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rustproofing a spoon?

3K views 38 replies 9 participants last post by  dougl 
#1 ·
I have a large and very handy spoon that is evidently made of non-stainless steel. Over time, it rusts. I was wondering if there is a commercial coating I could apply to seal the metal, that is durable enough to withstand hot water and ideally dishwasher soap. I know that a coat of mineral oil would do the job, but I'd just need to apply it regularly. Now, I understand that fishermen have coatings and corrosion inhibitors that they use for knives and hooks. I'm wondering if I want to get that stuff in my food.
 
#3 ·
There is one option bakers use. Its a nonStick coating they use on buntrays and bread pans. Its pretty cheap, but the reglazers won't do just one piece. Time to buddy up with a local bakery the next time they get their bread and cake pans reglazed....

Hope this helps
 
#4 ·
Well, it would be nice if there were a spray that would stick. I mean, I could even try regular enamel spray paint, but I dread the thought of it flaking off in my food, and who knows what chemicals leach out of it. But again, fisherfolk have spray-on hard glazes that allegedly resist even salt water for many years. Of course, they also spray on WD-40, which is probably the fishing equivalent of consumable mineral oil (yeah, it's used as an intestinal lubricant ...) but I'm not going to WD-40-ize my culinary creations.
 
#6 ·
Actually, I'm now aware that standard organic rustproofing for auto underbodies is linseed oil paint. (Linseed oil is, in fact, flaxseed.) I believe that this kind of paint is solvent-free. Gotta look into that. At first glance, the stuff ain't cheap, but I only need a few ccs of it.
 
#8 ·
     Linseed oil is used for the base of oil paints, both household and artist paints, typically the oil and a pigment.. Because of its long drying time, it is often treated with drying agents and other things to make it flow easier. There may also be mold inhibitors because being a natural product it can attract mold as it dries. There is raw linseed oil and boiled linseed oil, used for different purposes. Edible flaxseed is cold pressed, linseed oil is often pressed with solvents so not all are edible or interchangeable. Read the labels carefully. Flax and linseed come from the same plant but are not the same end product. 

     I learned much about this while researching paint manufacture when I bought my house. If you should decide to ask a  paint store about linseed oil, chances are they will argue for latex paints  and the clerk won't know much general knowledge of linseed or oil paints. After much research on my own, I found that politics played a huge role in the advancement of latex over oil paint. 

Since this is a food website, I'll stop there. 

So a flaxseed coating would seem to work but couldn't you just buy a new stainless spoon? 
 
#10 ·
That's very interesting. Thank you. In fact, there are similar cautions about using linseed oil for treating cutting boards. Raw linseed oil is evidently OK for straight human consumption, but "boiled linseed oil" which includes driers, has added chemicals. That being said, FDA publishes guidelines on what it considers safe for food contact surfaces, and "drying oils" derived from linseed *are* explicitly permitted. I have to assume that linseed paint is such. Now, this is probably a $20 spoon, and I don't want to spend $50 waterproofing it. But it has a shape that I very much like, and don't see elsewhere.
 
#12 ·
That's very interesting. Thank you. In fact, there are similar cautions about using linseed oil for treating cutting boards. Raw linseed oil is evidently OK for straight human consumption, but "boiled linseed oil" which includes driers, has added chemicals. That being said, FDA publishes guidelines on what it considers safe for food contact surfaces, and "drying oils" derived from linseed *are* explicitly permitted. I have to assume that linseed paint is such. Now, this is probably a $20 spoon, and I don't want to spend $50 waterproofing it. But it has a shape that I very much like, and don't see elsewhere.
This may be stretching things a bit ....but what a government recommends is not always prudent.

Just ask the residents of Flint Michigan.

mimi
 
#14 · (Edited)
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/healthy-origins-ultra-omega-organic-flax-oil/ID=prod6314629-product
[h1]Healthy Origins Ultra Omega Organic Flax Oil 16.0 oz. $8.99[/h1]
More than enough to accomplish the job with some left over to season cast iron or carbon steel pans. It is the bomb when it comes to seasoning pans. It is makes the hardest, longest lasting, most non-stick surface out there. (disclaimer: I am not affliiated with this product in any shape, form, or fashion, merely anal about flaxseed's prowess)
 
#15 ·
Flax, aka linseed, has been around a loooong long time.  Linseed oil was/is used in the paint industry, as well as varnishes, and when mixed with ground up cork and compressed, gives us linoleum flooring.

The metallic driers used in blo (boiled linseed oil) tend to darken wood very quickly, so many furniture finishers tend to buy raw linseed oil, stick in in a crock pot, let it cook for a day, and use it. For furniture, it forms a film finish when can be reapplied very quickly and easily.  It's also cheap and pretty natural.

One disclaimer when working with any kind of linseed/flaxseed oil product:  Be carefull of how you dispose of the rags.  If the rag is balled up in an enclosed space, it will self combust.  Many fires have been started this way.
 
#16 ·
Is this, like a lucky spoon? Has sentimental value? Did it belong to your great-great-great grandmother? Does it have magical qualities like instantly makes food taste better? Does it have anti- gravity properties where it doesn't actually touch the food but moves it around with a force field?
So a flaxseed coating would seem to work but couldn't you just buy a new stainless spoon?
That's what I wanna know......

mimi
Me too.
 
#17 ·
Is this, like a lucky spoon? Has sentimental value? Did it belong to your great-great-great grandmother? Does it have magical qualities like instantly makes food taste better? Does it have anti- gravity properties where it doesn't actually touch the food but moves it around with a force field?

