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Cast iron skillet found on side of the road..  

post #1 of 45
12/31/08 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 
Disgusting or awesome find?

I've wanted one forever but our budget just never allowed it. We were on a family walk and there it was on the side of the road (residential neighborhood). It wasn't there the day before...this is a daily route. DH, ever frugal snagged it. I was skeptical.

Anyhow, it was rusty and yucky. DH used the grinder to bring it down to bare metal. Is this now safe to season and use?

Or.....could it have had something.....toxic, icky body fluid, something dead (??!) in it and we should chuck it because even getting down to bare metal is not good enough?

~L.
post #2 of 45
12/31/08 at 9:03pm
I'd use it, I'd probably heat it up really really hot in the oven first. after washing it of course.
post #3 of 45
12/31/08 at 9:07pm
I would definitely use it. I would stick it in the oven for about 1/2 hour then allow to cool (after washing first of course). Then I would season it and heat it again the way instructed with new cast iron pans and it should be great to use.
Enjoy!!
post #4 of 45
12/31/08 at 9:12pm
Ummmm... no.

I wouldn't feel comfortable using that. I don't think you could get it clean enough, given that everything that ever goes in it seasons it, right?

I'd toss that one and ask for a new one for my next birthday.
post #5 of 45
12/31/08 at 10:51pm
I'd use it. Having purchased lots of used cast iron over the years, I'd likely do the 'woohoo' dance all the way home. But yes, definitely clean it well, heat the heck out of it, then get to work on seasoning it
post #6 of 45
12/31/08 at 11:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirsten View Post
Ummmm... no.

I wouldn't feel comfortable using that. I don't think you could get it clean enough, given that everything that ever goes in it seasons it, right?

I'd toss that one and ask for a new one for my next birthday.
Thing is seasoning doesn't last when you wash it with soap, that's why they say you shouldn't use soap.

Plus her dh has already ground it down to the bare metal. And heating it really hot in the oven will kill anything I can think of.
post #7 of 45
12/31/08 at 11:53pm
I'd use it. Scrape it. Clean it. Wash it. Season it. Then fry up some fish. Or bake cornbread. Or collard greens tomorrow. Yum.
post #8 of 45
1/1/09 at 12:02am
As long as I didn't think it was a murder weapon or anything (sorry, that's where my mind went at first) I would use it.
post #9 of 45
1/1/09 at 12:03am
Thread Starter 
YAY! "Use it" seems to win out here...:: We will!

I think heating it up good and hot after washing it is a good idea and one I'd not thought of.

I'm so excited!!!!!!! Off to research seasoning cast iron.....

~L.
post #10 of 45
1/1/09 at 12:05am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post
As long as I didn't think it was a murder weapon or anything (sorry, that's where my mind went at first) I would use it.
Ewww...yeah...that was kind of the train of thought in the something dead part of my post. I really don't think that, but hey, ya never really know eh?

I'm going with "fell of the truck headed to the dump" reason for being on the side of the road!

~L.
post #11 of 45
1/1/09 at 1:32am
I'd use it! Specially seeing as its been ground down to bare metal. Just season it up real good with your choice of oils (lard, bacon grease, vegetable oil, whatever), and it should be just perfectly fine and dandy
post #12 of 45
1/1/09 at 2:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post
As long as I didn't think it was a murder weapon or anything (sorry, that's where my mind went at first) I would use it.

I totally went to a "Goodbye, Earl" thought first....

But, I would guess it'd be good to use now...
post #13 of 45
1/1/09 at 10:04am
Personally I'd use one that I found in a thrift shop, but not one on the side of the road. An old, well-loved pot is one thing, but something on the side of the road....... I dunno, man, I would just always wonder about it.

As for always wanting one but it's never in the budget - the glory of cast iron is that it's exceptionally useful but very frugal too. It's as functional and durable as a really expensive All Clad or Le Crueset cookware but you can get a huge skillet for $20 or a dutch oven for $30.
post #14 of 45
1/1/09 at 1:12pm
Well, if you lived in my parent's neighbourhood you may have found one on the side of the road that fell off the truck headed to the dump because my silly Dad threw one of their's away! I only found that out when I found the other one in the basement and asked him what he was doing with it. I nearly died when he told me he threw it out. It made me sick to think of the waste and of that pan sitting in the landfill for thousands of years. Thank God we managed to rescue one from him. We cleaned it up and use it all the time!

So maybe that is what happened with your pan. Who would have thought there were people in the world that were so foolish and I happen to be related to them?
post #15 of 45
1/1/09 at 1:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by YesandNo View Post
Personally I'd use one that I found in a thrift shop, but not one on the side of the road. An old, well-loved pot is one thing, but something on the side of the road....... I dunno, man, I would just always wonder about it.

As for always wanting one but it's never in the budget - the glory of cast iron is that it's exceptionally useful but very frugal too. It's as functional and durable as a really expensive All Clad or Le Crueset cookware but you can get a huge skillet for $20 or a dutch oven for $30.
Except of course you don't know that someone didn't throw it on the side of the road before someone else cleaned it up and took it to the thrift shop
post #16 of 45
1/1/09 at 2:42pm
eally though what could be the risk after cleaning and hitting it?
post #17 of 45
1/1/09 at 7:33pm
Go ahead and keep it! I have at least one cast iron frying pan that survived a house fire and all the disgusting chemicals that can get on it from that, and I have a giant cast iron kettle that's lived through years as a planter. Both required thorough cleaning and their respective kinds of seasoning, but then both were good as new. Do heat it very hot, then cool it and scrub it, BEFORE seasoning it, in order to maximize what you remove from its pores.
--
AnnaArcturus
post #18 of 45
1/1/09 at 7:40pm
It should be just fine after everything you've done to it!
post #19 of 45
1/1/09 at 8:19pm
It's been ground down to bare metal? I wouldn't have any worries. Any homicide evidence is long gone.

My mother gave me a dutch oven that she found in a pile of detritus when she bought the house I grew up in (1977 or 1978). Nobody knows how old it is. She handed it over to my grandma, who cleaned it up and reseasoned it and used it for years before passing it back to my mom, who gave it to me to use while camping.
post #20 of 45
1/2/09 at 12:13am
I would just clean it and season it.
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