How To Clean A Cast Iron Griddle With Rust

I make thousands of dollars a year—thanks, Hearst Newspapers!—so I can definitely afford a cast atomic number 26 griddle, which sells for nigh $30 on Amazon.

But a few weeks back, I was excited to find that someone had cast off a Lodge cast iron grill/griddle philharmonic on the curb in my neighborhood. To them, it was trash, or maybe but scrap metallic. But to me, information technology was treasure. I went out for a sandwich and came back lugging 20 pounds of iron.

The grill side of this double-sided griddle had accumulated a off-white amount of surface rust.

Ryan Craggs

This griddle was admittedly gnarly—filthy after sitting on a curb during a rainstorm, and rusted from neglect.

The flat side of the griddle looked as rough.

Ryan Craggs

But to me, a beautiful addition to my kitchen lay beneath the oxidation and grime.

Why restore cast iron?

Bandage atomic number 26 has a bunch of advantages that even a novice cook can capeesh:

• It cooks food more evenly than stainless steel
• It excels both on the stovetop and inside the oven
• It'due south like shooting fish in a barrel to clean
• With routine maintenance, it'll concluding forever

That final point isn't an exaggeration; Romans used cast iron in Pompeii two,000 years agone, and at that place are copious online forums dedicated to using, preserving and restoring cast atomic number 26 cookware. It's truly a buy-it-for-life product, and then some.

What about rust on cast iron?

Bated from burning meals by using the incorrect temperature, novice cooks are intimidated by maintaining cast fe. It'southward far easier than it seems, merely if information technology starts to rust, equally it did in this case, most people wouldn't be bothered to repair the damage. It'due south just $30 for a new pan or grill, afterwards all.

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Merely my dad was a Boob tube repairman in the 1970s, and I come up from a long line of poor hillbillies who fix things. To me, rusted cast iron screams "WEEKEND Project." I did something like about three years agone, when I also found a Gild 9-inch cast iron skillet on the curb. People really just don't take care of the things they buy, and find it's easier to just buy new things instead of fixing cleaved ones. Alas.

What you demand to set up rust on cast iron

Y'all tin discover tons of guides online most how to shrug off rust and re-season bandage iron, and you're reading a metaversion of that now. For superficial rust (i.e. it'south non completely falling to pieces), yous need just a few common household items:

• White vinegar
• A container big plenty to fit the pan
• Steel wool
• Baking soda
• An oil with a high smoke point (I used vegetable oil)

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Scotch-Brite Stainless Steel Scrubbers, 3 Count

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Arm & Hammer Baking Soda - 64 oz

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Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil, 64 Ounce

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How to repair rust on cast iron cookware

Repairing rusted cast iron entails about twenty to 30 minutes of real work. Some cast fe fans utilise Yellow Cap Oven Cleaner and a trash bag to fully strip seasoning, while others opt for electrolysis. I skipped both, as my pan wasn't in dire need of a full strip. If you choose to use oven cleaner, make sure you're in a well-ventilated expanse. And as for electrolysis...well, you're combining water and electricity. Make sure you know what you're doing.

In my novice approach, the bulk of the rust removal and re-seasoning involves soaking and seasoning, with a little fleck of scrubbing in between.

1. Fully submerge the cast fe in a 50/l vinegar solution
2. Let the pan to soak for about an 60 minutes
3. Scrub the pan with steel wool, and use baking soda for actress scrubbing ability
4. Rinse the pan and soak again, if needed
5. Dry the pan with a dish towel and either rut in oven or on stove top to evaporate all remaining h2o
6. Allow pan to cool, then coat with a sparse layer of cooking oil
7. Identify pan in oven at 450 degrees for an hour
8. Permit pan to cool completely in oven, perchance overnight
9. Repeat steps vii, 8 and 9, if necessary

To remove rust, soak the bandage atomic number 26 cookware in a l/50 vinegar solution.

Ryan Craggs

Place the cast iron in a 50/50 vinegar solution

Find a container big enough to fully submerge your pan in a fifty/50 solution of white vinegar and water. Vinegar will dissolve rust, but you don't want information technology to consume away besides much of the pan, so it's better to use a diluted solution.

