toughest pans ever

J

JMoss

Member
About 2 months ago I bought a #5 Century BSR and a #8 heat ring Wagner that appear to be in good shape in spite of having been used over camp fires. The Century spent 4 weeks in the lye bath (after two weeks I added another pound of lye because the pan was not getting clean) and then spent about three weeks in the electrolysis bath. I scrubbed and scraped it on a regular basis and last Monday I gave up. The vast majority of the pan looks just like it did when It left the foundry but there are still baked on carbon spots on the cooking surface. I know this won't hurt the performance of the pan but I would like to get it clean. The only thing I can think if now is to wet sand the surface with some 400 grit (or finer) wet or dry sand paper. Have any of you tried that?

If anyone has any suggestions please share them. The Wagner has the same tough baked on carbon after 6 weeks in the lye bath. I put it in the electrolysis bath yesterday but it showed no results this morning. Unlike the BSR I do care about doing a really good job on this pan.

Thanks for your help

Jack
 
I have occasionally had pans with those carbon "warts" that just don't want to come off. Luckily, the last one was on a pan that turned out to be quite pitted, so I decided to try my hand using something I otherwise would not have. Being careful not to let it slip and keeping the leading edge flat on the metal, I went after them with a 1" putty knife, and at least got them down to the level of the metal. A stain persisted, but one that would blend in after repeated use. If I felt the need to use this tactic again, I think I'd round off the corners of the blade with a grinder in order to minimize the chance of scratching.

Wet sandpapering on a polished surface won't likely leave artifacts, but on an "as cast" surface will. You get an uneven patina with those shiny highlights like a pan that has been wire-wheeled.
 
I've used some 220 grit sandpaper and had fine results. 000 steel wool works well too and the steel is softer than the iron so likely won't damage the surface.
 
If you can mow your neighbor's lawn in exchange for them putting your skillets in their self cleaning oven next time they clean you will find your pans come out free of carbon.

I use a 1" putty knife, old sharpened screwdriver or chisel, and wet or dry paper (wet) on the polished inside of a pan to clean and scrape being careful to not gouge the iron's surface. That's if the usual lye doesn't get all the carbon off.
 
After you sand the surface it will be shinier and brighter than normal. To make it darker heat the pan to 425 deg. in an oven for about 10 minutes.
 
I use 80 grit wet or dry using it wet. My thinking about "abusing" a pan with sandpaper is that it was originally ground on the inside and has endured decades or more of scraping with a spatula, etc. so a little sanding shouldn't hurt it and may even help it. I sand only on factory ground interior surfaces, never on the as-cast surfaces. Usually a few minutes on a pan is all it takes as I am not trying to remove carbon other than some minor areas that the lye didn't remove altogether.
 
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