How to restore your old rusty cast iron camp oven

[mudski]

I decided to do a little walk through on how to restore your old rusty cast iron camp oven as mine was getting pretty bad after I stupidly left it out one night and it rained...
So...
The pic below is what mine looked like. Not too bad on the inside, but the pics dont do it justice, there was a bit of well stuck food and slight rust too. The outside, left a lot to be desired.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60597&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60598&stc=1

Tools needed for the job is a drill, corded or cordless and a wire wheel, I used both wire wheels in the pic.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60599&stc=1

You also need some cast iron conditioner. After researching and hunting around, I found that using olive oil or canola oil won't do the job right and can also hold any nasties in the oil. Not good for cooking. Last thing you want is to have the trotts out in the bush. This stuff wasn't expensive, although no one here in OZ sells it and I got it from Amazon US, I think I paid around $30 delivered. four days later I had the stuff! Nice and fast postage... If you get some Crisko oil, I think it is, which has animal fat in it, this would work, or lard. I found a lot of the yanks using these two...

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60600&stc=1

Preparation to finish time. Pretty much a whole day...

So the first step is you need to set your oven to the self cleaning mode, or on as high as it will go if you don't have a self cleaning oven and put the pot in the oven upside down for around three hours. This will burn off any excess food and help remove the rust.
Once its been cooking for three hours, let it cool down and attack it with the wire wheel. Then in hot soapy water, preferably a natural soap, give it a good wash, then chuck it in the oven again on around 200c to let it dry. When you remove the pot, it will look rusty again. This will happen, its just how rust goes... Go at it a few more time with the wire wheel, clean it, dry it. Rinse and repeat. On the last time with the wire wheel and washing I dried it on the wok burner on high. I found this dried the cast iron much faster and there was no time for the rust to come back.

Next is to apply your conditioner.
Use this sparingly, dont soak the iron in conditioner, but just make it wet enough to change the colour of the iron. Then back in the oven on around 250c for two hours. You need to do this process atleast three times, getting the pot hot in the oven everytime. On the last session of conditioning, run the pot in the oven for around 3 hours at no less than 300c. Or as hot as your oven will let you.
Note : I did the middle two conditioning sessions in my bbq with the lid closed at 250c and it worked a treat. As the pong you will get in the kitchen won't make the boss too happy.

So once all done you should see a result like I did. No rust and one near brand new looking camp oven.
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60605&stc=1http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=60606&stc=1

Enjoy your cleaning...

[Bloodyaussie]

Mine next thanks mate

[rusty_nail]

yeah can you do mine the following week? TIA

[mudski]

No thanks fella's. While it wasn't hard to do, it was time consuming.

[threedogs]

if its filthy ill just spray inside with oven cleaner, the outside i just spray matt black,
Hot soapy water and then re oil it, You shouldnt take them back to cast iron because
you are removing the seasoning, You should heat it up and wipe with some paper towel

Another tip if you want a fry pan non-stick empty 2KG of salt
and place the pan on heat for an hour or so, voila non-stick.
Pic is of a few of my ovens

Thats a nice thick walled oven Mark any brand that you know of

[TimE]

Molasses is supposed to be a good way to go as well, check this site (http://castironboys.com/articles/cleaning-rusty-cast-iron-with-molasses/).

[Sir Roofy]

Very good Mark but that's a lot of work,dos,nt matter about the outside so much its inside that needs to be clean
when cooking on an open fire the oven normaly goes rusty over night anyway
to clean just wipe out and re oil never wash out with soapy water as it will taint the inside as cast is pourours

[mudski]

if its filthy ill just spray inside with oven cleaner, the outside i just spray matt black,
Hot soapy water and then re oil it, You shouldnt take them back to cast iron because
you are removing the seasoning, You should heat it up and wipe with some paper towel

Another tip if you want a fry pan non-stick empty 2KG of salt
and place the pan on heat for an hour or so, voila non-stick.
Pic is of a few of my ovens

Thats a nice thick walled oven Mark any brand that you know of
Personally I wouldn't use oven cleaner inside the camp oven. You gotta eat out of it... Heating the camp oven at really high temps, like in a kitchen oven, for extended periods will burn off any excess stuck food... I re seasoned this oven so taking it back to cast wasn't an issue. Some ovens I have seen, like my brother inlaws, is really rusty on the inside. Worse that what mine was on the outside.
As for the brand. Its just a Ray's one. Lol. Works great too.

Very good Mark but that's a lot of work,dos,nt matter about the outside so much its inside that needs to be clean
when cooking on an open fire the oven normaly goes rusty over night anyway
to clean just wipe out and re oil never wash out with soapy water as it will taint the inside as cast is pourours
Yeah it is a lot of work, but if the inside is rusted, you don't really want to be throwing away a still good oven. It just needs some work to bring it back to life. The outside of mine had never rusted, in the years i've had it. Only when I left it outside in the rain it rusted.

I think I will score my brother inlaws oven as he is gonna buy a new one. I'll just give some love, well a lot of love, and then he'll want it back...

[AB]

We have a bunch of pansies on this forum.

On your next camping trip cook up simply throw the oven on the fire to burn off the last trips germs and start cooking!

The last trips juices flow into the new cook up and creates amazing flavours (pending last trips final meal)....job done!

Nah seriously Mark, good write up ;)

[Cuppa]

The best oil for seasoning cast iron (& quite possibly what is in the tube of Cast Iron Conditioner) is flaxseed oil. This is food grade linseed oil. Needs to be kept in the fridge & away from light. We bought a cast iron frypan recently & it came with a bottle of flaxseed oil. The following link explains:

http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

Never use detergent or steel scrapers or wire wool (unless you plan to re-season it). I don’t think I’d use oven cleaner either.

[Bigcol]

yeah, while I didnt go to the extreme of Mark
mine were (2 of them) sitting in a milk crate outside (I thought under cover)
rusted to all get up

used a wire wheel to clean the most rust off
then 1kg of rock Salt & 1/2kg of cooking Salt and 1 Potato
scrub the inside using the potato as the scrubber, in the mixed Salt
(took me about 40 mins each)
rinse with water, then on the hot plate (Gas) to get it warm
rub the inside with Rice Bran Oil - has a higher burning temp - usually about 20 mins baking on the gas with the oil
once cooled - fully cleaned and seasoned Oven

[Playmoney08]

A bit of hot water heated on the fire and a scrubbing brush usually does the job. Added flavour, makes life interesting!