On Wed 30 Mar 2005 06:49:00p, wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> Hello,
>
> I inheirited a very black cast-iron pan from my mom. I enjoy cooking
> in it--it is very nonstick and it seems easy to clean by simply
> deglazing with hot water and scrubbing well with my regular nylon
> dish-cleaning brush. After each use, I dry the skillet thoroughly and
> apply a thin layer of canola oil. In fact, I'm a bit obsessive about
> this.
>
> My problem is this: I keep getting rust spots developing on the bottom
> of the pan. I can always remove them by scrubbing the spots with a
> mixture of salt and oil, but they keep coming back. Also, on the other
> side (the cooking side), it _looks_ like there may be rust _under_ the
> blackened patina. It's very hard to tell--it's not obviously dry,
> powdery rust like I get on the bottom, and the way that light reflects
> off the surface, the redness may be a figment of my imagination.
>
> I do not know how well the pan was treated before I got it, but I am
> guessing not very well. It was sitting in my parents' basement for
> years before I rescued it. They probably got it from my grandma, who
> was a notoriously bad cook.
>
> My question is: could there be rust _underneath_ the seasoning/patina
> layer? If there is, I think I'm just going to buy a new skillet, since
> it does not seem like it's worth it to remove all the seasoning, then
> remove all the rust, then reseason when I can get a new, preseasoned
> skillet for twenty bucks at Amazon.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Thanks,
> Matt

Really hard to say without seeing it, but why invite trouble? If it cooks
well and the surface is well-seasoned, I would try anything else with it.
When you've cleaned off the rust on the bottom, why not coat the entire pan
with solid shortening or oil and bake it in a slow oven. You might want to
repeat this several times. I don't think you need a new pan.

--
Wayne Boatwright
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974