How To Clean and Season Old, Rusty Cast Iron Skillets

How To Clean and Season Old, Rusty Cast Iron Skillets

There are a lot of tutorials out there for seasoning your cast iron, but not a lot about getting rust off. (One I found involved oven cleaner. NO thank you.) The ones I did find used steel wool, which I didn't have handy and I don't much care for it anyway because I always manage to cut or scratch myself with it. So...I used what I had sitting around and got to it.

What You Need

Materials

The end chunk of a potato (enough to be able to hold firmly)

Course salt

A rusty cast iron skillet

A little vegetable oil (canola or olive will do)

Equipment

Gloves (optional, but recommended)

Instructions

1. Place your rusty skillet in the sink and sprinkle a couple tablespoons of salt into it.

2. Take your chunk of potato and start scrubbing. The moisture from the potato will be enough to help the salt dig in to the rust.

3. The salt will get dirty very quickly. You may choose to rinse out the pan to

survey your progress. If there is still rust, add more salt and repeat Step 2.

4. Continue to the sides, edges, bottom and handle of your pan.

5. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry.

6. Place pan on stove burner, this will help dry any remaining moisture.

7. Once dry, put a small amount of vegetable oil in the pan and rub it in with a paper towel.

8. Keep pan over low heat for at least 30 minutes.

9. Let skillet cool. Make sure to wipe off any excess oil before storing your skillet. If you leave extra oil in the pan it can turn rancid.

10. Every time you use your pan, after you've cleaned it (I never use soap, but that's up to you), put the pan on a low burner and repeat the oil and paper towel step. It's best to store your pan in the oven, but it worked much better when stoves had pilot lights that stayed on (thus keeping ambient moisture away from your pans).

Additional Notes: As I said above, I never use soap on my cast iron pans. My dad's way of cleaning was to wipe it out with a paper towel when it was still hot and then run it under some water (if needed), then put it on the stove with a bit of oil to reseason it.

Many people do just fine using a mild soap and sponge, but I urge you NOT to scrub it with soap. That action will break down the seasoning you've worked so hard for. You don't want to start from scratch each time you use your pan. It would become a miserable experience and you'll hate your cast iron.

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I am definitely going to try this. I bought some cast iron skillets off eBay that were already supposedly seasoned, but 2 of them rust like hell. My 5 inch one is doing very well though so whoever did that one did a great job.

I love my cast iron skillets!!!

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I only have on cast iron skillet (very large one) and my brother put it in the dishwasher!!!! It hasn't been right since - will be trying this!

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I use salt and pan oil spray.

I clean it with brillo, then dry it with a paper towel. I spray the entire skillet, rub on the salt with another paper towel and let it sit. Good as new for me. I have been doing this for awhile and it has worked. But I will subscribe anyway because I love John Luther's threads !

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I'll pass this one along to my mother. She bought some brand-new skillets a while ago. My little sister used one before it was seasoned, washed it and put it back in the cabinet. My mother was pissed. lol

I have a cast iron skillet and didn't no nothing about no seasoning.