use a wire brush and a high speed drill or angle grinder to brush the rust away.

dcarch

Well if this were MY pot, I would wash it with hot soapy water and an SOS pad and then put it on a stove burner to dry it completely. I would them turn the oven on and coat the pot and lid with oil and put it in there for a while...I'd read up on step by step instructions to season and follow the time and heat they suggest. I always wash my cast iron with soap and a scrub brush if needed but I then put it on a burner so that it is completely dry. I've been using one of my skillets for over 30 years...it's fantastic!

adding to my comment, water/moisture is your enemy that will cause your rust so be sure and dry it completely and store in a dry area(cabinet in kitchen)...not a damp garage!

Great pot!!! It doesn't need any power brushing....just wipe with grease and a paper towel, keep turning the paper and get all the rusty stuff off.....that doesn't appear to be more than just a little surface stuff...
Then bake it dry as Arkansas girl says....apply animal fat ( not vegetable oil nor certainly not mineral oil), and bake at 200.....repeat.....repeat.....
Deep fry some chicken....wash gently, dry over the heat.....fry some bacon...wash and dry over heat...

Each year rust causes billions of dollars of damages to structures. That is because rust, which is iron oxide and iron dioxide is permeable to air, water and oxigen and is flaky, furthermore rust expands larger than original volume, unless rust is completely removed, it can accelerate further damage to adjacent areas.

Most recommend using steel wool to remove rust, however, the rough texture of cast iron makes it better to use a wire brush.

Paper and oil will not be effective in removing rust, IMHO.

dcarch

Pictures may be deceiving, but that amount of rust does not look like a big deal to me. Most likely I would simply season the pot and use it. If you are inclined, or if after seasoning the rusty patch it still bothering you, then yes a drill with wire brush will remove the rust, then re-season.

I have some of my grandma's CI also. It doesn't look like the rust is that bad. I would just wash it in hot soapy water and use a brillo pad on the rust spots. Wipe it dry and then heat it in a low temp oven with a light coating of grease or oil. Start the seasoning process all over again. NancyLouise

To me, there is very little rust and your pot appears to be in excellent used condition. Assuming there are no cracks in it, it looks GREAT! CI rusts, that is not a big deal! You could use sand paper if you see a spot that seems kind of bad. Pot would need to be dry to use sand paper.

Thanks everyone. This is my project for the day. I don't have a drill with a wire brush I can attach so that unfortunately is out. I'm sure my dad does but he's 450 miles away. So first I'm going to try and scrub it some more. I will pick up some steel wool. I've been looking at directions on seasoning and apparently everyone has their own method. Not only that, there is conflicting advice about which type of fat to use. I have coconut oil so I think that's what I'm going to try first unless someone directs me otherwise. Do you think one hour at 300� will be enough seasoning?

Thanks again!

Tracey

You're right, everyone has their own technique of seasoning.

I've tried using coconut oil to season iron, but it didn't work as well as grapeseed oil. It's worth getting a little bottle of grapeseed oil just for this purpose (grapeseed oil is a good neutral oil for stir frying as well). Also, 300 isn't hot enough. Coat the pot as thinly as possible with grapeseed oil, place it upside down in the oven with a cookie sheet on the rack below it to catch the drips (line the cookie sheet with foil so you don't get burned on grease). You need to get the oil close to the smoke point--450 at least, for 20 to 30 minutes, then let the oven temp come down naturally. When it's cool, repeat the process. Do this two or three times and you should be well on the way to having a nice seasoning. What you're trying to do isn't just to coat the iron (any oil will do that) but for the oil to polymerize and form a smooth hard surface. Another technique: Flax seed oil works well, and if you follow the admittedly fussy directions at the link (she has you doing it several times before you can use the pot) you'll get a slick surface.

But don't worry--use the pot often, with enough grease, and it'll eventually get seasoned.

Once it's well seasoned, it should be nearly nonstick. If food does stick to it, here's one way to handle it without a brillo pad: put enough water in the pot to cover the stuck on stuff. Bring the water to a boil and turn off the pot, letting it sit while you clean up the rest of the kitchen. Drain the hot water out of the pot. The food may come off now without any further ado; if not, use a dry paper towel with some coarse salt to dislodge the crud. Then rinse out with plain water, dry with a paper towel, and (this is important) put it back on the stove and turn it on low for a minute or two to dry it abolutely bone dry. Then coat with a little oil and store.

