I finally de-rusted a thrift store pan and it took way longer than I thought

Found a size 8 lodge at a garage sale for 5 bucks and it was COVERED in rust. Figured I'd just scrub it with steel wool and be done in like 20 minutes, you know? Took me a solid 2 hours of scrubbing, vinegar soaks, and re-scrubbing to get all the crud off. Then another hour to dry it on the stove and do 3 rounds of seasoning. Has anyone else had a cheap pan take way longer to fix than the actual cooking you do with it?

2 comments

2 Comments

sagesingh1mo ago

Did you hit it with a wire brush on a drill or just hand scrub the whole time?

the_keith1mo ago

I burned through 3 wire wheels on my angle grinder before I even got the first layer of rust off that thing. My neighbor saw me out there in the driveway and just shook his head. Hand scrubbing would've taken me a solid week of evenings and my elbow would've given out by day two. The drill method is way faster but you gotta be careful not to dig into the good metal underneath. I ended up with a few gouges I had to smooth out with a flap disc later. Hand scrub is for people who have more patience than sense if you ask me.

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