Balsamic glaze cooked on CI ... can't get off

Ozzie_Isaac

I cooked down some balsamic for mushrooms.  After shrooms were done I left the CI in the egg.  I cannot get the dried glaze off.

I have tried my chain mail scrapper, boiling water in it,  salt and water, and nothing has gotten it off.

Any ideas?

theyolksonyou

Remember when I did that in my stainless?  Had to chip it away with a spoon. Maybe someone smarter than us will come along...

blind99

Cook bacon in the pan. If that doesn't work, cook more bacon. 

Ozzie_Isaac

I hope so.  This is a beeaatch.

theyolksonyou said:

Remember when I did that in my stainless?  Had to chip it away with a spoon. Maybe someone smarter than us will come along...

Lit

Wet sand paper and reseason. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Lit said:

Wet sand paper and reseason. 

Sh!t.  I hope not, but you might be right.

Elijah

I'd just put it in the fire pit. Reseasoning is probably in your future either way though.

YukonRon

I think Lit has the best solution thus far. Anything else would be too caustic for a food surface to cook with.

Darby_Crenshaw

Boiling in water didn't do it?  

My strategy has been to give up on laborious reseasoning. My wife uses the CI often and occasionally strips the seasoning. 

In that case , i hit it with a little oil and keep on using it. Let it season in-use. Because a couple weeks later.... Oooops

part of me wonders if it might work to just forge on in your case. Instead of being meticulous, just reseason and let it ride

does it affect the flavor or keep blackening or otherwise cause any practical problem, or is it just driving you crazy? If it flavors stuff, then yeah. You gotta solve it. But if not i would just season it

it's an acid right? Might not even be the balsamic stuff is even there, so much as where it was. 

SciAggie

Elijah said:

I'd just put it in the fire pit. Reseasoning is probably in your future either way though.

I would try this first if it were me. 

Darby_Crenshaw

CI can crack that way. It works, but i dunno seems like a nuclear option

johnmitchell

Would an option be to take it to a sandblasting company, and get them to use a ceramic bead. Or there are companies that use other media that doesn't compromise the surface.. Might be worth exploring.

DieselkW

Tomatoes are too acidic to use in a cast iron pan. Vinegar is over the top. The acid ate away your seasoning anyway, so even if you didn't burn it in, you still would need to re season.

I would fill the egg with some cheap lump, after the smoke clears set the pan cooking side down on your grill.

Let it rip around 600º dome for as long as the coals last. Don't do a clean burn, set the bottom vent to prevent a runaway fire, you want that pan hot, but you don't want to warp it and you don't want the tops of the flames licking it, so control the burn.

That's the easy way. If that doesn't work, you might need to get it down to bare metal by electrolysis. Yes, a water bath, a marine 12v battery, an anode and jumper cables.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8U6AAoqLA

Darby_Crenshaw

Grampa never had an electrolysis rig. 

Ah well. Whatever works. 

I vote for less drastic fixes first. But like many things here, simple is no fun

Ozzie_Isaac

I'm with @Darby_Crenshaw on this one.  I am going to try simpler methods first.  Unfortunately, I can't just reseason and carry-on because it has made a very rough surface.

I will try boiling water in it one more time.  Then use a fine wet sandpaper to finish as @Lit suggested.  Then oil and use to season.

It is a lodge pan and I think it would be cheaper to buy a new one then bring it to a media blasting company.  Although if I were closer to @blasting

U_tarded

In another thread I remember fishless suggesting to get it hot (like almost smoke point) then do dump water in it and the steam/sizzle bubbles will help lift it.  

dougcrann

I have stripped quite  bit of CI. Skillets can take a butt load of heat. Have used a weed burner with great success. Just keep it moving. Don't concentrate the heat in one area.

Darby_Crenshaw

was the original surface ground smooth?   i thought the lodge stuff was rougher, cast surface.

it may be that it is stripped, as opposed to actually residue.  have you tried just seasoning it?  ... i.e. filling in the lost area of seasoning,

blasting

Glass bead would do the trick, but if you don't know a guy like me, it's likely to cost 2-3 times what the pan is worth.  

 I'm also about to experiment with electrolysis.  I'm assembling the parts for a larger scale tank now.  

Focker

I would bet, like others mentioned, the vinegar more than likely stripped the pan.  Have learned the hard way on this to use the nonstick for acidic tasks.  May need to strip and reseason. 

I too, need to go electro. I'm lucky, and can still find lye.  Idiots will always wreck a party.

Focker

Darby_Crenshaw said:

Boiling in water didn't do it?  

My strategy has been to give up on laborious reseasoning. My wife uses the CI often and occasionally strips the seasoning. 

In that case , i hit it with a little oil and keep on using it. Let it season in-use. Because a couple weeks later.... Oooops

part of me wonders if it might work to just forge on in your case. Instead of being meticulous, just reseason and let it ride

does it affect the flavor or keep blackening or otherwise cause any practical problem, or is it just driving you crazy? If it flavors stuff, then yeah. You gotta solve it. But if not i would just season it

it's an acid right? Might not even be the balsamic stuff is even there, so much as where it was. 

Why not get her a nice nonstick.  You can find a Pro TFal for 30 bucks.  An All-Clad or Le Creuset nonstick starting at a hundred.  And keep the CI away from the acidity or eggs?  Would cut down on "labor".

Ozzie_Isaac

Used the weedburner and that did the trick.  Took about 15 minutes but was able to burn/scrap the gunk off.  Then cooked some onions for carna asada in a bit of oil.  Worked like a champ.

Thanks guys!

Wolfe

Water and 1/2 cup white vinager being to boil. Works on stainless steel pans. 

saluki2007

Canugghead

@paqman