How To Recondition And Re-Season Cast Iron Cookware
How To Recondition And Re-Season Cast Iron Cookware
How many times have you been at a yard sale or thrift store and seen nasty, rusted cast-ironware? You might wonder why someone bothered to even try to sell it or pass it on. With eyebrows raised, you passed it by and thought to yourself that having cast iron someday *would* be nice.
After all, it heats evenly, never loses its coating like commercial non-stick surfaces and is pretty rugged. You could even build up your arm muscles while you cooked. Some people say they hate cast iron because everything sticks on it – well, their experience has been with improperly seasoned pans.
If things stick – the pan has not been properly seasoned! My purpose in this article is to walk you through the steps to re-season any old cast iron pan. As long as there are no nicks and cracks, no matter how much gunk or rust, you can get it like new! I just did it for the first time this past fall and was amazed!
Before you know it you will have the best cookware again!
Full tutorial on the next page.
I just throw them into a hot fire and let them get cherry hot. When the fire is done, I dig out the pan, rinse it, heat it and add a little oil, stir it around , let cool, and wipe it out with dry rags. Look like new.
Placing cast iron in a fire almost guarantees that the ruin pan will be ruined! It can easily be warped or pitted. The safest way is to clean it in a lye bath or cleaned by electrolysis.