Good call, I do put them upside down on the top rack with a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to catch the oil. I forgot to mention that.

Ive done more lighter layers in the past and found that no matter what I do cooking in it is what really does it although I think your right more lighter layers probably does a little better.

This also works good on rusty traps or cleaning rusty carbon knives.

Looks good. I have an electrolysis system and a lye tank, and have bought restored and sold hundreds of skillets of the last couple years. I usually do one light coat of seasoning on mine and then start using them. Like you said, using them is the best.

When I season mine to start I spray them with cooking spray. I wipe and wipe and wipe some more until it basically looks dry. Then I stick them in the oven on 350, after 10 minutes I remove them and wipe then down with the same paper towel I wiped them clean with. This ensures and even coat of oil. They stay at 350 for an hour then I turn it up to 400 1/2 hour, then to 450 1/2 then turn the stove off.

These old skillets are so versatile and cook so good. I use them on the stove, in the oven and over a camp fire.

Had never heard of using vinegar, though it makes perfect sense. I'll keep this in mind.

Great job, but you could have gotten that old wagner even cleaner. If you remove all that old varnish with oven cleaner. SOAK it with easy-off spray, wrap it in a trash bag and sit it in the sun for a few days to a week.



Teflon schmeflon

Oven cleaner will do a great job on cast iron. If you use it you need to get the "extra strength" stuff. If you use easy off it is the can with the yellow lid. Just make sure the can you buy contains Lye. That is the ingredient needed to strip the skillets of the grease and grime. If you plan on doing a bunch it is easier to buy a can of Lye and add it to water and soak them in it. I have a large rubber maid tub in my garage that has the Lye in it. You can soak hundreds of skillets in it before you need to change it out. Just be careful when handling Lye.
Also as mentioned before if you use vinegar you need to monitor it, if left in too long the skillet will be damaged by the vinegar.

great tips. Im going to redo a dutch oven. Any tips on these?

No, you can pretty much follow the same method. When you put into the oven though make sure you have them at an angle that will not allow and excess oil to pool. Bout the only thing really.

Is the pan rusty, greasy/grimey, or both? If it is just cooking grease and grime I would get a can of EZ Off oven cleaner (yellow lid with lye). Hose the piece down and stick it in a trash bag. Depending on how much grime there is it might take a few days or up to a week. Make sure it stays wet with EZ off and spray it again every couple days if needed.

I use water and stainless steel scrubbers to clean them after the lye soak. The scrubbers are the balls of steel that look almost like a wad of metal shavings. They make them in stainless and brass, use the stainless. While scrubbing the piece turn your oven on to about 230 (or however low it will go). When rinsing and scrubbing I use cold water at the end as the piece will not flash rust as bad. Once it is as dry as you can get it with paper towels stick it in the oven for 5-10 minutes. It will likely have some very slight flash rust on it when it comes out of the oven, don't worry about that. Turn the oven up to 350. I use Pam cooking spray and spray a light coat over then entire piece. Then I use clean paper towels and start wiping it off. All it takes in the beginning is a VERY THIN layer of oil to season so wipe it until it looks dry, trust me there will still be oil there. Once you have wiped it down good pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes. I then remove them and again wipe them down with the same paper towels you used to wipe of the oil the first time. This will help even the oil out as you will likely see some discolored spots where it was uneven. Then back into the oven for 1 hour at which time I turn the oven up to 400, then after 1/2 hour turn it up to 450. After 1/2 hour turn it off and let it cool in the oven. I do all my cast iron that way and then start using it. If you use too much oil it will pool and get sticky or it will also get a zebra stripe look to it.

If the piece you have is newer and has a rough surface and not a smooth surface like the older stuff you can use a plain cotton T shirt to dry it and do the oiling. The rough surface will get paper towel lint all over it.

The dutch oven Im redoing is rusty

You can do a vinegar soak like the OP did, just keep an eye on it. The vinegar will start to eat away the iron. Depending on how rusty it is you might be able to get it done in a few hours or a day or so. The absolutely best thing for rust is an electrolysis system. If you are somewhat handy they can be done pretty easy, especially if you are just planning on doing one or two pieces. You can use a five gallon bucket and a battery charger. Just don't take a wire wheel or some type of grinder to it. I have seen tones of cast iron ruined by wire wheels.