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Help With Cast Iron Issues?
By GP | April 29, 2010
The weather is breaking and it is the perfect time of year to use your Dutch/Camp ovens, not to hot, not to cold. There are always a few questions that come up this time of year as folks break open their ovens for use.
What is that smell? What are those black flakes? I’m brave enough to try this cooking in one this year, do I need to season it?
Lets take this one at a time:
Smell- This rancid smell is usually caused from the use of to much and the wrong kind of oils used after cleaning your oven. Corn oil is notorious for going off. Sealing the lid of your oven and the temperature swings help this process along. Solution- leave the lid cracked, heat your oven after oiling it and put your ovens away dry.
Flakes-The black flakes are usually burnt food that didn’t get cleaned out very well and while the oils in it burnt, it didn’t adhere into the pores of the oven. So as the iron heaved with the temperatures it became loose and you have flakes.
Seasoned? – The majority of the ovens you purchase today will be seasoned and ready to use. Knowing if it is seasoned is the trick. Maybe you have an oven you have had for years and have not used. Chances are it is not seasoned. A way to know is that it will have a silver appearance and feel tacky. If you start to warm it you will see a liquid run, that is wax. All the wax needs to be removed. I wipe what I can off and then heat it slowly until all the smoking stops and it looks gray. The following photos explain the above issues.
Here is an oven I found laying around that was waxed and I am burning the wax off.
You can see the dry silvery color.
Doing the same to the well of the oven
Seasoned the lid using conditioner see the difference?
One wipe across the well with a rag of conditioner and it starts the seasoning process.
Now seasoned oven sitting on the Black Sports Grill lid, similar colors. As oil heats it carbonizes too much heat and you can burn it clean and gray again. Some real dirty ovens may need to be burn out. I have had to use an electric drill and wire brush to chip the old burnt food from several ovens I’ve repaired for folks.
Here is a bad oven that someone left dirty for a few months. I’ve seen worse.
A little conditioner and heat and the flakes start to pop up and off with a wipe.
A little elbow grease is all it took to remove these flakes
Charcoal dust on the lid a little brushing with a paint brush, rinse, dry and then add some conditioner and it looks like new.
Hope this helps.
Good cooking,
GP
Topics: Dutch Oven, GP, General Discussion | 4 Comments »
April 29th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Thank you. This is perfect. I am going to take over my husbands dutch ovens this weekend. I hate the black flakes. What is the conditioner you mention?
April 29th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Melanie,
Here is a link to the conditioner that is mentioned in the post:
http://www.campchef.com/store/item/57/CSC8_Cast_Iron_Conditioner.html
May 9th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
We have a 12-qt Dutch Oven. We used it to make Ham and Bean Soup over an open fire. Washed it with reg dish detergient. The inside bottom rusted. Will washing it to get the rust off and using Cast Iron Conditioner take care of the problem?
May 17th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Jeanette,
Sorry for the late response. Travel out of range and then catch up work has been behind the curve.
Most likely the rust is a flash or swet rust. The oxidization/rust was caused if your bean soup had a tomato base. That and the soaping removed (maybe all) of the protective seasoning you may have already established through use. Washing it again would most likly take off the rust but then dry it well and then re-season.
I have been able to wipe of lite rust spots just using the conditioner.
GP