How to recover cast iron skillet with melted fiber on it
So I decided to try seasoning my cast iron skillet in the oven. After a few hours I made the mistake of thinking I could take it out and look at it with some pot holders. It turns out pot holders than will be just fine at 350 can't stand up to the max heat of my oven -- Fibers melted on the handle, or maybe they got stuck in the oil, I'm not sure -- but I can't get them completely off with a brillo pad.
My next step is something a bit more drastic -- sandpaper or a dremel with a buffing wheel. This will leave bare cast iron exposed unfortunately. I realize it's just the handle, but I don't really want that to rust either. If I do wind up scrubbing it down to shiny metal, is there any reason I wouldn't be able to just reseason it using advice on this site?
Best Answer
First, you should never scrub cast iron with a brillo pad, as the steel in the brillo is harder than the cast iron, and can not only strip off the seasoning but scratch up the iron itself. The same would be true with sandpaper or a dremel.
Instead, you should plan to completely strip and reseason the pan, using lye or oven cleaner (scroll down a couple pages in that article).
If it is only the handle that is a mess, use the oven cleaner method to just strip the handle (protecting the rest of the pan with a plastic bag), then continue the seasoning process. The handle will end up with fewer layers of seasoning than the rest of the pan, but that's fine, it's just the handle and not a cooking surface.
Alternately, if you can heat the pan in a well-ventilated area (an outdoor grill, for example), you may be able to simply burn off the fibers, depending on what they are made of (if they have a silicone or metallic coating, probably not). In this case, just heating the pan to more than 500F/250C for a couple hours may take care of the problem, and can even be part of the seasoning process.
Finally, if you plan to handle the hot pan during seasoning again, get some welding gloves.
Pictures about "How to recover cast iron skillet with melted fiber on it"
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Wipe the melted plastic with the cloth saturated in nail polish remover. Keep rubbing until the plastic is removed.How do you get crud off cast iron?
Put your pan in the sink, run some hot water in it, and scrub off all the stuck-on food. Rinse. If the food is really cooked on, you can always let the pan soak for a bit. But don't let cast iron sit in water too long or it will start to rust.How do you repair cast iron coating?
Sticky Surface If the seasoning in your pan is sticky, this is a sign of excess oil built up on the cookware. The Fix: To remedy stickiness, place the cookware upside down on the top rack of the oven and bake at 450-500 degrees F for one hour. Allow to cool and repeat if necessary.How do you fix a burnt cast iron pan?
For a gentle but effective scrub, take a tip from the spa and use salt. Generously sprinkle kosher salt or coarse sea salt into the pan and scrub it with a clean, damp washcloth. For extra stubborn spots, use a plastic pan scraper to work the burned food off the pan.Do I Need To Season A New Lodge Cast Iron Skillet?
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Eva Elijas, Erik Mclean, Erik Mclean, Milan