Cookin' With Coal

 
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Smokeyja
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Post by Smokeyja » Wed. Jan. 28, 2015 10:45 pm

Photog200 wrote:
Smokeyja wrote:Muriatic acid will surely take any bit of oil out of the metal . And it would need to be re seasoned asap because the metal will rust fast otherwise .
You are right, it would strip the pan, that is what they use in toilet bowl cleaner...I think I would rather use food grade sodium hydroxide (lye).

You also have to remember what acid does to cast iron...lye is an alkaline and does not have a negative effect on cast iron.
I do know what it does to the metal . You have the ability to neutralize the acid at any point in time . After a few cycles of neutralizing you would then proceed to season and give it a few heat cycles . We might know this stuff better as hydrochloric acid .

It's not for the novice that's for sure . But not so hard one couldn't learn fast enough.

I don't see any issues using it on cookware but the person using it would have to make the call.


 
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Photog200
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Post by Photog200 » Wed. Jan. 28, 2015 10:49 pm

Ok, I am not trying to be a pain here, but I have worked with Sodium Hydroxide (lye) for over 15 years in making soap. It is caustic and you have to be careful using it. It is an alkaline and can cause burns. Having said that, the food industry, including old timers have used it regularly for peeling fruit and vegetables for canning. The tomatoes you buy were likely peeled by Lye, so was the peaches that are processed. The pretzel industry uses lye in their process. Do I want it in my tomatoes, no...that is why I can my own. What I am saying is, if there is trace amounts of lye left on the pan, they are so minute they won't hurt you. Would I use muriatic acid, oven cleaner (who know what they put in that).NO. But if you want to completely strip a cast iron pan, you have to have heat in excess of 800°f or a chemical process. Or, you can sand down the pan enough to remove enough of the pan to eliminate the polymerized oils already in the pan.

Randy

 
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Photog200
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Post by Photog200 » Wed. Jan. 28, 2015 11:07 pm

I am not sure what the issue is here... I responded to the question on how to strip a pan. Now there are many ways to "STRIP" a pan, many chemicals will do that. If the question was I put the Crisco on too thick and have runs in the pan, how do I remove them...then the wire brush would be the perfect solution. You have to remember, the OP was the same person who posted the link to seasoning the pan with flaxseed oil. Saying you have to open the pores by heating the pan first to allow the flaxseed oil to get into the pores. You cannot do that if there is already polymerized oil in the pores. If the Gentleman who originally posted this question wants to eliminate the previously used oils and use flaxseed oil the way explained in the post he linked to, then he has to STRIP the pan of all polymerized oils. If he wants to use lye, muriatic acid, oven cleaner, heat or sand enough to completely remove all pores with the old oil in them...that is his choice. All I have been saying is, to strip the pan is different than re-surfacing the pan. A simple wire brush is not going to "STRIP" the pan.

Randy

 
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Post by Smokeyja » Wed. Jan. 28, 2015 11:19 pm

Personally I think he should just cook a lot of bacon in the pans and don't wash them with soap . I've never had an issue with any of my pans . They always smell good , shine black , and cook amazing .

Vote Bacon, it's the only process that will get true satisfaction in the end :P

 
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Post by ddahlgren » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 12:45 am

I am the person that did the Crisco wrong with coats too heavy. I think I will try the oven cleaner then follow up after rinsing with so vinegar and water 50/50 to neutralize the lye with something I know to be food safe. Thanks for all the suggestions. Yes going to try the flaxseed oil.

 
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Post by stovehospital » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 6:39 am

Don't use the acid. Acid and metal interact. Lye is available at Home Depot and can be added to water in a 5 gallon bucket. I attach the pan to a coat hanger and leave it in the bucket for a week or so. Put a cover on the bucket to keep mice etc. out. We often soak all the enameled pieces of a wood/coal range in a lye/water mix before rebuilding. It does a fine job of removing whatever is on the pan or the stove. Just cure it again when you are done.

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 7:13 am

Yes, acid can etch the metal surface eating away the softer grains of the metal more than the harder, thus making the surface less smooth. Acid is often used to prep metal for paint because it can texture the surface giving the paint better adhesion. The old time sign painters often used vinegar and referred to it as giving the surface more "tooth" to hold paint.

