Just picked up a Lodge dutch oven at a sale. It had humidity rust and looks easy enough to clean/season. When I got it home I saw a couple slivers of lead in it and figured the guy used it for melting. Would it be safe to use after I clean and season it?

I wouldn't, as the lead is likely in the pores of the pan.

No way for me.

NOPE!

I am out also
once you go lead , you never go back to food they should get marked wit drill dimples in the handle or something but , not worth it to go food on questionable iron

and I am not freak about lead , cast plenty of bullets in the basement , but food and lead , is a pass

No way I’d go back to food after lead just wouldn’t know of any way to be sure I got it out of the pours. Of course I would never use a good piece of cast iron for lead either

Get a lead test kit and see how it tests. I'm guessing, that thing will be lead free after a good hot fire and cleaning. Y'all worry too much, none of us are getting out alive.

Lead can affect your nervous system.

CAST IRON IS NOT POROUS!!!!! Those little dinks/divots you see are PITS from the casting process. Fill the pot with water and see if it leaks out! I've had some CI pots that had lead in them and polished the iron heavily to remove the surface "Skin", not only cleaned out any lead residue, it made it better for use and a lot easier to clean.

I will say if it wasnt for the couple slivers of lead in there i would be none the wiser........I wonder if I held it upside down and hit it with a torch, maybe the little bit of lead impurities would burn/drip out? Im sure I ate lead based paint chips as a child......Trying to talk myself out of using it here....

I'm guessing, everyone freaking out here has ingested one or two pellets of #6 over the years. Now they are freaking about ingesting 1/1,000 of that amount. Lol

Ive never done it. But there are plenty of different test kits for lead to check if it's in or on something. They don't cost much. Might be worth $20 to see if you might be good to go..


Mac

"Never Forget Which Way Is Up!"

Yep , we all ate lead before lead was evil....lol

I still bite split shots shut and I've pulled a lot of 22 bullets with my teeth too. Used to fill the case with dripped candle wax and shoot cans in the garage.

I would make a wood fire outside and put the pot upside down over the fire, I

Lead builds up in your body and there is no way to get it out.

I would clean it real good (down to the metal) and test it for lead

Those slivers may have just fell in from something else

If it tests clean, re-season and carry on

No, they were stuck on. It didnt take much more than a flick from a knife tip to remove them. I looked closer and there is tiny beads that look like weld slag on the surface, which would be easy enough to clean off. Im still on the fence about it. Going to clean/sand/heat it real good and decide from there. Maybe I will have my dog be the taste tester of the first meal out of it LOL.

I guess the question is is it worth taking a chance of poisoning people and children for the 40 bucks or 50 bucks you paid for it

I get that, its just me by my lonesome. I pd 5.00 for it.