Come along as I take a vintage cast iron skillet, COVERED in rust, and restore it using natural elements and no harsh chemicals! Naturally restoring vintage cast iron is worth the effort! Scroll to see the end result!
My Cast Iron Story
First off, I have to explain how this cast iron came to me. These amazing pieces of cast iron where originally my grandfather’s. He was a dentist in his early life and retired to be a farmer. Sometimes I am struck by how much we have in common, and what I can’t share with him, he has been gone over 10 years now. Thank you for all the values you taught me Pappy!
He was such an encouraging grandfather and had so many diverse interests. One of those interests involved throwing the largest Thanksgiving experience you can imagine! He rented a massive white tent and invited the whole town for a king‘s feast. Every year, there was so much food that leftovers would go home with whoever wanted them! The best part, he made all of the food with his friends and family in his home! I come by my love of feeding others honest, I swear!
Why bother Naturally Restoring these Vintage Pieces?
After he passed, his house and many of his possessions were left untouched for several years. When I was in college, the family decided enough was enough. They cleaned out his little old ranch house, prepping to sell. I got lucky enough to go with my aunt to help with the project. It is amazing to me how people make houses feel like homes. Without him there, the house had fallen into disrepair. I salvaged what I could. Some of my most precious pieces of furniture and kitchen equipment come from his house. These vintage cast iron pieces were in bad shape then, and due to unforeseen circumstances I had to store them for an additional 2.5 years in a shed. So it has been over a decade since these pieces were used regularly! Now is the time to change that!
Benefits of Cast Iron
- It will last forever, with proper care.
- Cast Iron is multigenerational and carries so much history!
- The seasoning just gets better the more you cook with it.
- It becomes almost like a pet, you love it and care for it the same.
- Cast Iron can go from stove top to oven without a hitch.
- You’ve run out of dish soap, no problem, you don’t use soap on cast iron anyway!
- It looks like it fell off a wagon many moons ago. Great for farmhouse aesthetic!
- If you ever have an intruder you can just hit them over the head with it.
Honestly, cast iron can be a lot of work to maintain in the beginning. It feels like you are running around in circles catering to something that will never be worth it. The reality is, most people start out with a poor seasoning and things go downhill from there. I too made this mistake, assuming that a new pan I purchased, pre-seasoned, would be ready to go as soon as I got it out of the package. This was not the case, of course, and I struggled for months before I realized my issue, THE SEASONING WAS TERRIBLE!
Step 1: Assess the Damage
This can be as simple as looking for obvious signs of rust or silver metal shinning through the black coating. Or, as complicated as have spots that just stick while cooking. In my cast iron lifetime, I have experienced all of these issues. I am going to address the glaring rust problem first. Then remedy silver and bare spots second.
For Rust
- Allow affected piece to soak in distilled white vinegar for up to 4 hours. Word of caution, If the pieces are left too long the vinegar could start to eat away at the iron. For hints of rust, an hour should suffice. With entire pieces covered in rust, like the ones I was working with, leave them for the full four hours.
ASIDE: Some people are probably asking themselves, why vinegar? I heard that oven cleaner works better.
WRONG! Okay maybe not wrong but there are some definite draw backs to using oven cleaner. My main objection, all of the toxic chemicals that are used in
conventional oven cleaner. Think about that, you are placing chemicals, that supposedly break down everything, onto a surface on which you want to cook! Iron is porous! What if you don’t get every drop out?! Naturally restoring vintage cast iron is the only health conscious way to limit chemical exposure. So, for me and my house, we stick with vinegar.
2. Once the pieces have soaked, you will need a wire brush and some fine steel wool, at this stage soap is very helpful, but not necessary. Scrub every nook and cranny of the piece. With some of the more intricate pieces, this can take a while. An example, the corn shaped pans, they took forever and lots of elbow grease! Be prepared for this stage, it will be messy and will leave your finger nails full of grime. Also, the rust and dirt tend to fling around while scrubbing, so don’t wear your Sunday best, if you catch my drift.
3. After you can see silver all around, its time to dry it off in the oven immediately! Do not wait to pass go, do not collect $200. The time is now! If you leave that skillet alone for even 15 minutes it will have rust on it again. This rust will be much easier to remove and you wont have to soak the piece in vinegar again, but it is annoying. Place the cast iron in a cold oven and bring it up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 Celsius). Once the oven is to temperature, leave the cast iron in for about 10 minutes. You are ensuring that all the water has evaporated.
4. Now, arguably the most important step, seasoning!
For Sticky Spots or Bare Silver
- You do not need to soak these, because you are simply repairing the seasoning in places that have gotten too thin. In my experience, scrubbing with steel wool and soap is enough in most cases. You are trying to remove the top few coats of seasoning not sccrub to bare metal everywhere.
2. After you are satisfied, move on to the seasoning stage.
Step 2: Seasoning Vintage Cast Iron
Do not believe that your pan is seasoned when you get it, EVER! Even if the brand claims it was seasoned at the factory before it was sent out, its not enough, TRUST ME! Ask me how I know. I lived with this headache for moths trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, and honestly, it wasn’t even me! Melissa K Norris also has some great information on this topic if you want more! The seasoning on your pan is the non-stick layer between your food and the pan itself. If that layer is too thin then the food will stick and the seasoning might come off in black flakes. If the layer is too thick but not tempered correctly you will have sticky spots on your pan.
Apply the Oil
In my personal experience, the best option for seasoning cast iron is avocado oil. You want an oil with a smoke point over 500F (205C). I like avocado oil. It’s smoke point is 520F/ 271C and it doesn’t go rancid at room temperatures. You can also use coconut oil, and some people do use lard or bacon grease. The key to this step is to apply the thinnest layer of oil humanely possible. If you apply too much then you will get these ugly sticky black spots that are a real pain. Again, ask me how I know… LOL! Thin layers are especially important on older cast iron. It is smoother and has fewer pockets in which the oil can rest. I typically apply the avocado oil with a paper towel or old rag, one that I don’t mind completely ruining.
Heat from a Cold Oven
Place the lightly oiled cast iron pieces upside down in a cold oven. With the pieces lined on the racks, not touching or on top of each other, heat your oven to 450F (232C). Leave them in the oven for at least an hour. You want to ensure that the oil adheres well to the metal and creates a solid seal. If the oven temperature is not high enough the oil will pool and not form a solid layer of seasoning. Once the hour has passed, turn the oven off but, leave the pieces in the oven until they come back down to room temperature. This can take about 1-2 hours. I will often crack my oven open to allow the heat to escape faster.
Remove from Oven, and Repeat
Once the cast iron has reached a temperature that you can handle, apply your next coat of avocado oil. Repeat the oil layer, exactly as you did before, as thin as possible. Then, place the pieces back in a cold oven, heat them for an hour, and allow them to cool. I recommend 3-4 times. You are looking for A glossy black color, with no sticky spots or silver metal showing through.
Step 3: Naturally Caring and Maintaining Cast Iron
I’m convinced maintenance is why many people don’t always stick with cast iron. They think it is too much work without enough reward. Without a proper seasoning, I would agree, but with a solid seasoning, nothing beats cast iron. Cooking eggs in a cast iron skillet without them sticking is the ultimate high! To achieve this high, I recommend cooking with some sort of fat, bacon grease, butter, avocado oil, coconut oil, pick your poison. Let the pan get hot before you add what you are cooking, you can add the fat to heat with the pan if you want. Preheating is my number tip for cast iron cooking! If the pan isn’t hot then it is much more likely to stick.
After Every Use
Wait for the pan to cool, add some hot water, you never want to apply cold water to a hot pan as this can warp your pan, and gently scrub. I have a soft scrub brush specifically for my cast iron. I also have a plastic scraper for little bits that need some help. Once I have the visible bits unstuck, I will rinse it with water one last time and place it on my oven burner. I set the burner to medium low to dry the pan throughly. Once the pan is lightly smoking, I use a cloth or paper towel to place a thin layer of avocado oil, or coconut oil, all over the pan, including the bottom and handle. Again you want to use an oil that won‘t go rancid at room temp and has a high smoke point.
Enjoy your Nonstick Life
I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a little along the way! Naturally restoring vintage cast iron is a worthy task! Please sign up for my email list if you are looking for more posts about Homesteading, Growing, and Cooking through the seasons of life!
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Thnx!