I have taken advantage of a slightly cooler and rainy day to climb the steps to the workshop and familiarise my self with our nifty little brushes! Low impact cleaning at it's best, with recyclable tools, olive oil, and old re-used rags.
This slightly pitted and rusted simmer spot, after 20 mins....
..looked like this! I have put together a guide for you to follow once you have equipped yourself with some handy brushes!
I then set myself a bigger challenge,a rusty, pitted, sad looking expansion ring, that came back from a job last week. The 4 oven had been turned off for some time. Rust can occur when you turn your cooker off, Matthew has this tip for after you have completed your hotplate scrub up!
"On all cookers it's a good idea to allow air to circulate under the lids while the cooker is off. If not you can get a little condensation that can rust the hotplate surface the the iron expansion rings around them. When your cooker has cooled completely use a little kitchen roll with olive oil it and wipe a thin coating across the hotplate and expansion rings to protect it. Now find an old pencil, snap it in half and pop each under the front of each lid to raise it very slightly. This will let air circulate without looking ugly!" Matthew
In all honesty I think that this expansion ring is probably a bit far gone. It absolutely can be rejuvenated with a grinding fitting on a Dremel, but I thought that I would put the wire brush to the test!
The wire brush made short work of the deep pitted rust on the underside, and after a wipe of olive oil, I was really impressed.
Good for another few years! ..
But the top, that had taken the most hammering with food and debris was a bit more stubborn! But still looked far far better than it did, not too shabby at all!
If yours is pitted and stained, we can sort you out with a shiny shot blasted one!
Happy Scrubbing!
< Now that you have cleaned it, insulate it! Plump hotplate rope seal.
< Step by step - how to clean your cast iron hot plates and expansion rings!
< More on combatting rust in and around your Aga range cooker
Katy x
