My Dad had gotten a real nice cast iron grill rack because he got tired of dropping burgers into the fire because the old grill rack had too wide of openings. I now have the cast iron racks and they were pretty nasty from not being used for a long time. What would be the best way to clean them up and re-season them again.
Thanks in advance,
Kayak_Ken
cleaning grates
Just build a hot fire, place grates over it, once fire dies down brush with wire brush.
Ditto, but
Ditto on the 1st reply, but I then like to coat with Crisco, or you can use cooking oil. Just rub in, rub off. This will help to renew the seasoning process.
Half - Way There
I agree that a good hot fire and subsequent wire brushing will clean the rack, but it leaves them exposed to likely further rust.
After you burn/clean the racks rub them with vegetable oil and put them in a 325 degree oven for an hour or so. I’d recommend doing this a couple of times to build up a healthy seasoning.
How big?
You do not want to use a steel brush or even a steel spatula on seasoned cast iron. You will break through the surface of the non-stick seasoning. If you can find the right size flat pan, like a big cookie sheet or something, build your fire and boil the rack in the pan to loosen up the grime. No soap or you will remove the good oils already in the iron. Brush it well with a nylon brush, rinse, re-oil(not too much), heat it up on the fire to soak the new oil in without baking it all off in a cloud of smoke. You problbly will have a dry spot or two anyway. Let it cool and wipe it down with an oily paper towel. Store in a clean dry place. Soak the oily paper towel with water before tossing it in the trash.