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Coin Sniper |
Shortly after my best friend passed away, his house burned down. His widow recovered their collection of cast iron pans from what was left of the home. This was a hot fire. It was a manufactured home in a rural area with a small volunteer dept. They more or less just let it burn. It burned completely, even the floor burned away. Glass and aluminum melted. I've seen what I'd categorize as total losses before but this is well beyond that. What are the chances that these pans are any good? She said other than dirty they look ok. The lid to the dutch oven was warped and likely not usable. Thoughts? Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys 343 - Never Forget Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive. | ||
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| Member |
Iron melts around 3000*F. They probably didn’t get that hot. If they haven’t warped, I would expect they are fine. They need cleaned and then re-seasoned, but they should be ok. Why the lid warped is hard to understand. Perhaps it had some casting stresses that were not addressed when it was made. Read up on the seasoning process. If they are going to warp it would happen then. | |||
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| Ice age heat wave, cant complain.  |
Can you post pics? My gut tells me the fire would burn MUCH hotter than any oven clean cycle, and the pans are probably good but may need some steel wool and blue Dawn. NRA Life Member Steak: Rare. Coffee: Black. Bourbon: Neat. | |||
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| Member |
I use cast iron over open flame outdoors all the time. High heat typically doesn't hurt it. Sudden temperature change, as in firemen hitting it with a hose after its red hot, on the other hand, will warp or even crack it. ____________ Pace | |||
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| Member |
Fire is an odd thing in terms of temperature at any specific place (said as a fireman). If they are not warped, cracked of showing any signs of thermal distress they are fine. But we are talking pans. What's the worst that can happen if you use them and they then warp? I'd just use them and be happy. “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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semi-reformed sailor |
Clean them, and reseason them. If it’s not warped, it’ll be fine "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein “You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020 “A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker | |||
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| drop and give me 20 pushups |
Placing cast iron cookware in fires/fireplaces back in the day was a way to sort of recycle... After fire then using sand from a creek or riverbank for a good scrubbing then Just need to clean good with with warm soapy water and restart the seasoning process to bring the cast iron back to useable life........... drill sgt. | |||
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| Member |
For an easy deep clean I use good old fashioned Easy Off oven spray. Very caustic but effective. Then start your own style of seasoning the pan. | |||
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| No More Mr. Nice Guy |
I would worry about hazardous chemicals or metals (e.g. aluminum) being deposited on the pans. If it were me I would just toss them in the trash. | |||
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Member |
The YT video I always post in cast iron cookware threads. Hope it helps… This message has been edited. Last edited by: erj_pilot, "If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24 | |||
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| Coin Sniper |
I appreciate all of the input from everyone. I think this one is key. I've advised her to either throw them out, or clean them up and use them as decorations in the new house if they held special meaning. Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys 343 - Never Forget Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive. | |||
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Member |
I remember seeing my grand dad toss cast iron pans into a pretty decent sized camp fire. Once fire went / out cooled. He'd take them and give them a good cleaning. Polish the surface a bit, season and put them back into rotation. But as others have said. Who knows random chemical, hazard they could have been exposed to. Train how you intend to Fight Remember - Training is not sparring. Sparring is not fighting. Fighting is not combat. | |||
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Member |
Tons of cast iron pans are fire damaged, often by people trying to clean them. These might have been. Try to season them and see, if they have fire damage you won't get the seasoning to stay on them. "The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people." "Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy." "I did," said Ford, "it is." "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?" "It honestly doesn't occur to them. They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates the government they want." "You mean they actually vote for the lizards." "Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course." "But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?" "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard, then the wrong lizard might get in." | |||
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| 10mm is The Boom of Doom  |
I'd be interested to see any pix of how they look now. The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People again must learn to work, instead of living on public assistance. ~ Cicero 55 BC The Dhimocrats love America like ticks love a hound. | |||
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Baroque Bloke |
Re: “if they have fire damage you won't get the seasoning to stay on them.” Why would that be? Serious about crackers | |||
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| Member |
I'd like to see that explanation myself . | |||
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| Lawyers, Guns and Money  |
It does help... Well, it helped me!  "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown "The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor | |||
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