Short Pants's Profile

Another way to clean rusted and encrusted cast iron cookware is to use common Lye. Here's how:

1. Fill a PLASTIC not metal 5 gallon bucket with water and add a cup of Lye.
2. Put your cookware in, swirl it around a bit and walk away.
3. After it's cleaned wash it a couple of times in clean water and season it like you normally would.

Repeat step 2 a few times during the day and depending on how dirty it was, it should be down to bright metal in a day. I can't stress enough though, don't even think of using a metal bucket, plastic only.

I bought a 10" fry pan for a buck at a yard sale and it was covered in rust and what looked like years of grease/crud. I put in lye and it was like new in two days.