Restoring Old Cast Iron in a Self Cleaning Oven

All the modern “non-stick” cookware just does not have the character for cooking on, or in, as good old cast iron. I have found that many things just never taste right if they are cooked on anything else. Sausage, bacon and many other types of meat, just have to be cooked in cast iron skillets to have the correct flavor. Cast iron Dutch ovens make camping a real treat since you can cook dishes which most people would never dream of having away from a modern kitchen. Cast iron is versatile and can do a lot more than most modern cookware. In fact the main draw back is its the price. New cast iron is expensive.

So I look for old cast iron at flea markets, yard sales and junk shops. Some of my best cast iron skillets have been handed down from family members and once belonged to my great grandmother. These skillets have a date of 1894 cast into them and are still perfectly usable today. Find me a piece of modern cookware that will last like that. Good luck. I would say that piece of cast iron was well worth the money my great grandfather paid for it.

The problem with almost all of these pieces is that they have sat, unused for years because they are, “nasty looking.” I will not argue that point. They were nasty looking when I got them. In fact, some of them were very nasty looking but today they are clean and usable.

How did I do this? No, I did not use a small mountain of steel wool, gallons of oven cleaner, and scrub until my arms fell off. In fact, I watched TV while ages of old gunk was stripped off these wonderful old pieces. When the process was done, it took me about an hour to “cure” the freshly stripped cast iron and ten minutes to clean up.

In order to clean cast iron in this manner you will need a self-cleaning oven. If you have one you are in luck. Restoring old cast iron will be a snap. Your first step is to inspect the cast iron before you even purchase it. Make certain there are no cracks or breaks, otherwise you are just wasting your time. If the piece is sound, just cruddy from years of gunk and crud build up, you may be able to get it for a good price.

Once you get your bargain home knock off any excess build up with a stiff wire bush outside. Then prepare your oven for cleaning in accordance with the oven manual. My oven says to remove both the wire oven racks. I leave one in for the cast iron to sit on and have never had any problems. Once the oven is prepped in accordance with its manual, I place the wire rack on the next to the bottom guide rails and then place the cast iron pieces on the wire rack. Each cast iron piece should be turned upside down and, while you may place them as closely together as possible to get as many as possible in the oven, they should not be touching each other or the sides of the oven. I can usually get four pieces in my oven, unless I am restoring large Dutch ovens.

Once you have placed your cast iron, close the door, lock it and set the timer. While most ovens can be set from 2 �½ hours to 5 hours I have that found from 3 �½ hours to 4 �½ hours seems to work best for stripping old cast iron. Of course, you are also cleaning your oven and need to consider how dirty it is. I doubt the cast iron will hurt if you leave it in the full 5 hours. I have just never tried it myself.

During the course of a self-cleaning cycle a self-cleaning the oven works by using very high heat to burn away built up gunk and mess. It is this very same heat that will burn away the gunk on your cast iron. The cycle can produce strong odors so I usually turn the ventilator fan on high and place a window fan in the kitchen window, sucking air out of the kitchen. When the cycle is finished you will need to allow the oven and the cast iron time to cool before you try to handle them. In addition, I recommend some very good hot pads. You will find a pile of black ash in the bottom of your oven, which will need to be wiped up. This ash will be loose and not stuck to the oven floor. It is all that remains of the gunk that was on your oven and cast iron.

The cast iron should be bare metal iron now. It looks nice but it is not ready to use. If you leave it like this it will rust quickly. You must first “cure” it. While it is still warm, not hot, use a folded paper towel or clean cotton clothe to scoop shortening (such as Crisco or any generic brand) and spread it evenly over the cast iron. You want to coat the entire surface of the iron, inside and out. Make sure you miss no spots or you will have rust. Hopefully your cast iron is still warm enough for the shortening to melt into metal. If not you will need to turn the oven back on, at about 300 degrees, and bake the cast iron for just long enough to melt the shortening after each of the first three coats. Be careful to put a drip pan of some sort beneath the cast iron or you will mess up your freshly cleaned oven by dripping shortening all over it.

After three coats, I put one VERY thick coat on my iron and place it in the oven, at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes. I have had this produce smoke so I again usually put the window fan in the kitchen window, sucking air out of the kitchen in addition to having the ventilator fan set to high. After 20 minutes I cut the oven off, open the door and allow the iron to cool to the touch. Then I take it out and wipe it down. It is now ready to use and as good as new.

Using this method, old “junk,” purchased for next to nothing, quickly becomes valuable and usable cast iron. I have even been considering picking up some old cast iron cheap, restoring it, and taking it to the flea market to sell. Who knows, it might work to bring in a few bucks? No matter about that, I still have a nice collection for my use, which I keep up and use regularly. I hope this helps some of you to save old pieces and put them back to use rather than see them thrown out for no real reason and replaced by cheap “made in china” crap. Good luck.