CARING FOR CAST IRON
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From This….
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…To This
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Starting
Over Copyright © 2008 William Bruce Bonnett Have you ever had a cast iron pot that the seasoning is so thick it starts to chip off in places leaving a non-uniform and uneven surface? There’s nothing wrong with the pot. Food cooked in such a pot is still just as tasty as in a uniformly seasoned pot. But if the chipping exposes iron, the exposed areas will rust. |
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Additional seasoning will cover the exposed spots. However, at times the surface tension differences between the chipped areas and non-chipped areas cause oils or shorting to migrate away from the non-seasoned areas to the seasoned areas during the seasoning process. When this migration occurs, the areas that you want more seasoning don’t get it and the areas that get it don’t need it. What to do? |
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A Dutch Oven with chipped
seasoning. Notice the uneven surface. |
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The solution is to make the surface tension uniform so that the seasoning oil or shortening won’t migrate and will then coat evenly. The only way I know of to make the surface tension uniform again is to completely strip the seasoning and then re-season as you would for a new pot. An easy way to strip seasoning from a pot is by using common ordinary oven cleaner. |
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Here are steps I followed to solve this exact problem. Following manufactures instructions for a cold oven, apply an even coat to the area that needs stripping. Let sit for about 20-40 minutes. If the sun is shinning, put it in the sun. Oven cleaners work better the warmer they are. Rinse thoroughly. |
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Household oven cleaner evenly
applied. |
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If needed, the oven cleaner can be reapplied, let set and then rinsed as many times as necessary. |
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Oven Cleaner is rinsed revealing a
fresh new surface. After drying, its
ready to re-season. The pot is now ready to re-season. Click Here for
seasoning instructions |
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Once the pot has been stripped to satisfaction and thoroughly rinsed, dry the pot. Because the pot is now unprotected, apply cooking oil or shortening as quickly as possible to prevent rust.
Coat Pot with cooking oil or
shortening or it will begin to rust before your eyes. |
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A newly seasoned pot. Uniformly coated… Just like new. |
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