Do I really want to clean this?

[Russell Ware]

Part 1:
Normally, I don’t go looking for vintage pieces of rust. I prefer vintage cast iron that can be spruced up with a minimum of cleaning effort. Every so often though, a piece, or in this case 2 pieces, comes along that piques my interest and makes me ask that infamous question, “Do I really want to clean this?”
It was high noon when I found this piece in Liberty, NC, but the rust and old seasoning on it reflected the sunlight in a way that made me look twice at a piece I would normally walk right past. As I picked it up, I look at the inside of the lid to see that it was more than likely made by Wagner. That is not what caught my eye though. From what I could see, under the rust and carbon ash on the side of this chicken skillet, it looked vaguely like a hammered #9 chicken skillet I have - which is in much better condition than this current rusty piece. Yup, it is hammered. I thought, “Now that is a sad state of affairs. Who could let a nice big #9 hammered chicken skillet go to pot like this?” With these thoughts still echoing in my mind, the seller walked by, and he said “oh yeah, that mess there is $10.” Without even thinking, $10 came flying right out of my pocket. You could almost hear that cash register bell ringing - cha-ching! I just had to see what this piece would look like once it was cleaned up. I knew the inside of the lid and the cooking surface would have some pitting. It had been out in a barn for decades with the lid sitting on it, assuring that moisture that got into it would have ample time to wreak havoc.

[Russell Ware]

Part 2:
After a day of soaking in the lye bath, I gave it a good scrub down with some stainless steel wool. It looked a whole lot better already, even with the minor pitting inside the lid and on the cooking surface of the skillet. The best part so far was not finding any cracks in either piece. That is one big reason to avoid taking a chance on pieces like this one. What you can’t see through the rust can come back to bite you. But not this time. Into the electro tank it went. It was late at night when I took it out of the tank. I figured I would wait until the next day to finish the process. I knew I had a lot of scrubbing ahead of me any way.
Early the next day, I got a big soapy, foamy bath running and new piece of stainless steel wool just chomping at the bit to go town on that skillet. I was a rubbin’ and scrubbin’. You should have seen the color of the water by the time I was done.
I went right into a cotton towel wipe down followed by the first coat of melted coconut oil, and I put the pieces into a 250 degree oven to warm up some. Pulled them out after about 15 minutes, checked to make sure I didn’t miss any spots with the oil, then I wiped the oil off carefully, because 250 degrees is hot stuff, with another clean cotton towel. I put the two pieces back into the oven, set the temperature to 500 degrees, and let’em sit there for an hour. Now comes the most dangerous part. After that hour was up, I took the pieces out one at a time, applied a second coat of oil with a folded paper towel, wiped the piece off with the cotton towel, and placed it back in the oven. Five hundred degrees is hot, and the oil will start to smoke as soon as it touches the iron. The range hood fan was roaring on high, and the cotton towel I was holding was quadruply folded over itself, and you could still feel the searing heat and smell the burning oil. I thought, “who else is having this much fun today?”
Once both pieces were oiled, wiped, and back in the oven, I cranked up to 500 degrees one more time, after which I allowed the pieces to come to room temperature as they remained in the oven - even though I did want to take them out so I could see how they looked.

So here is the final product.

What do you think?

[Dwayne Henson]

Nicely done, is what I think.

[Brian Vick]

I would hit the piece a few more times inside for sure w/seasoning and MAN WHAT A USER ::) $10 bucks how could you go wrong Russell??? ;)
OB ;D

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Russell. I'd just start using it and I am sure it will do you proud. As a rule you can help the sick but you can't raise the dead. In this case Russell you were the exception to the rule. I sure would have walked right on by that piece. Congratulations Russell.  :)