did I murder my muffin tin cups? ;__; can i still use them?

[panur_links]

so, don't ask me what happened because i have no idea. Maybe it's because I had run out of those muffin paper cup thingies (name escapes me now) and made a citric muffin last year, but this year, when I recently made some banana ones (this time with the greased paper cup thingies in place), after i washed it it just... disintegrated into rust

Comments

[shivakat]

I probably wouldn't eat anything out of them unlined, but if it's lined it should be OK.

You can battle the rust the same way folks who use cast-iron do; oil it. Clean off the rust, dry it super well (short stint into a hot oven works), and then wipe lightly down with an oiled paper towel. Make sure you get off as much oil as possible -- just leave the lightest film to help protect it from the air.

[carmy_w]

Like shivakatsaid, plus one step further. Go ahead and actually heat it up and season it like you would cast iron. Obviously it won't take as long to get the oil to caramelize, since it's much thinner, so use less time, but other than that, seasoning will seal it up better than anything else.

[rymrytr]

Maybe the original finish on the base-metal has worn off. Pans made in some "foreign countries", are made from a collection of "junk" metal and then coated.

If you can afford it, you might want to get a new pan. At the least, go to a Thrift Store and look for one. Just to be safe, I wouldn't trust any pan that rusts at this point.

[the_punk_hippie]

I agree - that, & yard sales are where I've gotten everything in my kitchen! (I really lucked out & found a silicon muffin tray for $2. I ended up selling my old muffin trays for $1 at a yard sale last weekend)

[cougars_catnip]

Buy a new muffin pan. They aren't that expensive.