Author Topic: Griddle Mania (Read 5286 times)

Mary Kennedy · « **on:** November 09, 2013, 09:43:29 PM »

I am cleaning up a McClary 9 Griddle for a friend. I pulled it out of the lye bath and and then put it in the vinegar/water solution for a few hours. I attach pictures of how they looked after the lye and after the vinegar. As you can see, there is a large circle of rust on the bottom the the griddle, more pronounced than before the vinegar dip. Can someone remind me, would it be safe for me to put this griddle in the vinegar solution overnight, or should I wait till tomorrow and put it in when I can monitor it better?

Also, I finally got the Griswold griddle out of the lye that I posted about before and attach pictures of those out of the lye. It has odd blackening around the outer bottom. I used lye and stripper, so it must just be some staining or dark marking from use.

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #1 on:** November 09, 2013, 09:47:17 PM »

Out of Vinegar.

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #2 on:** November 09, 2013, 09:48:09 PM »

Griswold out of lye

Tom Neitzel · « **Reply #3 on:** November 10, 2013, 07:54:34 AM »

I'm surprised you haven't had an answer yet. The red color you see I usually associate with overheating, a different kind of oxidation. Neither lye, vinegar nor electro will remove it. Most commonly seen when someone has used the campfire or fireplace method of cleaning a pan (NOT recommended!).

Tom

Russell Ware · « **Reply #4 on:** November 10, 2013, 10:25:56 AM »

Mary,
I have a Wagner #9 round griddle that had the same surprise for me when I pulled it out of my vinegar bath. I continued cleaning with repeated scrubbing with a wire brush and vinegar. The rust did come off, and the griddle bottom does hold a seasoning now. I think it will depend on how badly yours is rusted.
If you want an example of true death by fire cleaning, I have a #3 Martin Stove skillet that has deep red scars that no amount of scrubbing in vinegar will help, and the skillet does not season well at all.

Cheryl Watson · « **Reply #5 on:** November 10, 2013, 10:53:59 AM »

Mary, I had a few griddles that looked like that, and thought they were fire damaged also.... BUT.. after repeated derusting, they actually were not. All of the rust was eventually removed. I may have just gotten lucky... no permanent discoloration was present... although you may find some pitting thru the process.....

In this situation I used the electro to minimize the time exposure to vinegar on the rest of the piece. You may want to try 100% vinegar spritz, applied to just the round spot with scrub downs under running water until you get it mostly gone, then back to the vinegar bath for final short soak.

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #6 on:** November 10, 2013, 12:45:28 PM »

Thank you all for the information. I really appreciate the help. Well, I hope mine turns out like Cheryl's and comes off. What a great idea Cheryl, about spraying it with 100% vinegar in the spot. I am going to try that, since I don't have electro. I hope I'm lucky!

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #7 on:** November 10, 2013, 05:48:29 PM »

I'm working on the McClary, and some of the rust is coming off very slowly. I hope it all will. I will report on that later.

Now, I had my Griswold in its first round of vinegar and weird stuff is happening. Pictures are posted below. The bottom looks so weird now. Any one know what this might be? The dark part I though was burnt iron obviously wasn't. I attach three pictures. I am trying to re-size these, hopefully it works. Windows 8 came with my laptop, and I hate it - weird things are not only happening with the iron. :(

Cheryl Watson · « **Reply #8 on:** November 10, 2013, 06:40:09 PM »

Quote

The bottom looks so weird now. Any one know what this might be? The dark part I though was burnt iron obviously wasn't. I attach three pictures. I am trying to re-size these, hopefully it works. Windows 8 came with my laptop, and I hate it - weird things are not only happening with the iron.

Welcome to the wonderful world of griddles! ;D

On some days I think they are tougher than Waffle Irons! :o

Good news.. what you thought was 'burnt' was actually rust, and all those other black marks are where rust (even if your eye wasn't seeing it!) was lurking, and the vinegar is converting it..(turning it black).

I'd say back to the vinegar bath with it, and pull and scrub frequently. SS scrubbies and even an SOS pad may be in order for the polished cooking surface! SS brush on the bottom may be in order. (Light strokes in one direction)....And then I hold my breath over black spots on the polished cooking surface. On my #10, fine pitting emerged from under the lightest of smooth black spots... :'( :'(

Cheryl Watson · « **Reply #9 on:** November 10, 2013, 06:43:41 PM »

PS... the little bit of Windows 8 that I have seen has crossed my eyes!

I have been resizing your pics.
Try and aim for total file size under 250 KB for each pic.
The first set of photos I took back to 640 x 480, and the recent batch, slightly larger.
:)

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #10 on:** November 10, 2013, 06:49:24 PM »

Thank you for your replies and in the information Cheryl. I will try everything you suggested. And thanks for re-sizing my photos and letting me know the size to use. I used to do fine with my photo program and Windows 7. This Windows 8 stuff might be fine for phones, but it is really annoying on a laptop. When I get a chance my spouse is going to remove it and replace it with Windows 7.

Off to a dinner - I will continue some of this work tomorrow. Have a good evening all!

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #11 on:** November 11, 2013, 01:57:06 PM »

Well, I've been spraying the back of the McClary with the 100% vinegar mist and scrubbing as Cheryl suggested. It is taking a while, but it looks like it is working. Attached is a picture of where it stands now. I will continue until all the harsh rust is gone. Cheryl, I await any comments you have regarding this, hopefully things look okay to you.

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #12 on:** November 11, 2013, 10:00:26 PM »

Well,

I've been spraying the McClary with vinegar throughout the day and it doesn't seem to be getting that much better. I attach a picture I just took. I'm wondering if I should just throw it into the vinegar bath now and see what happens.

Since this spot is on the bottom, do you think I could just season it like this and the griddle could still be used? The top is very, very smooth. I am sure it will be a joy to cook on. Any suggestions?

Cheryl Watson · « **Reply #13 on:** November 11, 2013, 10:16:39 PM »

Vinegar bath, now that the toughest spot is broken up... :)

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #14 on:** November 17, 2013, 10:02:00 PM »

Well, I went back to vinegar spritzing and I seem to be making headway, I think I will try a little longer to get it all off. A picture follows.

Roger Barfield · « **Reply #15 on:** November 17, 2013, 10:30:21 PM »

Mary, I wonder if a rag soaked in vinegar would work if you were to lay it on that spot for a while.

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #16 on:** November 17, 2013, 10:58:02 PM »

That's a good idea, Roger, thank you. I think I will try that next. It would control where the vinegar lays a lot better. Thanks again! ;)

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #17 on:** December 16, 2013, 11:34:49 PM »

Hello folks,

I used Roger's rag idea for a while and then switched to vinegar soaked paper towel pieces so I could control the spot the vinegar was on and shape it. This is what I have so far. So correct me if my memory serves me poorly, but I am stuck with the black marks, right? Just blacken the griddle in a hot oven before seasoning? Attached are two pictures.

Roger Barfield · « **Reply #18 on:** December 16, 2013, 11:54:22 PM »

You got it. Darken in the oven with nothing on it and then season. You did a great job with it.

Mary Kennedy · « **Reply #19 on:** December 17, 2013, 12:00:39 AM »

Thanks Roger!

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Author Topic: Griddle Mania (Read 5286 times)