I recently viewed this youtube on restoring/cleaning the Sportsman CI Grill. Obviously one must scrape off the heavy gunk prior to the 48 hour soak in vinegar. Will the vinegar soak remove the remaining gunk in addition to removing the rust??
Cleaning Lodge Sportsman Grill
- Thread starter tjkoko
- Start date
Review the video. It seems that once the rust has been removed the vinegar will damage the CI. @LMichaels Will the vinegar remove some of the greasy build-up of gunk?????
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Doug D
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Vinegar doesn't work on cooked on build-up, only on rust. And rusty iron shouldn't be left in a vinegar solution for more than 30-60 minutes at a time before going at it with a mild stainless steel brush or a SS Chore Boy pad. 1:1 vinegar and water is the accepted strength solution, full strength vinegar will eat good iron left too long.
A lye solution will dissolve the baked on grease. But rather than set up a lye bath just for one large item, Easy Off HD oven cleaner spray (yellow cap, HD version active ingredient is lye) will provide the same results. The piece(s) can be coated liberally with the spray cleaner and sealed up in a large trash bag. Use gloves and eye protection, and of course do it outside (in a sunny spot works faster) out of reach of children and pets. Check progress after a day and rinse/repeat as necessary. Dry well once clean and apply an extremely thin coat of a neutral oil (or Crisco as in the video) to inhibit rust. Come back with a clean rag and wipe off any excess, then bake it on (until it no longer feels tacky) as in the video..
A lye solution will dissolve the baked on grease. But rather than set up a lye bath just for one large item, Easy Off HD oven cleaner spray (yellow cap, HD version active ingredient is lye) will provide the same results. The piece(s) can be coated liberally with the spray cleaner and sealed up in a large trash bag. Use gloves and eye protection, and of course do it outside (in a sunny spot works faster) out of reach of children and pets. Check progress after a day and rinse/repeat as necessary. Dry well once clean and apply an extremely thin coat of a neutral oil (or Crisco as in the video) to inhibit rust. Come back with a clean rag and wipe off any excess, then bake it on (until it no longer feels tacky) as in the video..
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@LMichaels @Doug D I would surmise that the buildup of baked on grease would serve as a rust preventative. Perhaps too much is too much. The Youtube video makes the procedure appear almost effortless.
Btw prior to assembling the grill, I sprayed all of the parts with black high temperature stove paint!
Btw prior to assembling the grill, I sprayed all of the parts with black high temperature stove paint!
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Doug D
TVWBB Hall of Fame
Baked on grease does indeed serve as a rust inhibitor. Whether it's found in some way offensive enough to warrant stripping and applying one's own initial layer of seasoning is entirely up to the individual. The food contact surfaces would of course be another matter; stripping them and starting over would be prudent. I'll assume you didn't include the cooking grate in the stove paint application.
Googling both of Easy Off HD Oven vs Easy Off BBQ Grill cleaners, the latter is far stronger and must be used outdoors.
LMichaels
TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
Just has to do with how much lye is in there. Lye turns fat into soap basically