For making the surface into a good non-stick pan ya a want more gums, not teeth ! :D

Paul


 
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Post by Smokeyja » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 8:50 am

I may have been a little extreme in suggesting the Muriatic acid so I apologize for that. If you never worked with it before shouldn't have suggested trying it on cookware .

With that being said I think this might gets your mouths watering this morning .
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Cooking with my favorite Lodge skillet on an electric stove . Sure wish it was on a coal cook stove but that will come in time .

 
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Post by Photog200 » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 10:25 am

Yum, nothing better than bacon cooked in cast iron! Now I am starving...thanks Josh. :D

Randy

 
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Post by ddahlgren » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 10:38 am

stovehospital wrote:Don't use the acid. Acid and metal interact. Lye is available at Home Depot and can be added to water in a 5 gallon bucket. I attach the pan to a coat hanger and leave it in the bucket for a week or so. Put a cover on the bucket to keep mice etc. out. We often soak all the enameled pieces of a wood/coal range in a lye/water mix before rebuilding. It does a fine job of removing whatever is on the pan or the stove. Just cure it again when you are done.
Is there anything wrong with just using oven cleaner?

 
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Post by Photog200 » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 11:02 am

I am sure Emery will get back to you but in the mean time, I am going to give one more response as well. Oven cleaner has lye in it as the main ingredient, but they also use other cleaning agents. Lye itself is not toxic but the other cleaning agents may be. If you use pure food grade lye, you know what you have and that there will be no toxins left over on the pan. If I wanted to strip a pan, I would use the lye mixture and let the pan soak in it until it comes clean...at least 2-3 days. Lye reacts to the fats and actually goes through a saponification process, it actually turns it to soap. Now, having said all of this, a lot of people use the oven cleaner with a great deal of success and you don't have to mess with mixing the lye solution. Just wash the pan with hot soapy water really well. When well washed and rinsed, run the pan under very cold water for a few minutes and that will help to slow the flash rust that can happen.

What ever method you choose to use, be careful and good luck. I am attaching a photo of the food grade lye I use for making soap. It has their contact information on the bottle if you want it.

Randy

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Post by Sunny Boy » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 11:21 am

Photog200 wrote:Yum, nothing better than bacon cooked in cast iron! Now I am starving...thanks Josh. :D

Randy
Up until recently I agreed with that, except we had some exceptional Finnan haddie this weekend at a Robby Burns festival. I told Melissa that I never thought there was anything that could top bacon. Well there is for me ! :D

Paul

 
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Post by Photog200 » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 11:26 am

Sunny Boy wrote:
Photog200 wrote:Yum, nothing better than bacon cooked in cast iron! Now I am starving...thanks Josh. :D

Randy
Up until recently I agreed with that, except we had some exceptional Finnan haddie this weekend at a Robby Burns festival. I told Melissa that I never thought there was anything that could top bacon. Well there is for me ! :D

Paul
What is Finnan haddie?

 
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Post by EarlH » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 11:26 am

The lye bath in cold water works extremely well. I've done that with 15-20 cast iron pans and could not believe how nice they come out of that treatment. It's really not hard to do, you just need to use a little sense about what you are using and not splash it around. Wear rubber gloves and a long sleeve shirt, I would also have sometime over my eyes. (Ever read The Egg and I? She talks about some farm woman that lost an eye scrubbing her kitchen floor with lye. It's actually a very funny book) I don't remember there being any overwhelming smell or anything like that, I just put them in a plastic wash tub and forgot about them for a week or so. The pans were really nasty with crusted stuff on the bottom, and it all rinsed off down to nice grey iron with almost no scrubbing at all. I'm sure there must be a Griswold Cast Iron forum out there and they will have all kinds of helpful hints on that one. Unless you are in California. My brother lived out there and couldn't find lye anywhere!

 
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Post by Smokeyja » Thu. Jan. 29, 2015 11:37 am

Paul I had to google the Finnan Haddie . It looks like it's Smoked Haddock and wow I'll bet that taste amazing . They use haddock a lot as a "fish and chips" fish in Plymouth england . I would have to say this is probably good competition for bacon. I haven't had it smoked before but I hope to try some now that I've read about it .


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