You're going overboard about this sterilization bit, but if you've got a thing about it put them in the oven at 350 for an hour. Clean them up first, oil them, and use the heat to begin re-seasoning at the same time.

Put it on the stove.....turn burner to high....let heat for 10 minutes....they will be sterile....not clean...but the dirt will not harbor disease!
I'm joking...but not really.
Just wash them...put on the burner to dry really well so they don't rust....rub with grease and bake in a 300 oven for 30 minutes....rub on more grease and repeat.
Heat is a wonderful germ killer!
Linda C

We put our cast iron pans in the wood burning stove over night, then wash/scrub very well and re-season. (never soap) That really cleans them up pretty good, especially if there is any build-up on them. All we have are cast iron pans to cook with, except for my soup pots.

According to a couple of sites I read, heating something to 320 degrees F for 2 hours will kill all pathogens. Your oven would do fine for that.

If the item is really cruddy, I'd do what Dan said above to mechanically remove the grunge.

I've heard of a method (but never done it myself) to rescue really cruddy cast iron items: put the cast iron item in a self cleaning oven and then put the oven through a cleaning cycle. That will get rid of built up crud on the surface of the cast iron. Of course, you'd need to reseason it at that point, but that technique would sterilize it for sure. Might even get rid of mad cow prions for all I know (but I don't).

Which reminds me: Two cows are standing in a pasture. First cow says, "Are you worried about this Mad Cow Disease?" Second cow says, "Why should I care? I'm a helicopter."

LOL!!!!...
Another way of removing all the old grease from a vintage cast iron piece is to spray it well with oven cleaner, put it into a plastic bag, preferably black so it absorbs the heat and set it in the sun for a day...in the summer.
Wash it off with the hose and bring it in tow ash it really well ...re-season.
Linda C

I'm with Lynn 1965. The old-school way of cleaning one entirely is to throw it in the fire and let the fire burn down. This will remove any grease and crud, then scrub the pan and re-season it. I'd only be concerned about germs would be if the surface is severely pitted.

Ian

I reclaimed a grody pot from the fireplace in my "new" house and it's not just germs...it's, well, anyway I understand the problem. I used the EZoff in a bag in the sun for a week method because I had read that using the self cleaning oven cycle occasionally warped a piece and I needed mine to stay perfectly flat for my induction cooktop.

After removing all the EZoff nastiness and then getting out the rusty bits, seasoning it in the oven will sterilize it, plus you'll know you got rid of all the poop from when it was maybe used as a chamber pot. Yeah, I know some folks think old seasoning is great. I know it's not gonna hurt me. Still gross. Clean the insides really good and reseason naked metal. Totally worth doing.

Germs are easy to get rid of. That's why kitchens come with autoclaves! It's that darn "someone else's crud" that's hard!

50 year old pans sometimes have perfect non-stick patinas lying beneath all that crud. Cleaning as I suggested above will cause no harm to that patina. Cleaning in a hot fire or using oven cleaner would destroy that patina.

Too, re-seasoning an unclean pan is tantamount to painting over rusty steel or dirty wood. One can do it, but it will not last. Cleaning with BKF insures that new seasoning layers will adhere to the pan and will not flake off as readily in the future. BKF and Dawn will not remove any of the good patina off of the pan.....it will only remove surface rust, dust, and oily grime.

After cleaning your old pan examine the patina layer that remains. If it is cracked and/or flaky......you should remove it. The oven cleaner method in the bag as Lindac suggests is a good one. Also, cleaning in an oven to bare metal using the self cleaning cycle works well too. If choose to burn off the patina in an oven to start over, be sure to remove the caustic/rusty ash that will remain on the pan. Again use BKF for that purpose......this step is important if you want to achieve a great new patina.

Dan

I would never use a commercial cleaner, especially an oven cleaner to clean my cast iron. Like you, I use my wonderful cast iron that I have picked up here and there and also was lucky enough to receive a piece of my grandmothers.

Cast iron is very porous. Any chemicals put onto it can be absorbed. Please don't do this. I actually put water in mine and let them boil for at least 10 minutes, after removing the easy gunk off of it. I clean it again after boiling then rinse, rinse, rinse. If cleaning 2 or more pieces, oven at 350 would me more economical. After all this, I season it and reheat it. Thereafter, wipe out after use and oil it up again.

Cast iron isn't porous -- that's an internet myth. Metal isn't porous.

Keep in mind that cast iron will not only rust, but it is porous. Which means any chemical you use, soap or stronger can potentially be absorbed and transferred to your food. Heat will kill the bacteria. High heat will burn off the baked on "crud".

I accidentally discovered how to strip a cast iron pan of all gunk, patina, or anything else when I showed my children how to make lye soap. Instructions said not to use an aluminum, glass, or porcelain coated vessel. What else did I have but a cast iron skillet?

I made the soap with lye and grease. Sure was glad to be doing it outdoors. The fumes were fierce! It heats up all on its own. No stove needed.

When the reaction stopped I had a glob of dark brown soap, and an absolutely bare pan where ever the lye had been able to react with the grease in the gunk and patina.

Had to start from square one to re-season it! Could not use the soap.

And then there is the time my then husband decided to be helpful and burn the gunk off with a welding torch. He actually melted a hole in the bottom of one of his grandmother's pans, then attempted to fill the hole with a brass patch. Not recommended!

So much misinformation. DO NOT THROW YOUR PAN IN THE FIRE. While fire will indeed typically completely remove build up, intense heat will often damage the pan, either by warping or cracking it, or by potentially altering the molecular structure of the iron, making it irreversibly scaly.

As to things "transferring" to food:

Once a pan is well seasoned, the polymerized oil/carbon coating forms a barrier between the food being cooked and the iron. If one were to cook food, especially food with an abundance of moisture or acidity, in an unseasoned pan, however, there would be a transfer of iron to the food. Cooking in an unseasoned cast iron pan is not normally done.

Before I begin, please know you have permission to laugh. I know I am being silly. I recently began cleaning out a storage shed. Inside one box, we discovered a friend--a beautiful, gigantic black snake--non-poisonious, of course, and quite harmless. I live on a farm, and I was actually glad to see him--they are wonderful about keeping harmful snakes away. Inside the box was a brand new Lodge cast iron skillet with its lid tucked inside a plastic bag. Not a speak of rust, but, like any critter, there were droppings and such in the box. I washed it and the lid, and then put it in a 400 degree oven for over an hour, leaving it to cool overnight. Everytime I go to use it, however, I see that snake in my mind's eye. I cannot convince myself it is clean. As I said, you can laugh--but I am really hung up about this.

Nope, I could never never never use that skillet. Donate it and buy a new one. ((shudder))

sushipup2--my brother is taking the skillet. He is a hunter and quite a woodsman. The whole idea of the snake does not both him. I have already ordered a replacement, hahaha.

Nice brother!

Wash with Dawn dish soap, after rinsing put 3 cups vinegar and 3 cups baking soda in pan, boil for 10 minutes rinse, then season as per directions on site. Wipe with vegetable o
inside and out, heat in 300° oven for 30 minutes cool & rn procedure oiling inside of pan only ghithis time. Your pan us nopanis ipan

Vinegar & baking soda equal amounts in pan will disinfect by boiling for 10 minutes, warch out ,do not let it boil dry, add more vinegar if needed, start with 3 or 4 cups each depending on size of pan, wash then season pan in oven rubbing with veg. Oil first to

Always been told to heat cast iron slowly. I was puzzled when a very old square skillet (CI) cracked when I was warming it. I had put it on a very hot burner. That is when I began researching CI.