Cast Iron Nightmare??

My 2 cents. Cast iron cookware is pretty inexpensive. I wouldn't take a chance with the WD40. Use it a decoration or weight in the workshop and get something safe!

So glad folks are suggesting tossing it into a fire. Do be sure to not actually toss it. Cast iron can shatter. Warm it nearby and then set it in the fire. Get it really hot. Use a shovel and put coals inside. Put the lid in there too. I have been doing this for almost 50 years. Not as hard to re-season as one would think. To make the bottom easier to clean in the future if using over wood fires just rub a dry bar of soap all over the outside. When time to clean the soot will come off.

I had a situation like yours - iron is not as porous as you think. It's just the surface you have to deal with. Use Dawn or another soap that attacks fats, oils, etc. and suds it up; wash well in warm water using a 3 M scrubber. Rinse, dry. You do NOT want to put this in your oven before washing.

Then put it in the oven cleaning cycle upside down. Allow to cool completely before removing. Use canola, lard or coconut oil for seasoning and then warm gently in 350 oven right side up for an hour. It'll be good to use after that

I'm with the media blasting. We have a glass beader at work. that is where I clean my Cast iron. It takes EVERYTHING off of it.

fla-gypsy wrote:
Cast iron is porous. I would be afraid to use it due to residue even after high temp cleaning.

My thoughts exactly. Thanks for all the suggestions from the rest of you too.

Congratulations on this excellent find.
Burn it. Build a wood fire in the backyard and burn it.
Do not spray water on it while it is hot. Allow it to cool slowly.
Wash it well and re-season it using Crisco soon after it cools.

My grandpa did this, my father did this and so do I.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

stetwood wrote:
We throw it in the fire

X2...Time honored method since long before electric ovens. Guaranteed to burn everything off, from WD40 to old eggs to the carbon both leave behind. It'll be as sterile as a Politician's Promise when it comes out of the fire!

Only problem with this approach is that it leaves you with VIRGIN cast iron, clean and spotless as the day it was forged. That means starting from the very beginning building back the carbon layers that make cast iron the original non-stick surface.

X2 on this!

WoodGlue

Ha - I was expecting a bunch of alarmist posts about "toxic" WD40 but I'm glad to see not. Nothing cooks like cast. Clean it and enjoy it. Whatever surface rust may be there will clean off. Oil mixes with oil and "light" hyrocarbons like a good rubbing alcohol (preferably 90%) will help remove any residue. So it can be made fully food safe.

stetwood wrote:
We throw it in the fire

X2...Time honored method since long before electric ovens. Guaranteed to burn everything off, from WD40 to old eggs to the carbon both leave behind. It'll be as sterile as a Politician's Promise when it comes out of the fire!

Only problem with this approach is that it leaves you with VIRGIN cast iron, clean and spotless as the day it was forged. That means starting from the very beginning building back the carbon layers that make cast iron the original non-stick surface.

Cast iron is porous. I would be afraid to use it due to residue even after high temp cleaning.