Conference turris::cooks

  First of all, it's probably not necessary to clean all the rust off.
  As long as the things still work, just wash them as well as you can,
  dry them well, and coat with a very light coating of a light vegetable
  oil to inhibit further rusting. You can do this by wiping with a paper
  towel dipped in a little oil, and then wiping off as much oil as you
  can with a clean paper towel.

  If you really want to get them cleaner than that, you could try one of
  those green scouring pads, or steel wool, in that order. Then there's
  always "naval jelly", which is supposedly good at removing rust, but
  I've never tried it on cooking utensils.

    I will try the 'oil' technique when I get home...what I didn't know is
    whether the rust would make us 'sick'...and/or contaminate food that
    comes in contact with it.
    
    Some of the the gadgets are really neat - I got a whole set (8) of
    knives that appears to have some sort of bone handles?  Wonder what
    kind of bone/ivory perhaps?
    
    _M_
    

    The "big thing" is probably a stand-alone roaster.

I little iron is good for you.  If there is enough rust to make the surface 
rough, try a metal bristled brush.

By the way, the bone handled knives might be antler.

    My thing perhaps but I look at rust and think of tetanus.
     Is that off the wall?

Rust does not cause tetanus, bacteria does.  The bacteria is associated with 
the dirt that often clings to rusty pieces of metal, like a nail in the lawn,
etc.  I don't know if one can be infected by ingestion.  Usually one gets 
tetanus from the bacteria entering an open wound.

If your gadjets are dirty, wash them.  Hot soapy water is enough to get rid
of the dirt and bacteria.  

You are much more likely to contract salmonella from your clean-looking 
utensils than you are tetanus from your rusty ones.  

�      <<< Note 2402.7 by NITMOI::PESENTI "Only messages can be dragged" >>>

�etc.  I don't know if one can be infected by ingestion.  Usually one gets 
�tetanus from the bacteria entering an open wound.

A slight nit :)  (which has nothing to do with cooking...) :)



You don't get tetanus from the bacteria entering the wound, you get it when 
the wound heals over on the "top" without the inside of the wound healing 
first.  The tetanus bacteria is anaerobic bacteria.  In other words, it 
doesn't survive well in an environment where oxygen is present.  This is 
why tenanus is much more of a problem with a deep puncture wound rather 
than a shallow scrape...  (the top seals over and provides a nice cozy 
non-oxygen environment...)

    
    
    
    
    
    
    Sorry if I posted this in the wrong file...but I got into the Easynotes
    alphabetic listing and couldn't find another topic that seemed any more
    appropriate.
    
    I cook a great deal - for my family as well as my friends - and I would
    not want my 'ignorance' of old cooking utensils/gadgets contributing to 
    an illness or a fate worse than that!
    
    Thanks for the information!
    
    M
    

  You were certainly right to ask the question. Anyway, now you know
  that you won't kill your guests with a little rust on your utensils.
  On the other hand, your guests may not know that. Just don't let them
  into the kitchen :-).

The only health problem that I can think of that rusty utensils might cause is
bacteria contamination because the rough and crumbly surface of the rust is
harder to keep clean.  More bothersome would be getting a metallic taste in food
because of the rust.

--PSW

    We have rust in our water in Merrimack, and noone that I know has
    died of it.  In fact, I heard that the rust and other mineral
    particles are actually GOOD for you.  It does a number on hot
    water heaters, though.
    
    --Louise

    You should have seen what happened to the pool at the Hilton.
    
    They put the chlorine in before getting the iron out of the water.
    
    RED!
    
    ed

    This might work...Coca Cola.  My boyfriend removed the rust off of his
    fog light with coke.  He soaked the pieces in a cup of coke for 2 days.  
    After a little scrubbing the rust came right off.  He put the light back
    together and it worked fine.
    
    Needless to say we don't drink much coke anymore but we do alot of
    derusting with it!
    
    Good luck,
    
    Karen

    My God...if Coca Cola can get rust off metal - can you imagine what it
    does to our teeth and/or stomachs!
    
    It does taste good, though.
    
    I tried the oil and I managed to get some of it off.  Most of the items
    were not that rusty - but I just didn't like the _looks_ of it (rust).  
    Besides, I was afraid the potatoes going through the 'ricer' would look 
    as though they already had gravy in them.
    
    The vegetable grater had quite a few rough edges - so I decided to just
    'show' it...the knives came out good but there was one paring knife that 
    needs a lot of work.  Am afraid to scrub too hard though, my finger might 
    slip and I could cut myself pretty bad.
    
    It's fun going through all the boxes that I got - you wouldn't
    BELIEVE the things I kept finding!
    
    Marilyn
    

    Ill second that reply about coke being a rust remover....when I
    was in the service we used to pour it in our irons and a day later
    you wouldnt believe all the rust that came out...
    
    Rick

    RE: .14, .16
    
    Coke will remove rust because it contains phosphoric acid (check the
    ingredients).  They add it to produce a "bite" to the flavor.  And, no,
    phosphoric acid isn't good for your stomach, although I hear some of
    the other ingredients in coke are.
    
    
    				-David

         OK no need to pick on a specific brand.  Almost any cola will do.
    RC, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper (to a lesser extent), Shasta, etc.
    
         Pepsi did a better job on my car battery terminals.
    
                                        Greg