Reviving some old (and new) cast iron


 
BrianBishop

BrianBishop

TVWBB Member
I have become the designated cast iron refurbisher in our family and have accumulated a decent collection in a short time as result. The pans are always in terrible shape when I get them so I simply toss them into the firepit in the backyard to burn off the crud and old seasoning to start from scratch. Once they're sufficiently burned, I let them cool and then go after the rust with an angle grinder equipped with a wire cup or wheel. After they're sufficiently devoid of rust, I wipe them with a dry cloth to get the iron oxide dust off them and begin with the seasoning process. And its a PROCESS. I tried in the past using vegetable oil to season and have had mixed results so I looked a little deeper and found this great tutorial http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/ I have had consistently fantastic results with this method of seasoning.

My Mom in the last couple years has purchased a few newer CI pans from Khols with a Bobby Flay label on them. They have a very rough finish, are not remotely nonstick and are a pain to clean because food sticks in all the recesses in the rough spots. I also noticed a while back this thread http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?46840-Lodge-5-Piece-Cast-Iron-Cookware-Set-Black where there was a comment on the roughness of newer Lodge CI... This got me wondering if it would be ok for me to use either a grinding disc or abrasive flap disc on my angle grinder to actually smooth out the rough surface before re-seasoning?? It would probably take some finesse to keep the bottom nice and flat but I'm fairly confident I could achieve a better finish than the factory left me with...

Anyone try this? Or anyone with thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks in advance
-Brian
 
I've read a lot of pros and cons about smoothing new CI. The trouble seems to come from using a method that heats the surface unevenly like shot blasting. Apparently this creates hard spots that stop the skillet from cooking evenly. A flap disk seems to be the preferred method.

The bottom line is that the newer CI is so rough that it's like trying to cook on a roof shingle. You have nothing to lose by smoothing the surface.
 
What if you used a random orbit palm sander, I have thought about using of my newer Lodge skillet, I bet if you started with 80 grit and worked your way finer it would work like a dream. Some of my older skillets look like they were machined they are so smooth.
 
Steve Cleveland said:
What if you used a random orbit palm sander, I have thought about using of my newer Lodge skillet, I bet if you started with 80 grit and worked your way finer it would work like a dream. Some of my older skillets look like they were machined they are so smooth.
Click to expand...

While I was waiting for my flap discs to arrive, I tried the random orbit sander. It definitely helped smooth out the rough surface but the grit wore off the paper verrrry quickly and the "bobby flay" cheap china crap pans were so rough I went with the more aggressive grinder approach. Even after serious sanding with the grinder, there are still pits visible, but the surface feels probably 100 times smoother than it was... I actually just finished "sanding" the pans this afternoon and wire wheeled a few old ones that I had previously burned the seasoning off of... I'll be working tonight on seasoning all of them. I'll be sure to post pics of the finished pieces. It will be a couple days though as the seasoning process I linked to above requires a lot of unattended oven time so I can only get a couple coats on per night.

I don't own any lodge pans yet but I was checking some out at a cracker barrel restaurant the other day... While they are certainly not as smooth as the various vintage pans I own, the lodge are significantly smoother and much nicer than the china crap I'm currently trying to deal with.
 
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