Cleaning Cast iron cookware

[randyrayd]

I have some baking pans and sheets that I only use on grills and smokes because of the smoke residue on their outsides. I've noticed a lot of you use cast iron cookware in your cookers.

I know how to care for the cooking surface of my cast iron stuff, but how do you clean the outside when you use them in a smoker. I dedicate some cookware to outside cooking when my wife used a pan I had in the smoker and smoke residue all over her.

 

[olecrosseyes]

I own CI but I don't use it in the smoker. I have stainless steel restaurant pans and use the throw away foil pans. I'll set a newer one that has no pin holes into one that has holes and let it absorb the smoke so that when I bring it into the house the outside of the foil pan is clean bu separating the two.

 

[SmokyMose]

I have some baking pans and sheets that I only use on grills and smokes because of the smoke residue on their outsides. I've noticed a lot of you use cast iron cookware in your cookers.

I know how to care for the cooking surface of my cast iron stuff, but how do you clean the outside when you use them in a smoker. I dedicate some cookware to outside cooking when my wife used a pan I had in the smoker and smoke residue all over her.

Analogy: Once you use a brush for oils it can't be used ever again for acrylics.
I guess you have to make a choice about what ware you use in a smoker. I have a baking pan that only gets used for beans in the smoker, because you just can't really get the smoke completely off.
I don't have a problem because other than the small CI pan my wife uses ONLY for cornbread she doesn't care for CI pans and If I get caught with one even close to our smooth top range I'm a dead man, so I can use CI as much as I want in the smoker or the kettle. I have a deep 12" Lodge hanging in the garage that I had before we met just crying for fried chicken and it breaks my heart :-(
You can get the inside clean, like you said. Just tell her not to touch the outside....

 

[randyrayd]

Duh!! I can use the stuff I already used outside. I also buy the aluminum pans at the discount box store. For some reason I was wasn't thinking about those because I only used them for meats.

Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone about my this, okay?

 

[SmokyMose]

Duh!! I can use the stuff I already used outside. I also I buy the aluminum pans at the discount box store. For some reason I was wasn't thinking about those because I only used them for meats.

Shhhhh. Don't tell anyone about my this, okay?

It's between you and me.

 

[pops6927]

Cast Iron Electrolysis Rust Removal

The following rust removal setup works great for those pots that are really rusted up. I use this setup a couple of times a year when friends bring me their neglected cast iron and when I find a D.O at a yard sale or a thrift shop. This info is...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[pops6927]

Cast Iron Electrolysis Rust Removal

The following rust removal setup works great for those pots that are really rusted up. I use this setup a couple of times a year when friends bring me their neglected cast iron and when I find a D.O at a yard sale or a thrift shop. This info is...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[Will Squared]

I have some CI that has been pickling in Cleaning Vinegar for three weeks now.
16" skillet
24" griddle
and an Aebleskiver pan
They had been outside for a couple of decades and showed it !
I took my first peek today, dragged the skillet to the surface and it look really amazing !
All Rust Gone !
Just letting them stay there until this storm passes and I have sunny days to season them in.

What do you guys think is the best oil to season with?

Is Flax Seed Oil all that?

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I have some CI that has been pickling in Cleaning Vinegar for three weeks now.
16" skillet
24" griddle
and an Aebleskiver pan
They had been outside for a couple of decades and showed it !
I took my first peek today, dragged the skillet to the surface and it look really amazing !
All Rust Gone !
Just letting them stay there until this storm passes and I have sunny days to season them in.

What do you guys think is the best oil to season with?

Is Flax Seed Oil all that?

Three weeks! Yikes get it out of the vinegar! You should only put CI in vinegar diluted with water 50/50 for 30 -45 minutes. Then scrub with soap and water, season right away. Vinegar will eat away at the CI.

Cast Iron Cleaning & Restoration - The Cast Iron Collector: Information for The Vintage Cookware Enthusiast

The Cast Iron Collector: Information for the Vintage Cookware Enthusiast. Learn how to identify, clean, restore, season and use collectible antique cast iron cookware.

www.castironcollector.com

 

[Will Squared]

Three weeks! Yikes get it out of the vinegar!

Pulled it all out and it look fine.
I had added other items to make space between the pieces, I have a collection of 100 year old gold miner picks and double jack heads, they all came out clean.

Another happy story for today !

 

[Murray]

My Dad used to smear liquid dish soap on the bottom and sides of pans used to cook over an open fire. Once cooking was done paper towel the sides and bottoms to remove the carbon and soap. Should work for a smoker although I haven’t tried it yet.

 

[olecrosseyes]

I did that as a boy scout in the 60's but it was always on aluminum pots and the like, never learned that it was to be used on cast iron or cast aluminum.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Take those pans to the car wash. The manual one, and spray off the outside. Clean them up and be done. No hot wax though.