Kitchen

[Topaz Gem]

On 2/19/2014 navy0412298 said: Im an ole woman from the mountains of NC,I have my grandmothers and my mothers collection of the old cast iron,Just a little tip if you find any of the old cast iron no matter how bad it looks,all you have to do is put it in a bucket ir tub fill it with any cheap cooking oil until the pot or pan is coverd leave it for week or two.Looks like brand new especially if you find them at yard sales or flea markets. if its really really bad you may have to soak it in the oil a little longer.

Really? You don't need to scrub it? If that's all you need to do, that's wonderful. I see old cast iron at many antique and consignment shops, but I passed by it because I thought I'd have to spend hours scrubbing then re-seasoning.

Thanks for the tip!

[olewoman]

Yes it works,after they soak in the cheapeast cooking oil that you can find,all the stuff comes off,Know you are not suppose to do this but have done it my whole life.Wash in hot soapy water,then fill pot or pan with good oil and let it soak in really good,empty out the oil and u have the best season pan in the world.you can always put on a good hot grill to get some of the stuff off also.

[ROMARY]

I haven't read the other posts yet. Just in case, anybody have pre-seasoned cast iron pans? Is it true that we don't have to 'season' them? No need to answer if previously answered.

[ROMARY]

I have a couple of very small rusted ones..........not antiques, just slightly rusted. As I recall, I tried doing whatever was suggested to me (several years ago). Now I'm thinking........I'm wondering if using plain white toothpaste (not the whitening types, etc.) on them would remove the rust? Maybe using a new cheap toothbrush and brushing in circular motions?

[ROMARY]

I just tried using the toothpaste (Colgate, (white) original with no added mint and whitening, etc., etc.) and a flat green scrubbing square. It seems to have worked for light rust. Just rinse off well and paper towel - dry well. I then further dried the pan on a hot gas burner (no flame).

[chickenbutt]

Whenever I've had rust appear on one I just scrubbed it off with steel wool. then, after thoroughly washing and drying, I sparingly slather it with Crisco and into a hot oven for a couple of hours. Turn the oven off and leave the pan in there to cool.

I used to do the seasoning with veg oil but it seemed like the oil made it tacky so I tried Crisco and that worked a lot better.

I find that procedure of dunking a pan in a large amount of oil to clean it up very interesting, though! It sounds like a good plan. But I'm probably still dry it thoroughly and season with Crisco in a hot oven to finish it off.

[ChynnaBlue]

On 2/19/2014 lacey1 said:

From the reviews that I've read on other websites. You CAN use cast iron on glass top stoves but you have to be careful. If you slide them or put them down hard, they can damage the cooktop.

Thanks for that. I just moved into a new apartment and am working with a glass top for the first time. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I feel like everything slides around a lot.

[Lacey1]

For the life of me, I can't understand why they started making those glass/smooth top stoves. Apparently, it was someone that doesn't cook very much.

[ROMARY]

I'm not crazy about the glass top types of stoves, simply because I just might forget that they remain hot and accidentally burn my hand, fingers, etc. I often see guest chefs, etc., almost putting their hands on hot glass burners, etc. after they have moved a pot/pan away from a glass burner. Makes me nervous. Plus, I have a cat, so I would have to place large pots on top of the glass top stove so my cat won't think its a table and jump on the stove. (To avoid her having a 'habit' of jumping on that 'table' (in her view.) I like my gas burners. Just my opinion, of course.

[ROMARY]

Hey, I'll try the Crisco cleaning method (cast iron pans and rust). Thanks!