Cast Iron Pan Advice

sozbox

Been using this Le Creuset cast iron pan for about 12 months, wondering if the condition looks normal? I'm worried others in the house may have been using soap or leaving it out wet

njs030

Do you season it regularly? My cast iron pans are ancient and still perfect.

CJhaughey

One thing about cast iron is that they are almost impossible to wreck.
Scrub the rust out and heat it smoking hot and run a bit of oil around it and leave it cool.
It will recover fine, Mine have built up a layer of black material on the bottom that won't scrub away and is kind self oiling.
I have seen people pour water into hot pans to clean them and this tends to cause the kind of effect you can see on yours.

Faith

sozbox, can you resize your picture*, please? It's so large that it's off my screen, and it makes it very difficult to see properly. Thanks

*If you're not sure how to, googling "picture resizer" will help

sozbox

Faith wrote: »

sozbox, can you resize your picture*, please? It's so large that it's off my screen, and it makes it very difficult to see properly. Thanks

*If you're not sure how to, googling "picture resizer" will help

Really? That's mad, displays fine on all my devices here. Resized now so let me know if you've any more issues with it

Thanks for the advice so far, hasn't been re-seasoned since I bought it and yes I've definitely seen people put water on it while it's still hot.

What's best to use for scrubbing the rust?

kimokanto

Lidl have stainless steel pot scrubs works a treat for stainless steel pots &I have used them for my cast iron griddle pan.

CJhaughey

When you add water to a hot pan the water forces the oil out of the pores of the cast iron, better to let the pan cool and scrub it, that way the metal retains the oil and won't rust.
Seasoning will help.

sozbox

CJhaughey wrote: »

When you add water to a hot pan the water forces the oil out of the pores of the cast iron, better to let the pan cool and scrub it, that way the metal retains the oil and won't rust.
Seasoning will help.

I think that's what's been happening alright. I'll give it a scrub at the weekend and re-season.

arian

sozbox wrote: »

Been using this Le Creuset cast iron pan for about 12 months, wondering if the condition looks normal? I'm worried others in the house may have been using soap or leaving it out wet

Coincidentally, read this today about using hydrogen peroxide to clean up enamel pans, but there's no detail

Ah, can't post links. Relevant bit just says:
Here's a tip: if you find the old stuff for a song but it has a burnt residue, boil hydrogen peroxide, then use a fine steel wool and the enamel comes up beautiful.


discussion.theguardian.com/comment-permalink/72761566

Faith

kimokanto wrote: »

Lidl have stainless steel pot scrubs works a treat for stainless steel pots &I have used them for my cast iron griddle pan.

sozbox wrote: »

Really? That's mad, displays fine on all my devices here. Resized now so let me know if you've any more issues with it

Thanks for the advice so far, hasn't been re-seasoned since I bought it and yes I've definitely seen people put water on it while it's still hot.

What's best to use for scrubbing the rust?

Thank you! I think it could have been my screen, tbh . I asked behind the scenes and I seem to be the only one seeing big pictures. I coincidentally got a new PC at work today so the issue may be fixed on my end.

sozbox

Something like this be ok to use for scrubbing the pan?

CJhaughey

Yep Thats what I use for stuff thats hard to remove, once you season the pan afterwards it won't rust.

sozbox

I wrote to Le Creuset who wrote back recommending I fill the pan 2/3 with water and then add 3 tablespoons of biological washing up powder. Simmer until it becomes a paste and then allow to cool overnight.

Trying it now so hopefully will work...

Morgane

I'm really curious to know how it turned out and how you managed to resolve your cast iron conundrums.

Because if there is one thing I know about a cast iron pan is that it is never too late to rescue it. Although you will need to be patient to restore the 'nonstick' patina and re-season your pan to get that black surface back. And that might require more than one round of the process, but it is possible. Right?

sozbox

Morgane wrote: »

I'm really curious to know how it turned out and how you managed to resolve your cast iron conundrums.

Because if there is one thing I know about a cast iron pan is that it is never too late to rescue it. Although you will need to be patient to restore the 'nonstick' patina and re-season your pan to get that black surface back. And that might require more than one round of the process, but it is possible. Right?

The above worked, pan has been fine since.