? best way to break in a cast iron Kittle

[jerry wayne]

Been trying to keep the air from drying out too much ,and went and bought a 5 Qt. cast iron kettle too steam up the place a bit.Is there a trick to keeping them from rusting,or am i gonna have to be a kettle slave also?I know that your suppose to grease em up a couple of times to cure them,but past experience has proven this metel a real P.I.Azz. Its good quality stuff too.

 

[Sprig]

I've used a lot of cast iron pots and kettles for water and to the best of my knowledge the hot water will leech any oils out, ergo, where the water isn't will build up rust, so why put oil residue in the air you breathe? Probably better off with a stainless 'something', I use an old aluminum bread pan myself, works fine but not great if you have kids around. When the powers out one of the 2gal enameled canning pots work great plus you have hot water to use and a place ta melt snow etc..
Another thought is that kettles aren't that great at lower temps as the only moisture you are getting is out the spout, something with a larger open surface seems much more efficient, just my own thought on it. Wee edit> I have used my cast iron cooking pot before for added moisture and it held up well if it didn't boil for long, otherwise it required a re-curing afterwards, just thought I'd add that.



Serge

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I used to use the cast iron ones and they all rusted within a year or so. About 10 years ago I bought an enamel Vermont Castings lattice-top steamer; I'm still using it right now. It wasn't cheap ($ 100 back then) but divided by all these years is only $ 10 a year.

 

[046]

absolute best way to season a cast iron pan or pot is an outdoor wood fire.

all you do is build up a nice wood fire, then place cast iron skillet or what ever in wood fire. then let fire die down overnight, leaving cast iron in fire.

don't be taking out cast iron hot, it could crack. wait until next morning when coals are almost gone.

you will not believe how good this method of seasoning cast iron!!!

 

[Log Splitter]

The cast iron pots I bought at my stove shop were painted with high temp paint inside and out. They've been heating water for several years without rusting.

It would most likely be hard to paint one that had been seasoned, but if you had a new one it should take a coat of paint just like a stove does.

Of course, you would not want to ever cook in one that was painted.

Also, I've found with the hard water here that I'm better off to pour out the last 1/2 inch or so of the water before I refill. Otherwise the minerals in the water become more concentrated over time and leave deposits in the pots.

 

[Frank Boyer]

I use an old "made in china" non stick pot. Cast iron and water means rust. Check the thrift stores for a 5-8 qt pot. Seasoning is a build up of carbon to keep food from sticking. Seasoning wouldn't matter for a pot that was used to humidify the air.
Lodge has good info about seasoning cast iron on there web site. Basically it shows to oil the pan inside/outside and place it in a 350f oven for a couple of hours. Use a cookie sheet pan or foil under it to help keep the oven clean.

 

[jerry wayne]

cast iron sucks basically

Thanks for all the input. I feel ive wasted my $$$$ on another idea without looking for good ole experience on A.S. Ive already oiled it ,and fired it several times with baby oil,but am sure itll rust no mater what:censored:

 

[ray benson]

I have used cast iron kettles, an aluminum pot, a copper kettle and stainless steel pans. Prefer the copper bottomed stainless revere ware 3 qt. pan or a 3 gallon stainless stock pot. You can get them pretty cheap at garage sales.