Because of the flat, but long and broad shape of the cast iron griddle, I used a sheet pan for soaking. For normal cast iron pots and pans, employ a bucket or consider plugging your sink for this stride.

Considering of the griddle's size and flatness, I submerged it inside of a standard baking sheet.

Ryan Craggs

Soak the pan for near an hour

Afterward about an hour, the vinegar solution should take done its work (I soaked for near ninety minutes) but don't throw out your solution merely nonetheless! You may desire it for a 2nd soak.

After a soak, I dusted the pan with blistering soda and scrubbed with steel wool.

Ryan Craggs

Scrub the pan with steel wool

At this betoken, you may want to consider wearing latex gloves to protect your hands—while baking soda, vinegar and dish soap aren't harsh chemicals, they tin can still irritate your skin. And the steel wool can exercise a number on your hand if you apply it long enough.

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After the soak was over, I rinsed the pan and sprinkled with baking soda for extra dust. This isn't strictly necessary; the steel wool should be plenty abrasive on its own. Only I scrubbed the pan for about 5 or x minutes on each side, periodically rinsing to discard rust and to get a look at the pan'south surface.

Rinse, soak and scrub again, if needed

I put the pan back into the vinegar solution for another hour, just to tackle some of the tougher spots, then did some other round of scrubbing.

The pan afterward soaking and scrubbing, but earlier reseasoning.

Ryan Craggs

Dry out pan fully

After another rinse, I gave the pan a once-over with a clean dish towel. Considering of all the crevices between grill sections, and those niggling nooks forth edges and corners, I threw the grill on pinnacle of my oven range and turned on both burners. This evaporated all the remaining wet on the pan's surface and readied it for seasoning.

I used a thin layer of vegetable oil on the pan and put it in the oven for most an hour.

Ryan Craggs

Apply a thin layer of high fume point oil

Allow the pan to fully cool before you start this stride, and pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and then it's close to ready once you've applied oil.

As for what oil to use, avert olive oil, as it has a low fume point. With cast iron, layers of oil go through a process called polymerization, which means that they fuse together to create that smooth, blackness surface you see in ads and on Idiot box.

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Avocado oil or Crisco are bang-up choices, just I used plain old vegetable oil for this function because it's inexpensive and I had it handy. Utilize a rag or newspaper towel to spread an even layer of oil over the entire pan, but wipe off excess oil. The pan should non be dripping with oil; yous just desire information technology to exist coated fully.

Place the pan in the over at 450 degrees for i 60 minutes

Put a layer of aluminum foil or a canvas pan on the lesser rack of your oven to take hold of potential drips, and then place the bandage iron on the heart rack of the oven. If you're seasoning a skillet, place the skillet in upside downwardly. For the griddle, I placed in grill side down. Get out the cast atomic number 26 in full estrus for 1 hour, then turn off the heat.

Allow the pan to fully absurd and admire your handiwork

After turning off the heat, I let the pan sit down in the oven overnight to fully cool before giving it a await. It came out gleaming and looked nearly brand new—non 100% perfect, but pretty close. And afterward all, I'd be throwing on nutrient with more oil, so I wasn't worried about the pan being a work of art. That's the dazzler of cast iron: Y'all can beat out the hell out of it, and it'll just go on doing its thing.

The end result: A like-new griddle and grill.

Ryan Craggs

Post all about it on social media to the wonderment of your friends

If its non on Instagram, information technology didn't happen. I posted photos of this process, including the final result, and I had about twenty people DM me near it. Clearly, my followers have a soft spot for hard iron.

And the next day, it did a smashing job grilling calamari for me. Information technology'south a fun toy to play with in my kitchen.

Fruits of the ocean, grilling on the fruit of my labor.

Ryan Craggs

Thank you to whoever threw this griddle in the trash—you helped make net history, and dinner for me.

Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may go paid commissions on editorially called products purchased through our links to retailer sites.

Ryan Craggs is the Director of Content Marketing for Hearst Newspapers. Electronic mail him at ryan.craggs@hearst.com.

Source: https://www.sfgate.com/shopping/article/cast-iron-rust-repair-reseasoning-15538355.php

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