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I was given two 6-7" castiron frypans that had been used to melt lead. How ca I "get the lead out" and make them safe to fry an egg in again?

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/melting-boiling-temperatures-d_392.html

Lead will evaporate ! You will have to ask one of the chemist on board if the temps above can be reached without destroying the pans.

My shortsleve method would be to chuck both in a great wood fire and bury them in the hot coals. Fish them out the next day and reseason their naked little carcusses.

I feel wibby about eating omlets out of boiled freezer bags. I'd really feel queezy about eating eggs out of pans that had lead in them. Maybe use them for display and get some others that don't have such a colorful history?

I would worry more about the eggs !

I would not use a pan that had been used to melt lead.

The only way I would possibly even think about it would be to take off a layer of iron using a sander. Knowing what heavy metal poisoning can do I would not chance it. Break them up and dispose of them would be my vote.

I wouldn't take a chance on them

I'd think that most people would avoid them. If they have melted lead in them...chances are, it may have had other stuff as well, someone set a greasy car part etc...iron is porous. A shop pan like that probably isn't the best bet for cooking. No money is spent...so no loss really. You can pick them up pretty easily at thrift stores or garage sales...of course...no one really knows what's been "cooked" in them either. If it's got a good cooking crust, I figure it's OK. Doug

Good one on the eggs Bob!

Don't even risk your health. You can get cast iorn pans realy cheap. Check the link, or check out a local kitchen store.
http://www.sportsauthority.com/search/i ... atId=&pg=5

SDdoug,
It's a good thing you were told beforehand about the lead.
I'd bust 'em up and dispose of 'em.
There's plenty of cheap cast iron out there.

Yup, get rid of them. I bought a box with 3 nice cast iron pans in it at an auction for $7. (Yeah, it was a slooooow auction day)

A few bucks vs a health issue? Fergit it... Once you start looking for CI it will be everywhere....

Oh, I have a "sufficient" amount of cast iron, my wife tells me. I just don't throw anything away that may be still useful.

Cast iron, being very porous, would release any lead bound leaching very easily. Dump it in the coals (upside down) and dig it out of the embers the next day. No matter how much lead was involved, it should leach out onto the coals/embers and be a useful tool once again.

For-cryin'-out-loud, commercial salmon has extreme amounts of lead and/or mercury in it and people still eat that!

If they were mine I would turn them upside down in the coals until they were glowing red hot. Let em cool, coat them with lard to re-treat them and forget that they ever had lead in them. I do not think that you can make lead float in hot air at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, it will drip right out on the ground somewhere around 620 f.

If that skillet is going to hurt you, it is more likely to be with cholesterol than with lead.

YEAH! What Larwyn said.