# How to clean old sausage press?



## 3274mike (Sep 7, 2016)

Received an old enterprise sausage press from a friend and would like to use on my concord grapes. It's very dirty and was wondering how to clean short of sanding and reconditioning with vegetable oil in oven or is there an easier way to clean inside of press. My original plan was to get it sand blaster and then reseason but it's almost time to crush.


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## 3274mike (Sep 7, 2016)

​Could I power wash it until water is clear seems les abrasive than sand blasting. Have not worked with cast iron much. Do I need a food grade grease for screw?


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## Julie (Sep 7, 2016)

I won't sandblast it. Can you just scrub it out with some dawn?


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## Boatboy24 (Sep 7, 2016)

I think you need one of these: 

https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...87d8953ec7e35f1e3315f80f70849b73&action=click


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## 3274mike (Sep 7, 2016)

Yes I could that seems a little easy just to use dish soap and wash it Julie s always the voice of reason


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## Julie (Sep 7, 2016)

3274mike said:


> Yes I could that seems a little easy just to use dish soap and wash it Julie s always the voice of reason


 
Actually, I have had some old cast iron pans that had rust on them, I just washed them off and greased them back up and seasoned them in the oven at 250 for about and hour and a half. Rust was all gone.


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## xune (Sep 7, 2016)

Provided it's just rust that is the issue, give electrolysis a shot. If it's not only rust in it that you're worried about, give it a 15-24 hour vinegar bath, wash it off good, then try electrolysis.

Here is a short-ish video on how to make an electrolysis setup. 
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOYLQ86IdUk[/ame]

Not the best video out there, but a fairly short one (10 minutes) that decently explains the process. I use electrolysis for removing rust from parts all the time, by far the best method I have found for it.

Granted his example wasn't that rusty to begin with, this is an excellent method. There are a ton of videos out there if you look for them that will probably explain the process a little better, but will definitely be longer.


Edit:
If anyone can tell me how to remove the video from this post and only post the link, that would be great.


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## Sage (Sep 7, 2016)

Nothing wrong with very hot soap and water. Maybe a little steel wool if there's rust. I tried using mine but didn't find that it worked very well.

Mine had very nice colored pin stripes. Strong detergent started washing the color off so I quickly rinsed the soap off and was careful to only clean contact areas.


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## Mismost (Sep 7, 2016)

Julie said:


> I won't sandblast it. Can you just scrub it out with some dawn?



That is exactly how we do it. Use it, clean it again, and re-oil it just keep the rust off. We have never put it in the oven.

If the inside is pretty rusty, fill it with water and let it sit a couple of days, the water is a good solvent and the rust will just wipe right out.

The oven deal is more for dutch ovens and frying pans. If you ever start cooking with cast iron, once you get them seasoned good, never use soap to clean them! Just wipe out the big stuff, rinse clean with hot water...then I always sit them on a stove burner and heat them up...evaporate the water and wipe them down with oil again. well seasoned cast iron was the first non-stick frying pans...and still the best!


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## Julie (Sep 7, 2016)

Mismost said:


> That is exactly how we do it. Use it, clean it again, and re-oil it just keep the rust off. We have never put it in the oven.
> 
> If the inside is pretty rusty, fill it with water and let it sit a couple of days, the water is a good solvent and the rust will just wipe right out.
> 
> The oven deal is more for dutch ovens and frying pans. If you ever start cooking with cast iron, once you get them seasoned good, never use soap to clean them! Just wipe out the big stuff, rinse clean with hot water...then I always sit them on a stove burner and heat them up...evaporate the water and wipe them down with oil again. well seasoned cast iron was the first non-stick frying pans...and still the best!



Exactly, I just figured the press would be the same as a frying pan. I have the sausage press but it was in pretty good shape when I got it. AND I agree still the best, the only other pots and pans I own are stainless steel. No Teflon or copper for me!


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## kevinlfifer (Sep 8, 2016)

Send Pix of the thing. I have an old press as well. Never thought of using it on grapes.


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## 3274mike (Sep 8, 2016)

kevinlfifer said:


> Send Pix of the thing. I have an old press as well. Never thought of using it on grapes.



I will post a picture soon and as far as how it will work it's gt to be better than doing it by hand


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## adiochiro3 (Sep 9, 2016)

If it has a black finish on it it's called Japanning and it is not like a cast-iron skillet finish. Do not strip it off until you're willing to redo the entire thing. Soapy water; use; rinse; repeat.


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## Julie (Sep 9, 2016)

3274mike said:


> I will post a picture soon and as far as how it will work it's gt to be better than doing it by hand



It is smaller than a regular press so it wil take you longer BUT it is so awesome compared to pressing by hand. 

We used ours for stuffing sausage pressing grapes and pressing apples. My husband has gotten a better sausage press and I have gotten a bigger press so it is more ornamental but I still use it to press apples.


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## wyogal (Sep 9, 2016)

What a great find! Remember though that when sausage is run through it there is a lot of fat/oil naturally deposited onto the parts, and just wiping it clean would be appropriate. Since you are going to run grapes, the only oil is from the seeds. My instinct is that after you soak off the rust as Mismost suggests, I would wipe it down with a seed-based oil (I have seen grape-seed oil on the market, but I would think you could also use canola, which is rape seed, or a nut oil) and let it soak in for a day or so, rinse with water, repeat as much as you have time for. Then after your press, I would rinse & oil again right away. You don't want any of those surfaces sitting without oil on them for any length of time.


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## 3274mike (Sep 11, 2016)

Here it is not as bad as I originally thought


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## kevinlfifer (Sep 12, 2016)

Here's mine. I don't have the sieve. I'll have to figure this out. I think I can squeeze faster with the press than by hand from a paint strainer bag.


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## Mismost (Sep 12, 2016)

kevinlfifer said:


> Here's mine. I don't have the sieve. I'll have to figure this out. I think I can squeeze faster with the press than by hand from a paint strainer bag.



No sieve bucket, but you do have the false bottom! Put your grapes in a bag, bag in the press on top of the false bottom, and press on...it'll work just fine.


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## Mismost (Sep 12, 2016)

3274mike said:


> Here it is not as bad as I originally thought



Needs a lot of elbow grease! I would think about Painting the outsides of it...gloss black was a typical color with yellow or red lettering...PITA, but it does look really good. Our has this real nice "patina"...that's antique talk for enough original paint left that if you paint you degrade the value. It's a yearly discussion around our house...I say paint, she says no...she wins. Yours on the other hand, is perfect for painting once you get it cleaned up....


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## Julie (Sep 12, 2016)

You know you really need to season it. You need to get the rust off and then season it.


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