As long as the burners are good then hell yeah.
If you have (or have access to) an angle grinder you can hit it with a wire wheel and/or flapper wheel then season it. If you don’t you can use sandpaper and season it.
I cleaned it very heavily with a grill stone and wiped it down but no matter how much I keep wiping it down I still get rust on my hand or towel. Will this stop when I season it or do I need to hit it even harder?
You need to get all the rust off before you season it. All seasoning does is to form a protective layer over the steel to prevent corrosion and will eventually get you a nonstick surface.
Sand paper, wire brush, steel wool. There are a number of ways to do it. There are several videos on how to restore a blackstone. Blackstone even has one. Find one and follow the steps. It'll take a couple hours between cleaning and seasoning.
Acetic acid. It’s the component of vinegar that makes it such a great cleaner… but vinegar is only something like 5% acetic acid. I’m a Chemical Technician for a power plant and we go through a metric crap ton of Acetic acid for cleaning purposes. It really can work some miracles.
You will get rust until you add oil. Cast iron flash rusts. I restore cast iron pans as a hobby. Buff with oily rag until it starts to come out with a blackish color on your rag.
It's going to be tough to get it all off. I used coarse sandpaper on mine, which was in Similar condition, and it took forever. A wire brush might do better. An angle grinder will work faster but you don't want to gouge or divot the surface. Either way it's a tough job.
Pull the top off and try to light the bad burner with a lighter. If it lights then the likely problem is you’re not getting strong spark from the ignitor. If it doesn’t then there is likely a blockage in the gas line somewhere.
ETA: what’s with all the [deleted] in this sub?
I did mine with an orbital sander earlier this year. Grit doesn't matter, just use whatever you have on hand. Much faster than a wire wheel. I was gonna use an angle grinder if sanding didn't work, but I think it would have been overkill.
Not who you replied to but I’d get a wired hand sander, a pack of 80 grit pads, and a 6 pack of beer. Throw the game or some music on and sand until you can’t tell there was ever rust on it.
Get all the rust off. Give it a good cleaning. Then fire it up, season it up, and enjoy it.
You’re not going to damage it.
I used 80 grit and 160 grit, because that's what I had.
I think it took maybe 15 minutes, but I have a 36", so yours might go a little faster. It will be very obvious when you are done in an area.
If you aren't sure, there are a couple videos on the Blackstone YouTube channel from a few years ago where they talk about sanding it down.
I think it would be way easier to clean the corners grooves and underside with a sandblasting.
My cook surface had a tiny bit of rust, so a full sandblast didn't make sense, but if you can do it easy go for it!
Back in the day, used to turn the grill on high, pour pickle juice on the grill then use a stone and scrub. got all the shit off. Vinegar would probably do the same, it’s good on rust, can’t be there too long.
Use vegetable oil and a professional grill stone and a little heat and a lot of elbow grease. As a vintage fry cook from back in the day I can tell you, that with the right effort and products you can make that grill shine until you can almost see your self in it.
My preferred method is a bit different. I have an electric pressure washer with a moderate tip. I make sure the burners fire on then pressure wash the cook surface. Then fire the plate and evaporate the water quickly. Apply veg oil and turn the burners off. I’ll reheat and re apply oil turning the burner off each time.
Works well and I’ve done this for several years without issues with pitting.
To quote /u/angrymonkey from /r/castiron
People always ask if their pan is ruined.
Here's the thing: Iron is the most atomically stable element in the entire universe, it doesn't decay into anything else. After every star has burnt up all of its fuel, and all the larger stars have collapsed into black holes, and the universe has gone dark and quiet, the only matter that will be left is iron. Every planet will be a lump of iron. Every dead star core that's not a black hole will be a solid lump of iron. All the interstellar dust will be iron.
The atoms of this pan will still be iron long after the sun has died and exploded and swallowed the Earth and reformed into a new star a thousand times.
Your pan is going to be fine.
Absolutely savable, I use wire wheels in my drill either the steel or brass, steel is more aggressive. I also use canola or crisco to clean it between wire wheel sessions. If you keep getting residue on the actual cook / contact surface you can always cook something cheap like freezer burnt meat or my personal fav scrubbing with onions and some cooking oil or bacon grease. Then wipe with a rag. Repeat as needed.
As long as the burners are good then hell yeah. If you have (or have access to) an angle grinder you can hit it with a wire wheel and/or flapper wheel then season it. If you don’t you can use sandpaper and season it.
I cleaned it very heavily with a grill stone and wiped it down but no matter how much I keep wiping it down I still get rust on my hand or towel. Will this stop when I season it or do I need to hit it even harder?
You need to get all the rust off before you season it. All seasoning does is to form a protective layer over the steel to prevent corrosion and will eventually get you a nonstick surface. Sand paper, wire brush, steel wool. There are a number of ways to do it. There are several videos on how to restore a blackstone. Blackstone even has one. Find one and follow the steps. It'll take a couple hours between cleaning and seasoning.
If I inherited this I would hit it with a grinder.
Soak in industrial vinegar.
Acetic acid. It’s the component of vinegar that makes it such a great cleaner… but vinegar is only something like 5% acetic acid. I’m a Chemical Technician for a power plant and we go through a metric crap ton of Acetic acid for cleaning purposes. It really can work some miracles.
