Aside from a few pits, a little rust and caked on grease it was in great shape.
Cleaning
First I scrubbed it with a metal scouring pad, boiling water and soap. Then I put the gas grill outdoors on preheat, and turned the oven in the house to its lowest setting - 170F for mine.
I put the pan on the grill for 30 minutes at the same preheat. The idea is to carbonize any remaining crud. It worked like a charm.
This is what it looked like after it cooled for 30 minutes.
You can even read the stamp on the back now.
One more scrub with hot soapy water and we're ready to start the seasoning part of the process.
Seasoning
1. Crank the burner on high and heat the pan for 5 minutes.
2. Add high smoke point oil (I used peanut) and swirl around the pan. I took some paper towels (Be careful, the oil is hot!) and spread the oil all over the pan, inside and out. Discard paper towel. I suppose you could use a rag too if you want to be "greener".
3. Next I put the pan upside down over a sheetpan with the handle resting on the lip of the sheetpan. This allows extra oil to flow off.
4. Let it sit in the warm oven for 30 minutes, remove and let cool. Wipe it out again.
5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 2 more times.
Looks pretty good. I"ll use it to cook the "test patty" from the bratwurst I'm making later today.
So there you have it, all it took was a little elbow grease and time. You may be able to skip the first soapy water scrub and go straight to the super hot grill. Seemed pretty effective.
Eat well & keep digging!
The Gastronomic Gardener
My garden blog http://amidwestgarden.blogspot.com/
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Beautiful! My stepmother makes the most beautiful spaghetti sauce in a cast iron pan. I left mine behind when I moved to Ireland & I miss it!
ReplyDeleteAre the pans not available in Ireland?
ReplyDelete