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Cleaning cast iron pans with sorrel leaves?

Matt McSpadden

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posted 2 weeks ago

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I do not claim to be a cast iron historian, nor have I spent much time researching historic cleaning methods... but I came across an article on facebook that says pioneers in the USA in the 1700's and 1800's use sorrel leaves to clean their cast iron pans... specifically to get rid of rust. It is supposed to release oxalic acid which is supposed to dissolved rust.

Has anyone else heard of this? Sounds like a pretty cool thing if it is true.

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Timothy Norton

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posted 2 weeks ago

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Huh, I wonder how they would manage to do that? I would imagine that you would be shredding the plant material trying to scrub a pan with it. Maybe it was used as a sort of soak?

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Christopher Weeks

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posted 2 weeks ago

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Maybe shredding the plant material is the key if that's what gets the acid out of the leaves and onto the iron.

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George Ingles

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posted 2 weeks ago

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There is certainly lots of oxalic acid in the Sheep Sorrel (Rumex acetosella) - - I hadn't known of that reaction being useful for cleaning, interesting.
If it is Sheep Sorrel they are referring to, it's got all those tangly root/rhizomes that, bunched up in the hand, would be sort of like one of those metal scours for dishes. Grabbing a big handful and letting it shred apart makes sense to me for cleaning.

I've read that old-timers would use Tansy ragwort (Jacobea vulgaris) for scouring pans - hence the common name rag wort.

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Carla Burke

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posted 2 weeks ago

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George has a good point, there. If the needed oxalic acid is art a equal or even higher concentration in the roots, that is likely the part most often used for the process. Once the rust is gone, the pan would likely be washed again, then well seasoned, before use.

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