How can rust be removed from iron cooking utensils?

Question

I decided to "clean" my cooking pot and 2 pans, so I burned them, and now they are covered with rust. How can I get the rust out?? I am an old lady and my hands aren't what they used to be. In fact, they're more because I now have carpal tunnel in one of them, and both have arthritis. Maybe at my age- why try?

Answer 1

Technically, you can't really remove rust out of cooking utensils. Besides,it's not going to be safe to use them anymore. You could be poisoned with the rust (iron) that seeped into the food. My advice to you is to get new ones that comes with a non-sticky coating, which will lengthen your cookware's lifespan.
Afterwhich,avoid scrubbing your cook pots the next time so that the layer of protection won't get scrubbed off, leaving the vulnerable inner layer of paint.

If you really have to save, this is what you could do:
Purchase some sand paper for metal from your DIY store or hardware shop to sand those rough surface away from the rusty areas. Sand it till you see the shiny inner layer of the metal.
As you sand them, you may apply some water to help polish it.
Boil the entire item in hot water to sterilize the bugger if you can.

Still, I would think it is risky to reuse it. Have another thought of doing that.

Cheers!

Answer 2

Unless your pots and pans are IRON, I would throw them out. If there is rust on anything else, it's not healthy for you.

Don't forget, EVERYTHING you cook on, stainless steel, iron, aluminum, teflon, etc... it all gets absorbed into your food. Therefore the best thing you can cook on is IRON which your body needs. The rest build up in your system (and there is a link between aluminum and Alzheimers) so one doesn't really know if any of those metals are harmful, cause cancer or what.

If you use TEFLON, NEVER use it on high heat...maximum is mid-heat level. If you use IRON, you must always (after washing) give it a coat with some vegetable oil to keep it from rusting, both inside and out.

NEVER, EVER, EVER use commercial rust removers on pots and pans that can absorb the chemicals. You simply should not have rust on your cooking utinsels...I would throw them out. If you cant afford to, use vinegar and boil it in the pan with water for a few minutes and let it sit but rust is not a good thing...it can cause food poisoning if injested.

Answer 3

For my iron skillets. I used a steel wool and scrubbed the rust off. Washed them well. Put them on the stove and got them hot so they would dry well. Then oil them with tablespoon of oil and a paper towel. Rub it all around. Removing any left over oil. Put them oven 200 for a hour to re-season and to keep them from sticking and rusting again. If you don't have steel wool salt and a damp cloth. Scrubbing will also remove rust. So much for the carpal tunnel have a child or friend to help you. I do good at 34 to hold a full pot.

Answer 4

Here is the Boy Scout method. Get some vegetable oil and some old newspaper. Pour a little oil in the pan and spread it around, by bunching up some newsprint and using it as you would a sponge. All you are doing is making sure the oil is on all surfaces. No scrubbing is needed. Next, get a small wood fire going outdoors and set the pots to heat. They will smoke for a while, burning off the rust and excess oil. When they are done smoking, remove them from the fire and, as soon as they are cooled off a little, take some clean newsprint and wipe dry, using same method as before, without adding oil. They will dry to a nice finish.

Answer 5

My gran always says that a little rust won't kill you. Coz when ever you do cook with an Iron utensil, it will always impart a little iron into your food, and a little iron is good for your body.

Once in a while, you will neglect a certain iron pot or pan. My gran says to just wash it like you would a nornal pot or pan, scrub off what can come off easily. any residual rust is really superficial.
My Dad likes to just stick it in the dishwasher,...

After its been cleaned, just take a little olive oil or ordinary veg. oil, and a few paper towels. Just moisten the paper towels with the oil, and wipe down your pots, pans or which ever iron implements you want to treat with the oil. Take a dry towel and wipe off any excess oil.

The oil will make it resistant to rust, so when you put it away it wont get rusty again. Just remember to wipe down your iron utensils after every washing, or else it will get rusty again.

Once you do start to treat/retreat your iron pots and pans - things with oil, you should never really scrub the actual cooking surface, unless you have something really burned on really bad.
My gran says that you should only wash it in HOT water, and towel dry ASAP so it won't start to rust again, and treat the cooking surface with a little oil.

I hope I was able to help, good luck & take care!!

aloha !!

P.S. Most people these days are so spoiled, with having stainless cooking utensils, that old traditions of taking care of original cooking impements that weren't rust-proof, back in the day before stainless existed. Simply don't have the common sense or just don't care to learn how it was done, back when it was done the right way. - Well thats what my Gran says about using iron pots and pans.

Answer 6

I see 3 questions. How can rust be removed from iron cooking utensils: limeaway (and there is one more product on the market, ask the store clerk at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, a hardware store or Home Depot). Rust seems to return though and it seems to me if they are rubbed with an oil then that could almost prevent them from rusting again. Seems to me that vegetable oil (after you've de-rested the utensil) does not flame, but test it out first to be sure that works for you.

