Funky Cast Iron

[captain_slinky]

Hey, remember that great big beautiful cast-iron Dutch Oven i found by the dumpster a few months back? The one in beautiful condition?

It has a funky smell to it.

Like... kind of a fishy smell, kinda a "Bad Poultry" smell. I thought it would go away after a few uses, but it's still there and STRONG.

SO! CAST-IRON OWNERS!!! Do you suppose it's safe to use some bleach on it to try and get rid of the smell? I know you should never use Dawn on cast iron because it ruins the seasoning, but maybe that's what I need to get rid of is a bad seasoning on it? WHAT WOULD YOU DO?!?!?

Comments

[nani-ka.livejournal.com]

One thing i've done before with really heavily burnt-on ick is to put it on the electric burner... then leave it there... until the seasoning & scaling begins to BURN OFF. Literally. It'll turn red, then white, then turn into flaky white ash that can be brushed off. You may have to watch it & move it around on the burner to make sure everything that needs to go gets burnt off.

Can't say anything about whether it'll set off the smoke alarms, you may want to have all the fans going & all the girls away if you try this. (might want to save this trick for a last-ditch effort...)

Learned the trick from the Very Disreputable Executive Chef I know, and i've used it to get off stuff that scouring & solvents couldn't even touch.

Yep.

[bghsmith.livejournal.com]

I would suggest using a camp stove or grill and burning the old seasoning off outside. I always make the hubby do this and blackened fish/chicken outside.