Cleaning Old Kitchen Gadgets for Food Prep Use

[talesofthesevenseas]

Time for me to address the chopper, and maybe the lemon squeezer. I'd like to use the chopper in my kitchen for food prep, but the lemon squeezer I may leave alone. Not sure yet.

The chopper is in darn good shape. The blade is still sharp, the handle is tight and sturdy. The handle is riveted to the posts and the blade is marked very faintly with "R. JONES". The blade just has some spotting and light surface rust and I think it could clean up nicely and become useful again. KC, I think you said you're using a couple of old choppers/pastry cutters?

What do all of you recommend for cleaning something like this that is going to be used for food prep? I am thinking I'd use the naval jelly to remove the rust, then just give it a VERY thorough cleaning with dish soap and water, then lightly oil it with olive oil to inhibit rust, taking care to leave the wooden handle as it is, just giving that a little mineral oil.

The lemon squeezer is pretty heavily rusted. I'm not even sure if it is cast iron or steel. I think it is steel as there are one or two spots of silver showing through the black crud and rust. It is too heavily encrusted to know if it has any markings yet. I'm thinking naval jelly first to get the worst of the rust off, then see if it really is steel or cast iron, then if it is cast iron it could go into the lye bath setup that I have if needed.

[waywardangler]

I like the chopper.  I have two old ones I could use but opt to use an ulu knife instead.  I would use a Dremel with a wire brush on the juicer to get rid of any loose rust.  Naval jelly is good but I would imagine a film of chemical would be left that needs to be really cleaned to get off. I just do not like unknown chemicals in contact with food prep items, especially with a somewhat porous cast metal.  I think it is cast iron rather than steel.  It may have been nickel plated originally and that is what is peeking thru.  Steel and cast iron would both rust equally.  The specific mineral contents determine what is 'steel' and what is 'cast iron'.  I do not know the difference in make-up specifically.  The juicer was cast in a mold and that is why I think it is cast iron.  Later juicers were of some type of white metal alloy or aluminum so the acid did not affect them as much. 

[talesofthesevenseas]

OK sounds like I could use the lye bath for the juicer then as I did for the cast iron pans. I hadn't thought of a wire brush and the dremel for the chopper, I guess a very soft wire would be in order so that it doesn't scratch. I'll take a look at what I've got in my dremel kit. I'll also try just plain ol' soap and water on the chopper blade to see what comes off with that first.

[waywardangler]

You should have a brass wire brush and probably a steel wire brush in your Dremel kit.  I would use the brass first as that is softer.

[talesofthesevenseas]

OK thanks, and if I don't have the right one they are readily available at the home improvement stores by my work.

I have been looking for the "R. JONES" mark and so far I'm not finding much. There was a Robert Jones in England who marked items this way, but he seems to have mostly produced corkscrews and they date to the mid 1800's and I don't think this chopper is that old. My guess is 1900 to 1930-ish.

[KC]

I would clean with Dremel first.  I had heard of two others carried down through the family.......so I searched and found instructions for them as well.

Using lemon juice and vinegar
http://www.ehow.com/how_4517674_remove-rust-utensils-clean-effectively.html

Using cola
http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6722197_clean-rust-kitchen-utensils.html

For small spots of rust I remember they would take a very potent onion and rub all over the affected area and let it sit on it for a while then wash off.  It worked! 

[talesofthesevenseas]

I had heard of using white vinegar for rust removal and had forgotten about that. That was recommended on that cast iron Griswold and Wagner forum, but you can't leave it for too long or it can actually eat away the metal. It sounds in the Ehow article that it happens pretty instantaneously, so I'll give it a shot and see what happens, then wash thoroughly afterward.

[talesofthesevenseas]

All I can say is "Wow!" I used only white vinegar with a scrubbing pad and the rust and years of stains came right off the chopper! No Dremel or lemon juice needed. After the vinegar I cleaned it with soap and water, then mineral oil on the handle and a light coating of olive oil for the metal surfaces.

Here's the result. It's quite pitted but in great shape otherwise and you can see the "R. JONES" mark clearly now:

[CuriousCollector]

Wow, what a beauty!

[hosman321]

Great kitchen items! Vinegar is my best friend, I use it to clean everything. Always works great for me on rust. I also use it on my vegetables, removes herbicides and pesticides very well. But I mostly buy organic now.

[KC]

Nice job!  Isn't it amazing how so many of the basic items we have had around for years still is the best?!!!!!

I keep a large gallon container of it around for cleaning and cooking purposes.  Still safe, non-toxic and my family hates the smell!  LOL  But better than toxic chemicals!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Well this is interesting. I put the lemon squeezer into the lye bath and at the end of the day I started seeing silver colored metal coming through so I pulled it out and finished it off with vinegar.

It looks like it is cast steel or aluminum, with trace remnants of nickle plating... I think? Opinions anyone? It feels too heavy to be aluminum, so I am thinking it must be steel? It does look to be cast, but I can't locate a gate mark, I suspect it would have been ground down? 

It is completely unmarked. I went over it with the loupe and although one of the photos shows something that looks like a number 2, it is actually just pitting on the metal. It is very pitted on all surfaces, looking through the loupe. The hinge is rivetted. Here's the photos after cleaning. This will at least inhibit further damage and deterioration from rust and corrosion.






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[fancypants]

Talesof , what does your magnet say ?

I like functional & hevi-duty kitchen stuff like this !

My first guess , when I saw your juicer posted , was that this is a cast-iron item , which would have been nickle-plated .

Heck , I'd try it out & if it didn't squirt me in the eye , I'd consider having it pickled & nickled .

[talesofthesevenseas]

I like 'em too! Definitely looks to be pretty old, although I'm not sure how old it really could be.

The magnet sticks, so it's not aluminum. It would be steel then, right?

[fancypants]

Well , it's got iron in it for sure .

I'm curious to know if the holes were bored , or cast into it ...?

Another possibility is that your item was 'tinned' (with tin) , rather than plated .
Although it's way more easy to tin copper kitchen-ware , it is possible to do with steel & iron items (that are not used with heat) .

In the event that this do-dad is forged steel , it also may have been (shudder) galvinized .
I remember drinking lemonade that was 'stored' in an insulated galvinized (inside & out) beverage cooler , at pic-nics in my childhood .