Wednesday, August 28, 2013

DIY: Cleaning Enamelware

I was in desperate need of a casserole pan and being a lover of enamelware, I fell head over heals when I saw this beauty sitting in one of the aisles of my favorite antique and second hand store in Englishtown, NJ.

Seppa Mallat - 1970's 
When It came time to cash out, can you believe I was holding my breath when I asked who much the pan was?  Thank goodness I didn't have to pass out when I was quoted a price.  Guess how much they gave it to me for?  Come on guess?  Are you ready for it?  Drum roll please... 

...$5.00!!!!  

Yeah, that's right $5.00.  Normally they charge $20.  How did I get such a bargain, you ask?  Well naturally it is my good looks and charm (said with a big cheese eating grin).  Okay not really.  The pan is badly weathered or as some would say, "seasoned" and apparently though I felt I could save the pan for use in my kitchen I leaned on faith that i had the skill to bring it back to life.  If not, at $5, it would make a great planter for my herb garden.  



One NASTY handle 

The inside shows signs of being well used.

Upon bringing it home, I immediately began working on cleaning the pan. Momma taught we well, because with a little water, baking soda, lemon and salt and yes a smidgen of elbow grease the pan will be used in to make some mighty fine dishes.     These are the steps I took to make the pan usable.  


1.     I soaked the pan with warm water, dish soap and baking soda (I learned later my step-dad added in powered dish washing detergent).  Sorry, I didn't measure anything, I just poured the amounts in until I was comfortable (which means I probably used more than what some would recommend).

2.     Let the pan soak for an hour

3.     After the pan soaked for about a half hour (can you tell I am a patient person), I dumped the water and immediately began washing the pan with a washrag, soap and water.  That took of the top layer of softened grime.  After I gave it a good rinse, I immediately - without drying the pan - poured baking soda onto the inside of the pan. Layering the bottom, I followed by pouring vinegar on the baking soda making sure all of the soda would bubble.  I let the pan sit for 2 minutes.

4.     Next I squeezed lemon juice (from a fresh lemon cut in half) on to the pan.  It fizzed from the other ingredients.  I was going for the science project, let’s see what would happen affect.  I let that sit for a 15 minutes. 

5.     I then poured a thin layer of salt onto the bottom of the pan.  Immediately using half the lemon as a scouring pad (pulp face down) I scrubbed the pan.  You could see the brown yucky stuff come off (sorry no pictures to show you because my hubby wasn’t around and I didn’t want to touch my phone with my nasty hands). 

6.     When I felt I had scrubbed enough, I rinsed and saw the results….

Now, this is something I can use! 

Repeating the same steps, I attacked the outside of the pan.  The only change in steps I made was, that I made a paste with the baking soda, vinegar and lemon juice.  I coated the outside and let it sit for more than hour (only because I was a bit distracted by my mini me's running around).  When it came time to scrub the outside, I used a soft wool pad with dish soap. 

Here is the result... 

All Clean and ready for use!


Not bad for a 40+ year old piece, huh?  Perhaps it will last another 40 years...







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