[Sca-cooks] Rust removal

[marilyn traber 011221]

> I wrote:
> 
>  >I really hate having to bring out the wire brushes for my cookware!
> 
> Which reminded me:  what do the members of this august company 
> prefer for rust removal from cast iron?  My mother just gave me her 
> old ableskiver pan and it's awfully rusty.  This is going to be 
> difficult.  I'm hesitant to dive in with chemical rust removers 
> because then the trick is to remove the remover before using the pan 
> for actual food without chemicals.  You see the quandry.
> 
> In the meantime, I'm going out to get a wire brush that will attach 
> to my power drill, that may save some elbow grease anyway.
> 
> Best,
> Selene Colfox

Don't waste your time with a wire brush- they're pretty dangerous anyway, 
when one of the wires comes loose, if you aren't wearing a leather apron. A 
guy just managed to impale his left testicle through his jeans a few days 
ago. And, never mind, using a wire brush tends to drive the rust deeper, so 
your food will taste like rust for a while.

Instead, get a battery charger. You should have one, if not you need one ;-) 
Put one contact on the metal you're cleaning, attach the other to a piece of 
scrap metal- iron or steel- and immerse the pieces in salt water in a plastic 
container, seperated a bit. Turn the charger on to "trickle" and go away for 
a while. If when you come back, the piece of metal has rust attached to it, 
you're doing it the right way- if not, you need to switch the clamps, so the 
polarity goes the other way (I can never remember which way it goes, and for 
Heaven's Sakes, turn the thing OFF when you switch the clamps).

It's completely the easiest way to remove rust I know of, and doesn't risk 
driving nasty stuff into your cast iron, and, depending on how much rust you 
have, shouldn't take more than a few hours to accomplish.

Phlip