Hi All, I have a few furphy ovens of my fathers that I have start practicing with. One is a 15” oven that has been used regularly and we have had good success with this one. The other is a 20” one that hadn’t been used for quite some time - the first time we used it the meat had an odd oil taste. Is there some sort of cleaning process that can get rid of this and we can start afresh.
Thanks for your help in advance. Adam

I'd clean it with warm soapy water to get rid of the old oil, then reseason it. Will come up like new

I second Tadpole's advice.

Jeff

Thanks - I’ll give that a try

Hi Adam and welcome to the forum.

If the smell is real bad you may need to burn it out.  Best way to do that if you have one is a hooded BBQ.  Get it up as high as you can for about 30 minutes.  If you don’t have a BBQ then over a really hot fire for an hour.

Then you can reseason it.

Cheers

Derek wrote on May 3^rd, 2021 at 8:07pm:

Hi Adam and welcome to the forum. If the smell is real bad you may need to burn it out.  Best way to do that if you have one is a hooded BBQ.  Get it up as high as you can for about 30 minutes.  If you don’t have a BBQ then over a really hot fire for an hour. Then you can reseason it. Cheers

The guys and girls on the Facebook pages mention this method alot, even just for cleaning post cookup. Haven't tried it yet myself but will one day

tadpole wrote on May 4^th, 2021 at 9:16am:

Derek wrote on May 3rd, 2021 at 8:07pm: Hi Adam and welcome to the forum. If the smell is real bad you may need to burn it out.  Best way to do that if you have one is a hooded BBQ.  Get it up as high as you can for about 30 minutes.  If you don’t have a BBQ then over a really hot fire for an hour. Then you can reseason it. Cheers The guys and girls on the Facebook pages mention this method alot, even just for cleaning post cookup. Haven't tried it yet myself but will one day

What I believe I have found over the years is that the rancid oil actually impregnates the seasoning coating and that is where the smell comes from.

Burning at high heat removes that old seasoning so not sure I would use it for post cook up cleaning all the time otherwise you will never get that good layer build up of patina seasoning.

Derek wrote on May 3^rd, 2021 at 8:07pm:

If you don’t have a BBQ then over a really hot fire for an hour.

I would caution that you don't want to get the ovens too hot though as it can cause damage such as buckling and cracking if cooled too quickly. This is of more importance when using the old thin cast ovens such as Scottish made ovens and our Aussie ovens like Albions and Metters. Furphy ovens are much thicker but can still be damaged from too much heat.

Jeff

Have you actually seen that happen Jeff?  I haven’t but certainly something to be mindful of.

Many years ago I was a founding member of what was then recognised as the 500 Club.  It was a group of camp oven enthusiasts from around the world based in the US who determined the best temperature for seasoning camp ovens was over 500 degrees Fahrenheit which is around 260 Celsius. I used to regularly get my old gas BBQ up to 300 Celsius which is around 570 Fahrenheit.

I seasoned a few Metters that are renown for thin walls and in all the years I had never heard anyone mention that happening unless there was a previous unseen crack in the oven.

But as I said, worth being mindful of if you have an expensive old vintage oven.

Derek wrote on May 4^th, 2021 at 11:29am:

Have you actually seen that happen Jeff?  I haven’t but certainly something to be mindful of.

Yes I have seen the results of too much heat. Too much heat can change the make up of the cast iron so that it changes colour to pinkish/red colour. It is said when that happens seasoning will not take to those pinkish areas. A member on here had one of his big ovens crack from what he thought was getting it too hot from a fire when seasoning it. We have an old oven with a buckled lid which I believe was caused from heat.

I season our ovens in a hooded BBQ and get the temp up to 250c but not for long. As soon as the oven stops smoking I turn the heat off and let it cool slowly inside the BBQ.

I cautioned against too much heat because some people don't know what too much heat is. The photos are of pieces damaged by way too much heat.

Jeff

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I have been known to do what most people think is a sacrilege.  :)
I have used my angle grinder and use a Poly wheel for paint and rust removal. I have also used flapper disks to really clean it back to bare metal. then cleaned with soap and water and then reseason it.