Potjie past its prime?
Properly maintained, your cast-iron cookware should last a lifetime. But add some neglect to the equation and rust will wreak havoc on your pots, pans, and griddle. Here’s how you can bring them back from the brink.
We all jump in line to eat the food once it’s made, but you don’t ever see people queue to wash up the trusty old number 3 potjie once everyone’s had their fill. The last time I opened one of ours before this assignment, I was so disgusted that I simply dropped the lid on it again.
It doesn’t even have to be a potjie, because Schalk’s grill pan (also known as a griddle) had a layer of rust that had penetrated the seasoning slightly and after his numerous attempts to scrub it off, it still boasted orange pockmarks on the surface.
Bar extreme neglect, dropping your pot from the top of your overlanding rig onto a hard surface or pouring cold water onto the hot cookware, your cast-iron cookware should outlast you and even your descendents. And here’s how you keep it that way. If your method differs from ours, we’d love to hear about it.
STEP 1 THE LONG SOAK
This is largely dependent on the condition of the cookware. For Schalk’s Beka grill pan, we used a 50:50 water-and-vinegar solution and squirted a generous helping inside and out. Place your cookware in a tub or a sink and let it soak for 30 minutes.
For the Falkirk number 3 potjie, a brand that has since been discontinued in South Africa, we opted to dip the potjie in a tub of the solution for an hour. You know it’s working when you see fine bubbles on sections of the surface and when specks of rust start to float and discolour the water.
STEP 3 CHEMISTRY CLASS
After a cold-water shower, with the inside surface still wet, apply a generous sprinkling of sodium bicarbonate. The chemistry is not something we claim to understand fully, but we decided on a list of ingredients that could possibly already be in your pantry and this seemed to be a commonly accepted option for deep cleaning.
You should immediately notice some bubbling on the surface of the cast iron. It’s not as though it will fizz like a project volcano but look closer and you’ll notice very slight foaming. Let the combination sit for another 30 minutes. Add some water and a little more bicarb so the bottom centimetre or two is covered. The pot we cleaned had the worst discolouration in the upper two thirds, so we filled it with water and bicarb and let it rest for another 30 minutes.
STEP 2 INITIAL SCRUB
Some of the more stubborn grime and rust can also be coaxed into leaving the confines of your cookware’s surface with heavy-duty steel wool and some elbow grease. The pan was the easier one to start scrubbing, as it wasn’t completely submerged. You should notice some of the larger debris separate from the cast iron after 10 minutes or so.
In the case of the potjie, we removed it from the tub first and proceeded with the scrubbing. After you get the rougher rust and ‘petrified’ food out, you’ll feel the surface smooth out a little. Rinse with cold water.
STEP 4 SECOND AND FINAL SCRUB
Use the finer steel wool to scrub the cookware for another 10 to 15 minutes. You’re probably going to pull off some of the last dirt and rust as well as some of the previous seasoning, and see the water turn brown. Rinse out and scrub again until the brown foam lightens, about twice more.
Next, and the last bit of cleaning, is to use some classic dishwashing soap, water and a scourer. This is the bit we’re all familiar with, but don’t get lazy right at the end. Don’t try to press the scourer right through the cast iron, a firm grip is sufficient. Rinse when done.
STEP 5 BLOW DRY
Pat the cast-iron cookware dry using a paper towel and take care to not rub too hard because that will make the towel pill – especially on the inside. You just want it damp enough so that it won’t drip for the next part, which is to place the pot or pan on a high flame from your gas cooker or stove. You should be able to see the cast iron dry slightly and then it might even discolour, which happened with both the grill pan and pot. Preheat your oven to max or in the region of 250 °C.
STEP 6 SEASONED DOUBLE THICK
This is the fun part, because you feel almost as if you’re in art class again
– but not for marks this time. Pour in a tablespoon of the oil of your choice and coat the entire surface inside and out. We used flaxseed oil for the grill pan and grapeseed oil for the potjie, but we’re not claiming there’s a noticeable difference in the result.
Use a sponge to spread the oil inside first, and then out. Once the initial coat is on, wipe it off again with paper towel. If your cast iron has discoloured slightly after being dried, you’ll see that change as you layer on the oil. Repeat the process to prepare the pot or pan for the oven. You don’t want an obviously oily layer on the inside, and the paper towel will absorb any excess oil. There’s a layer there, even when it seems that there isn’t.
GOING FORWARD
Every time you cook with some form of fat, that’s a layer of seasoning contributing to your new cooking surface. You don’t necessarily have to scour the pot after use, but some warm water with a sponge will go a long way. Dry it properly and then coat it with a layer of oil again to prevent flash rust.
STEP 7 HOT STUFF
Slide the cast-iron cookware into the pre-heated oven upside-down and leave it in there for an hour, with an extra 15 minutes if your oven barely passes 200 °C. Make sure there’s a drip tray underneath so any excess oil doesn’t drip onto an element. This step is for the oil to react to the heat, bond to the metal and form a protective layer.
After the bonding, switch the oven off and allow the cookware to cool down with the oven, or until you can handle it. This is your first layer, which is enough to change how your pot or pan looks and feels. But feel free to add another layer or two for a properly seasoned surface.