but there are some cast irons that are non-magnetic).

Any help will be appreciated!
 
Sounds like it is not cast iron. I have left cast iron in lye for a couple weeks with no problems. I know people have left stuff in lye for months with no problem.
 
It does seem like its not cast iron.

My doubts were that the lye might be the issue since the oven cleaner work fine with it. Also the lye I used is 98% sodium hydroxide, and I am unsure if the remaining 2% has an affect on it.
Another thing I was unsure of is not having it fully submerged, I wasn't sure if that would have an affect on it either.

But if its not cast iron what material would it most likely be? its heavy and looks like cast iron. :confused:
 
Does a magnet stick to it? If it does, then it may be cast iron. If it doesn't, it may be aluminum which lye will dissolve.
 
I only did like 6 skillets on lye bath and never had any foam on the container,if after 12 hrs you still have foam on lye,it is the chemical reaction from lye dissolving aluminum.fry pans and skillets are made of cast iron,ss,copper,titanium,and aluminum. Yours is not cooper,and the others materials won't be affected by lye,only aluminum.Say good bye to you skillet.
 
Dam I was afraid of that!

Guess Ill keep the lye bath and be on the lookout for a cast iron pan at an op shop, and ill definitely make more checks in the future to see if its cast iron before dumping it in lye :-D

Thanks for all your help!
Stan
 
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