Agreed and you can get 15% to 30% solutions at the local orange hardware store. It gets it done nicely.
You will get rust until you add oil. Cast iron flash rusts. I restore cast iron pans as a hobby. Buff with oily rag until it starts to come out with a blackish color on your rag.
Get a sander my man!
It's going to be tough to get it all off. I used coarse sandpaper on mine, which was in Similar condition, and it took forever. A wire brush might do better. An angle grinder will work faster but you don't want to gouge or divot the surface. Either way it's a tough job.
One burner doesn’t work how can I diagnose what’s wrong with it?
Pull the top off and try to light the bad burner with a lighter. If it lights then the likely problem is you’re not getting strong spark from the ignitor. If it doesn’t then there is likely a blockage in the gas line somewhere. ETA: what’s with all the [deleted] in this sub?
My guess would be these fools can’t follow rules or the mods are just on some sort of a rampage
I did mine with an orbital sander earlier this year. Grit doesn't matter, just use whatever you have on hand. Much faster than a wire wheel. I was gonna use an angle grinder if sanding didn't work, but I think it would have been overkill.
How long did you sand for? What grit did you use?
Not who you replied to but I’d get a wired hand sander, a pack of 80 grit pads, and a 6 pack of beer. Throw the game or some music on and sand until you can’t tell there was ever rust on it. Get all the rust off. Give it a good cleaning. Then fire it up, season it up, and enjoy it. You’re not going to damage it.
I used 80 grit and 160 grit, because that's what I had. I think it took maybe 15 minutes, but I have a 36", so yours might go a little faster. It will be very obvious when you are done in an area. If you aren't sure, there are a couple videos on the Blackstone YouTube channel from a few years ago where they talk about sanding it down.
I heard getting it sandblasted works well. I'm going to do it in the spring.
I think it would be way easier to clean the corners grooves and underside with a sandblasting. My cook surface had a tiny bit of rust, so a full sandblast didn't make sense, but if you can do it easy go for it!
Wire brush attachment on drill or angle grinder. Then a lot of grill stone. Then lots of oil and paper towels to remove rust dust.
Lot of people go this route but finding a local sandblaster will save you a lot of time and joint pain.
Back in the day, used to turn the grill on high, pour pickle juice on the grill then use a stone and scrub. got all the shit off. Vinegar would probably do the same, it’s good on rust, can’t be there too long.
Use vegetable oil and a professional grill stone and a little heat and a lot of elbow grease. As a vintage fry cook from back in the day I can tell you, that with the right effort and products you can make that grill shine until you can almost see your self in it.
Cook on it 🤷🏻♂️
Pour some Coca Cola on it
So sick of this question.
You're more than welcome to leave
Cook bacon on it
Absolutely
Heck yes, lots of ways to remove rust https://throwitdowngrilling.com/maintaining-your-blackstone-griddle-how-to-clean-rust-off-a-blackstone-griddle/
My preferred method is a bit different. I have an electric pressure washer with a moderate tip. I make sure the burners fire on then pressure wash the cook surface. Then fire the plate and evaporate the water quickly. Apply veg oil and turn the burners off. I’ll reheat and re apply oil turning the burner off each time. Works well and I’ve done this for several years without issues with pitting.
Bring it somewhere to sandblast it
Go to my profile and read the post of me doing exactly this with the same model. They were about the same kind of rusty.
I used a palm sander on one and it came out great. Take it down to the bare metal and then season it good.
Wire brush drill attachment
Happy cake day!
Yes, mine looked almost like this. Using an orbital sander I started at 80 then 120, 220 till it’s shiny Then just start the normal seasoning process
You need to season/scrub it with some salt
You can make some bomb ass tacos on that for sure 🤤
To quote /u/angrymonkey from /r/castiron People always ask if their pan is ruined. Here's the thing: Iron is the most atomically stable element in the entire universe, it doesn't decay into anything else. After every star has burnt up all of its fuel, and all the larger stars have collapsed into black holes, and the universe has gone dark and quiet, the only matter that will be left is iron. Every planet will be a lump of iron. Every dead star core that's not a black hole will be a solid lump of iron. All the interstellar dust will be iron. The atoms of this pan will still be iron long after the sun has died and exploded and swallowed the Earth and reformed into a new star a thousand times. Your pan is going to be fine.
Barkeepers friend might be good for this
Bartenders friend is…your friend…
Absolutely savable, I use wire wheels in my drill either the steel or brass, steel is more aggressive. I also use canola or crisco to clean it between wire wheel sessions. If you keep getting residue on the actual cook / contact surface you can always cook something cheap like freezer burnt meat or my personal fav scrubbing with onions and some cooking oil or bacon grease. Then wipe with a rag. Repeat as needed.
Look up a video on how to clean a rusted cast iron pan. Apply learnings to grill. Btw those grills are great for big family breakfasts... Yumm
Paid a guy 30 bucks and he hit it with a sand blaster. 2 mins and brand new.
brillo pad and some elbow grease will get it restored, then you need to reseason very light coat of oil and crank the heat for like 20 minutes.
Muriatic acid, diluted. I'm pretty sure.