Using a campfire?

[coastie]

I have always used a campfire to clean off my cast iron and then reseason it.  It works great at getting all the gunk off but I see that folks here use lye or electrolysis.  Is there any reaoson I should switch?  Am I damaging the pans?  Thanks

[Chris Stairs]

Cyrus,
    The fire method can and will damage your iron. Even if you have had success with it in the past, you are taking a great risk. If the wind comes up to fan the flames, the temperature of the fire can climb by several hundred degrees. Warped and cracked pans result. Also "foundry scale" which can never be removed.
   The self-cleaning oven does essentially the same thing, but with a regulated temperature of roughly 900 degrees F. If your fire hits 1100 degrees, your pans will be ruined. The nature of the fire often results in uneven distribution of heat in different areas of the pan, causing cracks, even if the temp stays in the safe zone for iron.
  
Chris

[coastie]

SO I can just put it in  a self cleaning oven and run it through a cycle and then reseason it as I normally do?

[Chris Stairs]

I usually do 4-6 at once. Does the same thing as the fire, only without the risk of damage. It will stink the house up a bit. I run the fan, and wait till the wife is away. ;)

[Roger Barfield]

Yes, the self cleaning oven works well for cleaning cast iron and aluminum.  Just be careful if you clean a dutch oven to remove the bail as it will temper it.  

[C. Perry Rapier]

Yes, the self cleaning oven works well for cleaning cast iron and aluminum.  Just be careful if you clean a dutch oven to remove the bail as it will temper it.  

Roger, not to be a "know it all" but what it might do is "untemper" it. I believe I got that right.  :)

[C. B. Williams]

I'm a little confused here. It sounds like Cyrus is saying that he cleans and reseasons way more often than I do. I have some skillets that I have used on a regular basis for maybe 10 years and they have never been recleaned and reseasoned. They just get better and better. I'm talking about "users" here and not display items. I also agree with the ideas on proper cleaning and seasoning mentioned above. Controled temperatures are very important in either cleaning by heat or seasoning. Lye and/or electrolysis is the way to go. IMHO

[Ron_Wheeler]

Cyrus, all the information given above is good advice.  Besides the high risk of possibly damaging your cast iron you also change the patina, something a collector will notice and would consider the piece ruined and not collectible.  As Chris pointed out you cannot control the temperature in an open fire, plus, fire cleaned cast iron usually has a reddish hue to it after it's cleaned.  I have no proof but suspect an open fire (campfire) has a higher presence of oxygen compare to a closed self cleaning oven and that the higher oxygen levels may contrubute to the reddish hue.  After seasoning, the piece will not have that "deep" shinny patina but will usually be "flat" in comparison to a piece cleaned by accepted methods.

This probably doesn't mean much if you are keeping your piece of cast iron for your personal use but if you do happen to clean a collectible piece, whether you plan on keeping it for a user or later maybe selling it, you have changed, or ruined, its value.

This is just my opinion and observation.

[Roger Barfield]

Yes, the self cleaning oven works well for cleaning cast iron and aluminum.  Just be careful if you clean a dutch oven to remove the bail as it will temper it.  

Roger, not to be a "know it all" but what it might do is "untemper" it. I believe I got that right.  :)

That's right Perry.  It will mess up the temper.  :P

[coastie]

I do it about once every 10 years or so or when I get some old gunked up pieces at a yard sale.  

[Duke Gilleland]

I have seen some that have been "fire cleaned" and they showed the drack red color and you could not get it out. Also the iron "can" start flacking off. The bottom line here is there is NO CONTROL over a ifre as far as temp goes :-/

[Dwayne Henson]

If I remember correctly I got this photo off of EBay. This skillet is a prime example of what can happen when a campfire is used to clean cast iron. Our great grandparents used the campfire cleaning method because it was all they had. There are SO much better methods now, that pose no harm to the item.

This skillet can never be corrected, it is now only good for the scrap heap.

[Duke Gilleland]

A picture says it all [smiley=thumbsup.gif] [smiley=yikes.gif]Thanks Dwayne

[coastie]

Oven cleaning worked slick.  Definitely want to not be around because it stinks.  Wife wasnt happy.  

[Ron_Wheeler]

Definitely want to not be around because it stinks.  Wife wasnt happy

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