Cauldron Care

Unfortunately, some water got into the place I keep my cast iron cauldron and it has rusted a little. Does anyone know how to remove the rust and fix it without damaging it more? My oven is broken, so I cannot heat it in there. How do you guys care for your cauldrons? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Youtube sunshine morningrae tells you how she cares for hers, she washes it out and puts it in the oven on hot till dry then i think somewhere ive seen a balm or something to rub on and in and jeeps a paper towel inside to get moisture out. Im looking to get one but crazy prices out here but look her up :)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mM4iZMrJb4Q

Found the link she uses lard but its for a cast iron.

If it is surface rust, it can easily enough be removed with a bit of #0000 steel wool, and a little oil (any type, even food safe - it is a lubricant to facilitate rust removal). This will not leave scratches.

If the rust is deeper, and does not remove, believe it or not, cast iron can be cleaned and restored with fire. If you have the ability to do so, I would recommend it for heavy rust. There are lots of instructions online.

If the pot is seasoned, you will have to re-season it. This is a process which some people very much over-complicate. Seasoning is quite simply a low-level burning of a thin coat of oil on the surface of the iron. You do not want enough oil for it to run or drip. Then slowly heat the cauldron (starting in a cold oven is easiest to control, though I use the stove top for most of my cast iron) to or past the oil's smoking point for a little while, turn off the heat, and let it cool slowly. The smoke is caused by a low level of combustion.

If the temperature is too cool, or the process isn't allowed to complete, the oil may become a basic epoxy, a sticky residue which is a pain to deal with. That is partly why a thin coat of oil is good. It also does not require a lot, as the layers of seasoning are incredibly thin. The seasoning process causes the carbon in the oil to polymerize, turning it into a network of chain carbons with some physical properties similar to graphite.

Since you said your oven is broken, if the cauldron does not have legs and can rest on a burner, I'd use that option.

Thanks for the advice!