Care and Cleaning
If you do Nothing Else...
- Hand wash. Dry immediately—even before first use.
- Rub with a light coat of vegetable oil after every wash.
- How much oil? Enough to restore the sheen, without being “sticky”.
- Why? To keep the iron “seasoned” and protected from moisture.
Seasoning Your Dutch Oven
While maintaining the seasoning should keep your Cast Iron in good condition, at some point you may need to re-season your Dutch oven. If food sticks to the surface, or you notice a dull, gray color, repeat the seasoning process:
While maintaining the seasoning should keep your Cast Iron in good condition, at some point you may need to re-season your Dutch oven. If food sticks to the surface, or you notice a dull, gray color, repeat the seasoning process:
- Wash the Dutch oven with hot, mild soapy water and a stiff brush.
- Rinse and dry completely.
- Apply a very thin, even coating of MELTED solid vegetable shortening (or cooking oil of your choice Flax seed oil work very well, but can be pricey) to the Dutch oven inside and out. Too much oil will result in a sticky finish.
- Place aluminum foil on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any drips.
- Set oven temperature to 350 – 400 degrees F.
- Place Dutch oven on the top rack of the oven.
- Bake the Dutch oven for at least one hour. After the hour, turn the oven off and let the Dutch oven cool in the oven.
- Store the Dutch oven uncovered, in a dry place when cooled.
- Repeat as necessary.
How to Get Rust Out of Cast Iron With Vinegar and Alfalfa Cubes
If you want to bring rusted cast iron items back to life, try a simple remedy of vinegar and alfalfa cubes. These ingredients will take the rust off any metal object without damaging or scratching it. An alfalfa cube, commonly used for feeding horses, is basically alfalfa compressed in a cubic shape. Alongside vinegar, this little gizmo works as a potent rust remover.
Things You’ll Need
- Plastic tub or barrel
- Package of alfalfa cubes
- Gallon of vinegar
- 1/2 gallon of water
- Piece of cloth
- Sponge
- Steel brush
- Get a tub or plastic barrel based on the size of the object you will work with. If it is, for example, a set of utensils, a medium-sized tub will be enough. If the object you want to take the rust out of is a pan or a candlestick, you’ll need a bigger tub. Choosing the right container is essential, since you’ll want to let your metal object soak completely. If you’re not able to find a large enough container, you can also soak parts of the piece in 24 hour turns.
- Put a layer of alfalfa cubes on the bottom of the plastic tub or barrel. Make sure it fills the whole surface of the container you’re using. Put object you’ll work with on top of this layer.
- Cover everything with boiled water. Since the cleaning solution consists of two parts vinegar and one part water, make sure you know how much water you pour in first. Add the appropriate amount of vinegar immediately after the water.
- Put the tub in a cool place and let it rest for 24 hours. If the object you put is too rusted, it’ll probably take the solution a few more hours to have a complete effect.
- Remove the object from the tub. The solution will have loosened the rust. Scrub the item with a steel brush to remove the remaining rust.
Tips & Warnings
- If after the 24-hour period you decide to let the object soak for more time, check every two hours to see if the solution has loosened the rust.
- Never let the object stay submerged in the tub more than 48 hours; vinegar can dissolve iron and thus damage your object.
- Use rubber gloves, as vinegar can be highly corrosive to skin.