Me too.
Yes, all of the above. Wouldn't you want to keep such a spoon from rusting? Oh, it also talks to me.
 
#20 ·
I've used flaxseed on pans, never on a spoon.    Seems to me a spoon gets used more, washed more and the oil wouldn't stay on so long.   I still like my approach forcing a patina with plantains or a commercial rust converter.  course your spoon will be black and blue but at least it won't rust!
 
#21 ·
That being said, FDA publishes guidelines on what it considers safe for food contact surfaces, and "drying oils" derived from linseed *are* explicitly permitted. I have to assume that linseed paint is such.
No you don't have to assume. Why would you? Drying oils derived from linseed and linseed oil paint are not the same thing. Do your research and due diligence. Read the labels carefully. Or pick another product entirely. Flaxseed oil sold and labeled as a consumable food product is safe and is what others here have recommended.
 
#22 ·
I have a couple of pans from my Gma Van's kitchen (have to be at least 60 years old prolly much more) that have made a couple of trips thru the dishwasher (I know.....but was an accident) and the "shiny" stripped right off.

Is linseed what I need for the repair job?

Don't mean to hijack the thread ..... just hit me that this question was manna from heaven as the DD wants the pans.

mimi
 
#23 ·
No you don't have to assume. Why would you? Drying oils derived from linseed and linseed oil paint are not the same thing. Do your research and due diligence. Read the labels carefully. Or pick another product entirely. Flaxseed oil sold and labeled as a consumable food product is safe and is what others here have recommended.
Sounds good. I thought I did do research and due diligence. If you have better research, it would be helpful to hear about it here. Flaxseed oil sounds nice, but it doesn't obviously dry and produce a durable protective surface. Does it? I mean, I can use mineral oil as well, but I have to reapply every time I wash it.

Now, a few posts back. cheflayne gave a recipe for applying flaxseed oil repeatedly, along with a lot of heat. Does that, in fact, produce a durable protective surface?

Good question about what to use on pans. That might be a harder problem, though, because pans will have to take higher temperatures than spoons.
 
#24 ·
Follow Cheflaynes' instructions. Yes, the oil he recommends does provide the right surface when applied as he describes. Flaxseed oil intended for human consumption is the correct choice of oil to use. 

Despite or perhaps because of the common origin of the oils, you will note that products sold in the hardware stores are labeled linseed oil. 

Products sold in the food sections of supermarkets are labeled flaxseed oil. 

Flipflopgirl- Follow Cheflaynes' instructions for seasoning pans with flaxseed oil. 

Fwiw, I don't have better research. I just keep pursuing a more definitive understanding of what phrases mean. So when I hear "drying agents derived from linseed oil" and "linseed oil with drying agents" and "linseed oil paint"  or "boiled linseed oil" or "raw linseed oil" I keep researching until I understand what is meant by each phrase, why that particular phrase is used for that particular product and how that represents a difference from other products that sound or seem similar. Especially because I am interested in using a product for food and consumption, I never make assumptions.  

     In my refrigerator is a bottle of flaxseed oil I got from the health food coop.  In my basement paint storage area, I have containers with oil based house paint, raw linseed oil, boiled linseed oil, japan dryers and several other linseed oil products used with house paints.  In my front room I have a large quantity of artist oil paints made with linseed oil used with canvases  to make pictures with.

All may have a common origin, but I do not assume they are at all interchangeable.  I keep researching until I understand what makes them different.
 
#25 ·
OK, thank you. That helps a lot. As long as it is a consumable food product, I guess it remains that way whatever application process one uses. Seven hours of baking at 500F is not that convenient, though.

MillionsKnives, did you want to tell us more about your plantain approach, or use of commercial rust converter? Now, rust converter converts the rust to magnetite, though it isn't obvious that magnetite as a coating is in any way durable. I'd rather not have rust in my food, and I'd rather not have magnetite in it either.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Fwiw, I don't have better research. I just keep pursuing a more definitive understanding of what phrases mean. So when I hear "drying agents derived from linseed oil" and "linseed oil with drying agents" and "linseed oil paint" or "boiled linseed oil" or "raw linseed oil" I keep researching until I understand what is meant by each phrase, why that particular phrase is used for that particular product and how that represents a difference from other products that sound or seem similar. Especially because I am interested in using a product for food and consumption, I never make assumptions.

All may have a common origin, but I do not assume they are at all interchangeable. I keep researching until I understand what makes them different.
This is what the manufacturers (by order of the EPA or FDA or CIA or whichever letter grouping regulates this product) should be required to have people READ and sign or watch a vid or maybe tattoo on the buyer's forehead before even walking into the store.

Would be way less tragic "accidents" IMO.

During my time as ED case manager, my most hated duty was to explain how the team worked hard and despite all the heroic measures taken it was just too little too late....(solvent aspiration pneumonia is a horrible way to go but kept that part to myself) and could you please sign this form (in triplicate) so your husband, lover, child, can be removed from life support (as the vent has blown a hole in the lungs as that is what shit like that does....eats away at human tissue).

All that and despite how many times the deceased made their wishes known, there would be no "Life Gift" (organ harvest) as the body was now poisoned from head (eyes and tissue grafts) to their toes (bones for various useful medical procedures).

mimi

Just don't get it sometimes....no guns in the home but cans and jars of deadly chemicals under the sinks are perfectly safe....
 
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