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getting paint off Cast Iron Pan

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posted 14 years ago

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I just picked up a cast iron skillet that has been decoratively painted on the bottom (not the inside cooking area). Is it safe to scrub off the paint, cure it and use it? Or do you think there is an obvious danger I am overlooking?

Joel Hollingsworth

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posted 14 years ago

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Chances are very good the paint in question is acrylic or oil-based, and you'll have no trouble.

In case there's any halogenated weirdness, scraping thoroughly and maintaining good ventilation while you cure it might be wise.

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posted 14 years ago

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I feel bad destroying was appears to be someone's hard work, but I'm not really a "country duck and barn scene" girl. Plus I was concerned about possible leaching or something. Maybe I will research if there's an easy way to test for traces of lead. Can't believe someone would wreck a perfectly good cast iron pan, but at least it wasn't an antique Griswold or something lol.

Brenda Groth

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posted 14 years ago

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you go girl, get it off and use the cast iron..might try throwing it in a wood fire and burning it off???

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posted 14 years ago

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Sad thing is that my 9 year old daughter saw it and was almost in tears at the thought of me destroying it. She thinks it's beautiful.

*sigh*

paul wheaton

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posted 14 years ago

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pic?

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posted 14 years ago

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Here's hoping they post:

Joel Hollingsworth

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Hm...that looks like a decent painting. Given the amount of work that went into it, I'm revising my guess: it's probably oil paint, and there's some chance it's old-fashioned stuff with lots of different heavy metals.

Nothing will leach into your food from that side, obviously, but I'd be suspicious of the greywater from washing it, and some of the elements in pigments (I'm particularly thinking of cadmium) can produce toxic fumes at even fairly moderate temperatures. Maybe the thing to do is preserve the painting (maybe give it to your daughter?) and use a different skillet to cook with.

paul wheaton

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posted 14 years ago

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Wacky.

I would guess that the paint is not designed for stove use.

I would put it in the campfire.

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Daniel Zimmermann

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Location: Sacramento

posted 14 years ago

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Can't believe someone would wreck a perfectly good cast iron pan, but at least it wasn't an antique Griswold or something lol.

I'm going to be the dissenter. If it isn't Wagner or Griswold, and it was made any time in the last 30 years, it might be a crappy pan to cook with. I try to buy only those two, despite the premium on them, because the pores in the iron are so much smaller, so they season better. It's hard to comprehend that a manufacturer might get cast iron wrong, but the new stuff is simply inferior.

Previously known as "Antibubba".

Joel Hollingsworth

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Antibubba wrote:It's hard to comprehend that a manufacturer might get cast iron wrong

Cast iron is not new technology, but it isn't trivial, either. I imagine I would get it wrong the first few hundred times, at least.

I think a lot of it is the labor to properly machine a cooking surface. As the price of fossil fuels rises, I would expect a lathe operator-hour to become relatively inexpensive again, and a surface made somehow other than sand casting to become economically viable in due time.

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posted 14 years ago

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I just have a piece of the pic comign through, but it looks like it has a lip or rim around the bottom of the pan--that means it's old(like to be used on a wood cookstove) and is most probably good quality.

On the other hand it's a beautiful paint job and I would hang it up and enjoy it!

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Daniel Zimmermann

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Cast iron is not new technology, but it isn't trivial, either. I imagine I would get it wrong the first few hundred times, at least.

If I were pouring my own into sand molds, I'd agree. But for a modern manufacturer to sell a crappy copy of 19th century technology is--well, normal, sad to say. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

Previously known as "Antibubba".

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posted 14 years ago

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Hi, I'm Beth and am new here. Hate to be a party pooper but I think the picture is lovely. I'm not a "duck and barn" girl either but can see where your 9 year old could take a fancy to the art work. If she likes it so much why don't you give it to her. Does she have a "Hope" chest? I think it would be a wonderful piece to start off with... I'm sure it would be something she would treasure.....I'm just thinking out loud

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charles c. johnson

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i love folk art

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