seasoning cast iron - how to restart an old pan

[Meatpieandtatters]

Bigger spatula would be nice!

[woodnailsandglue]

Thank you for the video. I am in the process as I watch your video of restoring the Wagner 10 1/2 INCH I rescued from a local antique shop. I cooked it for a day in the hot coals in my wood stove and that did the trick. Now I am seasoning it.

BTW.. Who sang the song at the end of this video?

Thank you!

[therazz07]

That turned out Great!!

[avroarrow204]

Thanks - I liked your video

[diontoldme]

GREAT video! Seeing it in action really made the whole article (I read every word of it!) all come together. Thank you so much!

[heretic600]

you have a sweet set of tits

[meatloafzombie]

Vinegar Helps remove the rust.

[metallicarocks123]

One question, if you found it in a dumpster, why didn't you wash it with hot soap and water first? Ick lol.

[silvermediastudio]

@metallicarocks123 Because she baked it in a 900F oven overnight and brought it down to bare metal.  haha

[dasgemuse]

why not use steel wool?

[spystyle]

Cast Iron is great :) Teflon is poison !!!

[PaddyTheYankBastard]

@spystyle My fiance's parents bought us a big new set of nonstick pans for Christmas. They weren't happy when I explained about non-stick coated surfaces and PFOAs. Good thing they kept the receipt.

[sockermidget]

great video! thank you for the info! i'm off to check some dumpsters for my first cast iron pan!

[hagbard72]

That's mine. Send it back. Thanks! lol

[FatStupidAmerican]

I did this technique with great success, however I can't get all of the rest off. Any suggestions for removing the rest of the rust?

[paulwheaton12]

@FatStupidAmerican if you ask in the forums at permies i'll make sure to get you an answer.

[caintapi]

@paulwheaton12 Try sandblasting it for a thorough cleaning and start from scratch. It'll come out like a brand new pan.

[silvermediastudio]

@caintapi Many collectors won't buy a pan if it's been sandblasted.

[caintapi]

@silvermediastudio Oh yeah,of course. If you are selling it.If you do decide to sell,it should be mentioned anyway what was done to it. I am just talking about getting it completely cleaned the best possible way as if it just came out of the factory. Especially if you're keeping it,and using it at home for cooking. You are talking about selling,I am just talking about cleaning. We are not even on the same page. But, you are right about some collectors. Some like it restored,some don't.

[AdUtrumquePeratus76]

@FatStupidAmerican I restore antique cast iron equipment like ornate gas heaters, grain mills, apple peelers... here's a list of things that work for me. Wire brush by hand, but it really works well on a grinder, sand blasting with coarse soda or oxide media, soda removes oil and grease. Then there are the chemicals for hard to reach areas that won't contact food. CLR is pretty good, but Naval jelly is where it's at. put it on, let it sit, wire brush the stubborn bits, and the rust is gone.

[silvermediastudio]

@FatStupidAmerican Try harder.

[toastfart]

put the bacon in first

[914light]

VERY COOL VIDEO !!! but i don't have a self cleaning over ; (

[leopardabsurdity]

Just found a machined surface cast iron in the thrift store for 5 bucks! Because of this video, knew what to look for. After I get back from Rabbitstick Rendezvous and have a chance to clean it up, it will be replacing my porous bottomed pan. Wondered why that pan didn't seem to work as well as the pans I remembered.

[spiritartman]

Thanks. I will put it in a pizza oven for a few hours at a pizzeria (*

[spiritartman]

When cooking off do you have to actually do it with a cleaning cycle in the oven or can you bake it off for a few hours? Thanks!

[paulwheaton12]

@spiritartman in a few hours, you would just be baking it on.

[tcbink]

be careful doing this. My Mom did it once but put 2 or 3 pans on the rack and the rack bent under the weight and couldn't be bent back flat. She had to find a new rack for her oven.

[gdog48001]

This is a weird looking.. Oh this is a kitchen. Never mind everything is in order here.

[travishalverson]

For another small part of Paul's cast iron article, as sequential art, search for "two page comic" at permies.com.

[RonRay]

Well, ... I finally got to hear the original music to all your ending videos. :o)

[therealvirginiawind]

Good video! There's nothing like cooking with old cast iron. The stuff they make nowadays just isn't as good as the old stuff. Just look at the cooking surface of the modern stuff and you'll see it's rough right from the store. The old stuff was machined smooth, or something like that. I'd rather recondition an old skillet any day rather than buying a new one.

[spiritartman]

Thanks!!! great video. Does one have to use salt? as part of the process?

[paulwheaton12]

@spiritartman The salt definitely helps, so if you skip it, it won't be quite as slippery.

[mrzip14]

That was an incredible video. Never knew that it would be that easy to recondition an old pan.

[JimmysCrackhorn]

Now that's a nice feel-good video, and what a lovely finish!

[gossamermoonspider]

Awesome! Can someone tell me what song is playing at the end of the video?

[SuzyB1988]

Really nice demonstration.

[leopardabsurdity]

Cook's illustrated actually did a comparison of oils for curing cast iron recently and they said linseed oil won the comparison.

[modemac]

@leopardabsurdity However, we tested the results of the Cook's Illustrated article and concluded that flaxseed oil is no better than any other seasoning for cast iron. No worse, either. Look at the Cast Iron Cooking group on Facebook to see the results.

[fluxapocolypse]

@modemac

Peanut oil works amazingly well. My boyfriend is a vegetarian and he was uncomfortable with my use of bacon fat, which I used for years. When I found the peanut oil worked just as well, we were both ecstatic.

[tacticalnpractical]

I have had wonderful success removing literally 100 years worth of rust from steel straps by soaking them in white vinegar over night. Do you think that would work with cast iron?

[paulwheaton12]

@tacticalnpractical i dunno. mebbe. i would worry that it would also eat the iron. i like the fire approach myself.

[fourtwentytexas]

@tacticalnpractical

No. Too acidic. Use oil and salt.

[LowBudgetBushcraft]

Thanks for the vid. I picked up a couple at the flea market and this will help. I also tried cleaning the rust with katsup and that worked pretty good too.

[whackitov]

i had a set of iron pans once, i used to wash them in soap and water then place them on a gas ring until the moisture evaporated, then coat them with fresh oil. doesnt cause rusting and works great.....gotta be a cheaper option than running the oven overnight?

[glockman1727ak47]

Fantastic video. Great Article worth reading again.

[ninjasofpaintball]

Your stove is purple. I want one.

[paulwheaton12]

@ninjasofpaintball It actually is red when it is hot. the purple-ness must be something from the camera.

[BuffaloWarrior7]

@paulwheaton12 I believe its the infrared light generated by the heating elements in your stove. Most cameras don't have a IR filter so it shows up on video/pictures.

[TheRealShadowspawn]

@ninjasofpaintball it's purple because of the camera picking up infrared. Take your regular or even cell phone camera to an infrared remote sometime and look at it through the viewfinder while pressing buttons.

[LRSS46]

Is there another way to clean off these cast iron pans other than self cleaning ovens? I have 4 pans ready for treament. Thanks, great videos. LRSS46

[paulwheaton12]

@LRSS46 yes, there are other ways other than a self cleaning oven. check the article.

[KKreft]

@LRSS46 Easy Off, the lye eats the seasoning.

[rolling422]

nice advice and clear simple directions....beautiful lady too...

[bthaile]

That was a good looking pan. cast iron, love it!

[marthale7]

Excellent video. We used to sandblast our old pans and that worked very well. Cast iron and glass is what I cook with now that I know the evils of Teflon.

[RDJim]

would steel wool work with the oil to remove the old rust?

[MrMadmax478]

Great video Paul and Jocelyn. Excellent job you did explain how the process works. Thanks you.

[awareland]

So excited to get out my rusty cast iron from the camping gear!

[paulwheaton12]

@Velkoze1 I've tried using a grinder. Waste of time. Just use the pan for a long, long time with the right kind of spatula and all will eventually be well.

[paulwheaton12]

@Velkoze1 I have another video showing scrambled.

[palmbaylou]

Thank you for the video, I have a Griswold I picked up at the World's Longest Yard Sale. Now I know what to do with the bargain bin pans when I see them. Great information and I do like cooking with my cast iron, thanks.

[pac3lli]

Thanks so much for the vid!!  Been wondering what Jocelyn looks like after listening to her voice on the podcasts. By the way, I recognize that spatula in the video.. I read the article and bought the spatula :)

PS- Paul has this cast-iron-polymerization thing figured out.

[turnlow]

nice work P and J. nice work

[onecreativecriminal]

wow!! very formative video!! thanks for posting!

[MrSchpankme]

I always use a little sea salt with my oil, to help with the scrubbing action.

[MrSchpankme]

Cast Iron, the original non-stick cooking surface.

[heyerstandards]

anybody else get a 'nails-on-chalkboard' reaction to the paper towel rubbing inside the rusty pan-- whew! Thanks for posting.

[kevjay777]

2:11 snack time.

[man4cannabis]

good job. i worked in metal recycling and theres always things you want to save but i dont save much but when it come to those things if i see one i keep it i have about 10 right now all sizes lol thanks for vid

[vention4wh]

Man! That works so well! Why the blazes did they ever bother inventing Tefal and teflon? Geez!

Awesome find on that pan! Under all the grunge it was a Wagner! Nice one!

Before I bought my first cast iron pan I looked at a few and they were so rough I just shook my head in disgust. No way I could cook anything on that! Then I found a few better ones (Lodge brand) and now I use them every day.

Cool to see Jocelan after enjoying her humor on the podcasts for a while now.