One hint: when storing the pot, fold up a paper towel into a little 2x2 square and put it as a wedge between the lid and the pot. That allows air to circulate. A closed environment could allow the inside of the pot to rust.

It sounds a lot fussier than it really is; just keep neat freaks and their scouring pads away from your pot, and it'll develop a nice natural patina over the years.

Here is a link that might be useful: seasoning cast iron with flax seed oil

Oh, here's another tip. If the lid doesn't fit the pot really snugly and you want to improve the snugness of the fit, before you start seasoning the pot go to an auto supply store and buy a tube of valve grinding compound (see the link for an example--there are several brands). It's a dark goo the consistency of toothpaste but with some abrasives suspended in it. Put a bead of this on the edge of the pot and put the lid on it. Rotate the pot lid back and forth in a circular motion for several minutes. This will smooth out the mating surfaces really nicely. Once they're smooth, wash the pot really well (here's one instance where you'd want to use a lot of dishwashing liquid to make sure all that gunk is gone) then proceed with seasoning the pot as directed above.

Here is a link that might be useful: valve grinding compound.

I store my CI in the oven. I pop them back into the hot oven when I turn it off. Of course, I also dry them on the burner when I wash them.

How did things work out? If you haven't worked on it yet, the point is that the wire brush will be easier. It doesn't have to be on a drill - but it would be easier if it was. And as far as I'm concerned people get way too worked up with excess seasoning on the cast iron. Get the stuff into use, cook a lot of bacon, fried chicken, chicken fried steak - anything to raise your cholesterol is generally good for the cast iron!

The cast iron police would probably have confiscated my mother's pans. She used soap and water to wash it and many freak out over the thought of soap but it was clean and just fine. She'd, well, we'd (yes I did my turn washing dishes, pots and pans too) put it on the stove and the pilot light was enough heat to dry it. She never worried about seasoning them, she'd put them to use. Bought some badly "abused" stuff at garage sales for use at the cabin to keep from grunting them back and forth each trip and just cleaned off the rust, washed it up (yes, with the cheap pink dish soap!) and started cooking with it. She used a lot of margarine, bacon fat, shortening and stuff. Cast iron, with proper use, is self-seasoning. Didn't have to waste time seasoning the cast iron.

Good luck. Use it in good health.

Think you'd need an atomic bomb to destroy cast iron! Do whatever you have to do to pretty much strip it to bare iron. Then get really HOT on stove top and a generous blob of bacon grease... that's what my grandmother always did.

Tracey, I don't think there's much rust either, it doesn't look bad in the picture. You don't need a drill, just a wire brush, they are relatively inexpensive at the hardware store and good for lots of things. If you don't want to do that or can't find one, steel wool will also do the job.

I tried seasoning with coconut oil and it didn't work well. I just rub mine with vegetable oil and put it in a 35 oven, upside down over a rack as mentioned above, for a couple of hours.

The more you use it, the better it'll be. My best dutch oven is seasoned by french fries, LOL. The girls wanted homemade fries on a regular basis, so I used the dutch oven to fry them. I did a few batches before I noticed how well it was seasoning the pan.

So, heat up some oil in that pan and make some doughnuts. Or french fries. Or fried pies. Or whatever you like!

Good luck, cast iron is nearly indestructible and treated well, will last to hand it down to your grandkids.

BTW, I also use soap and a soft plastic scrubbie on mine when it's very dirty, Grandma used to scrub hers with salt.

Annie

It looks pretty good! It's actually more brown than black now and there are some darker spots but it doesn't look rusted. I'm so excited about cooking in it again. I love the idea of using my grandma used half a century ago:) She was a farm wife and a good country cook. I would give anything to halve some of her chicken and dumplings again.

Thanks everyone fr all the help!

My daughter used oven cleaner on a cast iron skillet and brought it back to original. Washed good, seasoned and it is a jewel of a skillet to use.

What klseiverd said. The rust doesn't look bad but you can sand or scrape or grind if it is. Then just cook in it. People worry too much about "seasoning" the pot - I think because they use those terrible Cephalon pots nowadays. The CI is going to season itself over and over even tho you may "unseason" it by cleaning, etc. Good luck.

Frankly, I see no problem. Scour a bit, dry on a hot burner, and then season.

Lucky you! I would love that dutch oven.

Moni