Ed Huntress writes:

Turning this around, I've also discovered that the quickest way to
remove burned-on crud in the bottom of a pan is methylene-chloride
based paint stripper - the cured food oil is in fact varnish.

Huh. I'll have to try that. I use a 3/4" wood chisel and a 4"
angle-head grinder. d8-)

For the burned-on crud on the *outside* of my cast iron ware, I apply
a coarse [1] 3M Clean'n'Strip(tm) wheel or the Walther equialent every
couple of years. These flexible mesh wheels cut well enough to remove
*any* organic crud (or even mill scale from new stock) without gouging
the base metal. I have a circa 1925 B&D end grinder that's just right
for the application.


[1] 3M makes them in 3 grades. But it's so much bother to get stuff
from the 3M industrial catalogue that I usually go for Walther
from a local dealer.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada