Best way to remove rust from cast iron cookware?

Ratman667

Ratman667

As the description says, I was given a 6 quart cast iron pot. The guy I got it from said it had been sitting on hit porch for over a year. Needless to say, it was covered in rust. I got all of it off and a good bit of the pitting out with a wire wheel.

The lid, however, has little nipples (for lack of a better word) that makes it nearly impossible to clean with a wire wheel. Burning it is out of the question. Everytime I burn one, I crack it...

That all said, what is the easiest way to remove the rust?
 
You need to season it. Google about how to. Sometimes you need to season it twice. Follow the directions specifically, and you'll have an awesome pot!
After that, stew will never be the same without that pot.
Good luck!
 
I usually buy my cast iron at flea markets, thrift stores etc., needless to say some of it has 1/4 inch or more of 'crust' on it. I have found the best way to clean/restore it back to original condition is running it through the Clean Cycle on your oven...if your oven is self cleaning. Usually I use the lowest time setting, 2 hours, and it comes out nice and light grey in color.

CAVEAT...IF the cast iron is poorly made or of cheap materials (made in china or taiwan) you run the risk of it cracking. However I have done this with 10+ pots and skillets and never had one crack.
 
I buy a lot of garage sale cast iron, usually pretty rough, steel wool and elbow grease seems to work well. The grill actually seems to do a better job of curing, coated in crisco at about 400 degrees.
 
Seasoning won't be a problem. Most of my cookware is cast iron. Most of what I have came from garage sales and flea markets and needed little if any work. I use my oven and fatback to season them when needed.

The pot in question had severe rust problems. Almost a 1/4" thick in some places. The wire wheel I used on the rest of the pot doesn't go in between the "nipples". I have tried steel wool. A handheld wire brush seems to work but, I might take me a while to get it knocked down.

I did some searching on google and decided to try a pickle bath with vinegar and water. I'm going to check it in the morning. I am hoping to get it cleaned up and seasoned before this weekend. I want to make some chili!
 
I let the vinegar mix set in it over night. This morning, most of the rust rinsed off with water and a rag. A little steel wool and elbow grease got the rest off.

Gonna get some fatback this evening and should have everything all seasoned up for some bhut chili this weekend. Yes there will be beans.
 
I'll forgive the beans part IF there's pictures!
And if there's booze, post on the 'Drunken Chef' then, bring the beans!
Booze pics req'd in at least 1 photo, fun req'd in all....

I'm Jarred....
 
I do electrolysis all the time, works very very well. Since it's cast, you don't need to worry hydrogen embrittlement.

You can put it in a bucket of molasses and it will strip rust right off.

If you want something quicker, good old rust converter will have in done in a couple of mins.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I used the vinegar like I said, but I am going to look into the electrolysis, as I have several smaller skillets and corn bread pans that I found at a garage sale this morning that have a fair bit of rust on them.
 
kauaidundee said:
If you know anyone that does sandblasting....it works great!
Click to expand...

+1...but if you don't have a sandblaster, just take a hand full of sand and rub the rust off...nothing better than natural ol' sand and water...but you WILL have to season it again...
 
steel wool (like SOS) and once clean rub with oil and try to always have a small oil coating to prevent rust later on.

you can also heat it a bit before using oil. it will have a better effect.
 
You really should remove rust before seasoning. The best way short of electrolysis to get the rust off is white vinegar + water + heat. Let soak a little while then go at it with steal wool. I've heard you can also use coke in place of vinegar. Season it quickly after this because it will start to rust again quickly.
 
Coca-cola works really well because it has hydroflouric acid in it. I know a navy cook who used it to clean the ship's bell when the salt air oxidized it and it was his duty section's turn to clean/polish it. If he couldn't get Coke he used government issue kool-aid that they called "bug juice".
 
Coke has phosphoric acid (H3PO4) in it not hydroflouric (HF). Phosphoric acid is relatively weak and the concentration in coke isn't very high. I don't think you'd want to drink HF or put it in coke since it can readily dissolve glass. Coke actually has low concentrations of carbonic acid as well because of the carbonation reacting with the water but I think vinegar would probably work a bit better to strip the rust because of its lower pH.
 
Sounds like you got the rust problem knocked out...for initial and maintenance seasoning I use cheap vegetable oil spray...It makes it easy to get a nice even coat then cook it in the oven till it starts to smoke, turn the oven off and leave it in till cool. Repeat as necessary. Then just spray and wipe again after each use and it'll get better and better with time. I use the same procedure on my cast iron smoker and even spray it over rust...so easy, spray a thick layer on inside and out, build a hot fire in it and it all turns shiny black again. I've had my smoker 17 years most of which was spent along the Gulf coast in Tx and its still kicking.
 
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