cast irons pots and pans?

Question

I found cast iron pots and they are rusty can they be used if so how can I clean them.

Answer 1

You would have to completely remove the rust and do that each time before using them.
Cleaning would also be more difficult because of the food sticking to the damaged surface.
I would not use that stuff- esp. as you need more energy to heat those pots and pans up and it takes more of your precious time to get them heated up..

Answer 2

clean them with steel wool and hot water and detergent
When all the rust is off, coat them (lightly) with mineral oil, and place in a med hot oven for 30 min. Remove from oven, cool, and wipe the oil off with paper towels
You may need to do this process twice
Once there is no rust and they have a shiny-glossy finish, they're ready to use. Never let them sit wet. Never use soap or detergent if you can prevent it. Just hot water and a mild abrasive tool or sponge.
Every six months or so, do the oil and oven part to keep them conditioned.
I adore my cast iron, which was my grandmother's. My pieces are over a hundred years old now. Cast iron, if treated correctly, is eternal.

Answer 3

You are supposed to keep them seasoned....

Frying in a cast iron pan will help maintain the seasoning, as will roasting fatty meats or other greasy foods. Prolonged contact with wet or acidic foods, such as tomatoes, can dissolve or damage the finish.

It is a common misconception that one should never use dish soap to clean seasoned cast iron cookware, since this will immediately remove the oil, and 'unseason' the pan (or even, according to some cooks, leave soap residue that will poison the food). In fact, a very well-seasoned pan can tolerate dilute dish soap, and, for infrequently used pans, this may be preferable to leaving rancid grease on the cooking surface [1]. In general, however, regular washing with soap is not recommended. When cast iron cookware is washed with soap it should be lightly oiled before it is used or stored away.

There are several methods for cleaning seasoned bare cast iron cookware:

Scrub the inside of a warmed pan with a tablespoon of a coarse salt, such as kosher salt, add a small amount of olive oil, and rub with a small piece of an old cotton cloth. Rinse with cold water.
Scrub the pan with boiling or near-boiling water and a stiff nylon or fiber brush.
Use veggie wash (milder than soap) and a stiff nylon or fiber brush.
Boil a solution of cornstarch or rice starch and water in the pan, tilting the pan to make sure the boiling liquid touches all the way up the sides. Then pour out the resulting grease-water-starch solution, and peel off whatever dries onto the sides of the pan. Rinse the pan in hot water.
In all cases, the cookware should be dried thoroughly after washing, and oiled lightly if not already very well seasoned.

For deep cleaning (before re-seasoning), some cast iron collectors also advocate removing baked-on grease by soaking cast iron in a lye solution, or heating the pan in a self-cleaning oven or campfire. Both of these methods have inherent drawbacks, however. Lye can cause serious injury (inluding blindness) if handled improperly, and unevenly heating a cast iron pan may warp or crack the pan. A safer solution is to place the iron cookware into a large pot of boiling water, adding a cup or two of baking soda, and boil for ten minutes. To remove rust, some collectors advocate soaking the pan in a 1:1 solution of vinegar and water, soaking the pan in Coca Cola, or even sandblasting or wire-stripping the pan.

Answer 4

Removing rust


Instructions

STEP 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.

STEP 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.

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

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


Instructions

STEP 1: A well-seasoned cast-iron pan will resist rust and create a virtually nonstick surface for cooking. To season it, brush vegetable oil lightly over all its surfaces.

STEP 2: Heat the pan in an oven at 250°F (120°C) for 1 hour, recoating it with more oil after 30 minutes.

STEP 3: Wipe the pan well with paper towels, and let it cool completely before using it.

STEP 4: To preserve this natural, protective coating, do not use soap when cleaning a seasoned pan. Instead, scrub it with salt and oil, rinse it with hot water, then dry it completely over low heat before storing it.


Overall Tips & Warnings

For quick removal of rust spots, use a hand drill with a wire brush attachment. Take care not to scrape away too much metal; hollows in the pan will lead to uneven cooking and food scorching.

Spun-steel and carbon-steel woks benefit from the same care as cast-iron pans.

Answer 5

First you have to get the rust off. Rub it with fine steel wool until it's completely gone. Once you have the rust off, clean the pan well and re-season it. Then you're good to go.

If it's just a fine coating of rust, or if the steel wool doesn't quite get it all, pour in enough oil to coat it and put it over med-low heat to warm up. Pour in salt to make a thick paste, and scour it with the salt and a thick wad of paper towels.

If it's really really rusty and crusty and gross, run it through your oven's self-cleaning cycle first, then do as above to remove the remaining rust.

Answer 6

I use "stainless steel" type of scouring pads. They're steel looking brillo instead of copper. It is very abrasive. Use some abrasive cleanser like "comet", then use anti-bacterial soap.
Rinse well, then after drying "season" the newly scrubbed pan/pot with safflower oil ( i use it) not butter. Heat the pan for a minute then remove from heat and store in the oven. After future cookings---lightly clean pan with green scrubber instead of the "stainless". Keep the cycle. Happy eating.

Answer 7

On a gas stove, or better still in a bon fire, get the cast iron very hot for awhile. An hour at least. Allow it to cool slowly .(don't cool with water).Clean them up the rest of the way with steel wool. rinse well & place on stove On medium.After it's dry rub it down lightly with Olive Oil.

Answer 8

Yes they can be cleaned. Wash them with soap and water and towel dry. Then put a little oil on a rag and wipe the inside of the pans. That will keep them seasoned(as they call it). You do not have to clean the oil of the pans until you use them.

Answer 9

according to the link, you can. after you clean it though, don't wash it with water in case more rust forms! the website below has a lot of detailed info for cast-iron pans.

Answer 10

I was told you were supposed to keep them well oiled or greased, but I have never had a great admiration for cast iron pans, they stand great heat but nothing more, I find them too heavy and too hard too keep clean for what they are worth.