Can a Teflon-lined cast iron pot be salvaged?

[damckenzie]

I have a 35 year old cast iron dutch oven (Club colorcast made in Waterford, Ireland) that is enameled on the outside and has a teflon coating inside. Unfortunately, I left a batch of beans on the stove top too long. They ran out of liquid, burned and stuck to the bottom and sides. Hunks of tefton came off with the beans leaving dozens of "pock" marks where the cast iron is exposed and rusting.

I sanded off the rough edges of teflon as best I can but am a little afraid to use the pot in case more flakes off. Plus I haven't been successful in seasoning the exposed cast iron. I have thought about finding someone to sandblast the inside. Does this sound logical? Safe? Reasonable? Any suggestions? I hate the thought of abandoning this wonderful pot. DMc

[jerry i h]

Never heard of this brand, but this my advice to all 'non-stick' cookware:
you can either chuck it into the trash, or remove the plastic coating.
You wish to do the latter, so here is how:
take 'Chore Boy', which is a very coarse copper scrubber, use lots of elbow grease (set aside an entire afternoon; if you have teenagers you can bribe or a husband with a brass attachment to his drill), do not stop until all plastic bits are totally gone.
Season the pot as a regular cast iron pan, and make sure you put the fate of this pan in your will.
Note: once properly seasoned, it will be just as non-stick as the plastic junk.

[sueatmo]

Or you can send to the recycler. I'm not sure why you would do this. And I am not convinced that the interior of the pan, thus treated, would become as non stick as a properly treated non-stick vessel. And, there is no way to know that that metal is that you uncover. I just wouldn't recommend doing this.

[Miss Priss]

It shouldn't be difficult to have the nonstick coating removed (whether by sandblasting or some other abrasive means) without damaging the pot itself, just as is sometimes done with vintage cast-iron pans when they've accumulated more crud or rust than can readily be removed with oven cleaner and elbow grease. But given that this was designed and sold as a coated pan, I wonder whether the exposed cast-iron surface would necessarily be food-safe. My uneducated guess is that it would, especially after seasoning; but I really don't know.

[gradishertom]

I would highly recommend getting rid of it ASAP.

[sueatmo]

Agreed. You've got your money's worth out of it. We all have accidents like you had. Cut your loss and move on. Its just a pot, after all. Perhaps it can be recycled.

[REFFI]

I began folowing this thread and decided to write to Lodge for their recommendations, reproduced below:

"Thank you for your email. Unfortunately we cannot speak for another company but if our enamel cookware starts to chip there is no coatings we can put to repair it and we do not suggest sandblasting if it is enamel to take the rest of it off. I will be glad to mail you a free catalog if you would like please let me know. Thank you. "

[SanityRemoved]

It's a shame that they aren't made anymore. We had a frying pan and I've yet to see a nonstick coating last as long.

[Chemicalkinetics]

The original poster wrote:
<I have a 35 year old cast iron dutch oven (Club colorcast made in Waterford, Ireland) that is enameled on the outside and has a teflon coating inside. >

I was thinking just that. 35 years. That being said. It is a Dutch Oven, and I must say that, in my experience, nonstick surface does not last very long for a frying pan, but very long for a pot -- simply because the content of a pot (liquid) protect the nonstick surface from being overheated.

[kaleokahu]

Hi, SR:

If you're interested in the Waterford coated CI, you might look here (quickly, now): http://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterford-Col...

Aloha,
Kaleo

[SanityRemoved]

Thanks Kaleo. Yikes at the price but then again I have no clue as to what they went for new.
We had a fry pan very similar to this:
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia...

Not sure if it is still in use but I know it was still being used when it was approximately 25 years old. It was no longer slick but the teflon never flaked or separated from the cast iron.

I miss the Danish designs of the early 70's and all that teak.

I'm not sure what the difference between the Club line and what we had was but the bottom of ours was not enamel, it was bare.

[REFFI]

I too, have a Waterford enameled cast iron dutch oven. Next year will be its fortieth year. I checked their (Waterford's) website and there is no longer a category for cookware. I would think that your best bet is to have the interior sand blasted to bare metsl, then carefully follow the instructions, available from Lodge, for seasoning it properly. That's what I'm going to do when my surface fails.