I know a chiropractor in my area who has a radio show and he suggests taking castor oil, fish oil, eating fish once a week, or buying fish oil from a health food store (that has no mercury in it) and those should help with your arthritis.

My doctor suggested that I had carpal tunnel and even gave me a brace. I don't have it. I found out that all I had was a computer that shocked me a lot and caused me pain up both arms. But anyway, lift your wrists when you type, and when on the computer use a ball mouse. ...it works for me, see if it works for you.

Answer 7

Steps:
1. Depending on the pan's size, pour 2 to 4 tbsp. salt into the middle of the pan. Add an equal amount of vegetable oil.

2. Scrub the pan vigorously with a folded paper towel, concentrating on the rusted spots but covering all surfaces with the oil and salt mixture. Add more salt or oil as needed.

3. For more serious rust spots, scrub with fine steel wool.

4. Wash the pan with dishwashing liquid and rinse well with hot water. Dry completely.

Answer 8

That can be done by a process called electrolytic rust removal. It's used by collectors and others to remove rust from antique metal items. It not complicated or expensive, but you would need to get someone with some basic electrical know-how. Any electroplating shop could do it (in case there is one in your area), as could any high school science science teacher or any young person who does mechanical work on their own automobile. The link below shows how the process works, and you can find other descriptions by doing a search on the internet for "electrolytic rust removal." (The quotation marks aren't necessary.)

Answer 9

easy, cheap and ......

to derust and cure and iron pan.

wash and scrub with abrasive pad or use a tool like a dremmel tool. but just a brillo, steel pad and some elbow grease until most of the rust is off, should be more than enough.
the dremmel would be for deep rust that comes from nonuse.
wash until water is clear.

then put cooking oil in the pan and set on stove under a high flame until the oil is hot.

then turn fire off and leave pan and oil cool.

when oil is cool use towel to wipe around the base of the pan, repeat this til the pan is clean and smooth enough to fry lard or bacon in it... do not fry til stick or burn fast. this is the first trial run to get the pan back in shape.

this is also the speedy and cheaters way to cure a pan.

stir bacon often...

cook til bacon is the way you prefer and remove from pan, use spatula (hard) to scrape any bacon material from the surface if it has stuck. but what you should have is now a dark, glossy surface to the base of the pan.

wash briskly with dish detergent and a soft scrubbing sponge.

(don't toss into the dish washer if you have one) do not scrub entirely clean just scrub til the pan is clean of the residue and oils from the bacon grease.. wash with hot water.

stick back on stove and turn fire up.. let pan dry to the point the moisture has just evaporated.. then put a coating of cooking oil on the base and rub into it with a towel.

let set.

keep this up and keep from burning things into the pan and washing it by hand gently.. soon your pan is cured and should be relatively nonstick, of course using a oil base or grease to coat it before using it.

there are many ways to do this, this is just one.

this is rather fussy but if you keep it up and don't burn anything in the pan... sooner or later you'll get a deep black pan with an almost mirror gloss.

this takes a bit of time and effort.. but this will keep the pan protected and you shouldn't have to go through this too often.

also whenever you get a bit of rust just mild scrubbing using a scrubbing sponge, then use the oil and bacon technique to fix it back up.... (you can eat the bacon now)

Answer 10

You basically removed the "cure" of your pots and pans when you burned them. Usually iron cookware will only have a thin coat of rust, so a good washing will remove the rust. After washing and drying, saturate the pots and pans with vegetable cooking oil and use a clean cloth to smear the oil all over the pots and pans, inside and out. Next turn on your oven to bake and place your pans and pots in the oven set to 400 degrees. After an hour , turn the oven off and allow the pots and pans to cool gradually for the next 4 hours. This re-cures them. After curing, iron pots and pans will remain non stick until the cured coating is removed usually with heat or soap. To prevent this, clean your pots and pans immediately after use with just a paper towl or even a brown paper grocery sack and a little hot water. Most food stuffs will come right off, no need to scrub or scour, and while still hot, wipe down with a paper towel with more vegetable oil and push to the back of the stove. I have large cast iron dutch ovens and heavy frying skillets with lids that are quite heavy. I leave them on the stove all the time, and even clean without removing them.
Someone told you to get non stick teflon cookware. Do not do this. Teflon has been proven to cause cancer, and if you have any, dispose of them. Dupont that makes them, has been given until 2008 to remove 95% of all teflon from the market by the FDA, and this includes all cookware. Even non stick teflon erodes away and gets in your food. The same thing with plastic...Dont use! Glass or stainless steel or cast iron only.
You have pots and pans that will last several generations if taken care of. Do not put a cast iron pot or pan on heat without something in it to prevent over heating and cracking or warping.
Remember to just leave on your stove top pushed out of the way when you are not using them.
If you have a cast iron stove or a wood burning heater made from cast iron, using vegetable oil on it when hot will make it look new also, except it will smoke a lot so leave a window open.
Good luck with your pots and pans.

62 years experience.
...jj

Btw...My grandmother used fat back to cure her cookware with, or lard if the fatback was eaten ;)...jj