What kind of food safe finish do people put on forged cooking utensils like a frying pan or meat forks? i have seen pictures of things with a "food safe bake on finish" but i'm not sure what i should use to get such a finish.

My shop-bought mild steel wok gets treated after every use with boiling water, followed by a warm peanut oil rub.

Seems to me that's good enough for the stuff I make too, but then I don't sell the stuff I make - there might be more complex ways of achieving a food-safe finish...

Here is some previous discussion on this topic.

You want to "season" any food related items the same way you would a cast iron fry pan. Warm the item up in your kitchen oven and generously apply olive oil, canola oil etc to the item with paper towel or the like and bake it at 300 to 350 for an hour. Some folks use lard, ie:crisco etc. Just make sure the item is clean before seasoning takes place. Have fun.

Thanks for the replies. I think i will try just seasoning the pan like you would with a cast iron one. Seems to make sense that it would work the same way.

Find a large piece of steak, get the pan nice and hot, lie the meat on the surface for about 1min, turn the steak over and repeat. Reduce the heat and continue to heat and turn the steak until the pan is seasoned/rustproofed to taste. I prefer my utensils rustproofed medium rare.

Find a large piece of steak, get the pan nice and hot, lie the meat on the surface for about 1min, turn the steak over and repeat. Reduce the heat and continue to heat and turn the steak until the pan is seasoned/rustproofed to taste. I prefer my utensils rustproofed medium rare.

I needed a good, tasty sounding laugh today! Yes this does work, but add some cooking oil first to prevent sticking if it is a lean steak.
Phil

I make a lot of food utensils for sale to the general public. My basic steps after forging are:

1. Remove scale by sandblasting.
2. Spray article with cold blue to blacken the surface.
3. Dip part in a solution of water with baking soda to neutralize the bluing solution.
4. Dry the part with hot air and spray with regular Pam.

I tell the customer to wash the piece in the sink with soap and hot water (but don't run through the dishwasher) then clean off any rust that forms with steel wool and respray with Pam. One of my customers is a re-enactor for living history demos; she has some of my tools which are over 20 years old and still in good condition.

I melt 2 parts bee's wax and one part olive oil together in a shallow large-top glass jar. A coffee cup warmer provides just the right amount of heat. The mix cools to the consistency of shoe polish. After the steel/iron has been cleaned and prepped, I heat it to about 400 degrees and rub on the mixture... buff when cooled. I re-apply it quickly and lightly on the washed & heated metal after using the utensil each time.

Find a large piece of steak, get the pan nice and hot, lie the meat on the surface for about 1min, turn the steak over and repeat. Reduce the heat and continue to heat and turn the steak until the pan is seasoned/rustproofed to taste. I prefer my utensils rustproofed medium rare.

Doggone Sam, I'm liking you better every day! Consider this technique added to MY mental tool kit! I can NOT wait till our next public demo, the audience will LOVE it.

Frosty the Lucky.