Don't Throw Out That Rusted Cast Iron Pan, Just Grab Some Vinegar

So, you know how often you should season your cast iron — that would be at least monthly — but you didn't. Maybe you committed the ultimate kitchen sin and soaked your pan in water. Or you inherited an ancient piece of cast iron from a family member, and its once-glossy sable exterior is flecked with unsightly red oxidization. Horror of horrors! When iron comes into contact with oxygen and water, chemistry works its nefarious magic, and iron oxide, or rust, is formed. Your gut reaction may be that the pan is ruined beyond repair and needs to be tossed, but hold that thought!

Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond, who knows a thing or two about down-home cooking, notes on her site that cast iron cookware "will last forever if you take good care of it ... even if you don't, you can bring one back from the dead pretty easily."

The surprising star of your cast iron resurrection is the humble bottle of vinegar in your pantry. While there are tons of household cleaning methods using distilled white vinegar, removing rust from cast iron may be one of the most impressive. The process is quick and easy to the point of being foolproof. With a quick soak of equal parts vinegar and water followed by a proper seasoning, your cast iron will be as good as new.

Using vinegar to clean cast iron is super simple: You put your vinegar and water in a vessel large enough to contain the cookware being de-rusted, and let it soak for no more than a half hour. A few notes on this: Always dilute the vinegar. Otherwise, the extreme acidity of the solution could warp your pan irredeemably. Soaking the pan for too long could also cause damage, so set a timer. After the soak, you can use a coarse brush or non-metal scraper to gently rub the last remnants of rust off the pan.

Vinegar is the preferred way to clean cast iron because it outshines other solutions and tools. Steel wool, for instance, will ruin any trace of precious seasoning that might be left behind. Reports are mixed on using your oven's self-cleaning feature to restore cast iron; some folks say it ruined the finish on their pans. Vinegar, on the other hand, is effective, yet not overly aggressive. It requires little hard scrubbing once the soak is through, and you don't need to heat up your kitchen. 

Once your pan is back in its glory, protect your cast iron from rusting again with a coffee filter hack that safeguards your cookware from moisture.