[Sca-cooks] Not so Virgin Cast Iron Question

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> My brother just gave me a nice size cast iron kettle.  Now I happen to
love
> cast iron for use around the mundane house.  The problem is that this
> particular pot was used to cover something outside and only recently
> rescued.  The interior bottom is badly pitted and rough.  The question is:
> Is it worth putting the scrubbing and possibly sanding with a disc sander
> into this?  Should I use it as a planter?
>
> Regina

Rather than sanding it, and taking away even more metal, in this case, I'd
use the Powers of Electricity to clean it up.

First thing you need is a large plastic container, in which you can totally
submerse the pot. You need to fill the plastic container with water, then
put salt in the water until it will not absorb any salt- you can get a
higher salt content by making the water hot. Then install the pot, with the
cathode (positive connection) onto the pot, and the negative contact into
the water, attached to a piece of metal that you don't mind getting messed
up. The piece of electrical equipment that you use for all this is just a
(car) battery charger, set on trickle. In a few hours, your pot should be
perfectly clean, or at least as perfectly clean as it's going to be. This
method is inexpensive, easier than it sounds, and you can borrow most of
what you need to do it- all it will cost you is some salt and some
electricity- it's what I use to clean up metal. Note- If the metal in the
water stays clean, and the pot apprears MORE corroded, you've hooked up the
electricity in the wrong direction- just switch the contacts.

Another method will be more expensive, and difficult to find someone to do
it for you. You need to find a shop that does sandblasting, using walnut
shells (first choice) or powdered glass as the blasting media- neither of
these will eat up the metal.

Once you've done this, you'll be able to season your pot as usual, and
return it to cooking- unless it's VERY bat (as in, so corroded that it's
likely to break any way) it should be fine for cooking.



Saint Phlip,
CoD

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....



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