I didn’t blast all my old Griswald stuff, just the dirty stuff. I go by the appearance and the feel of the inner surface. In any case, blasting improves the pan’s appearance and if you season correctly it cooks better.

They took on a frosty appearance and took out most swirl marks. Smooth as a baby butt.

I hope it turns out for you. I’m glad I’m not there. For some reason canola and I disagree on everything. I don’t like the smell or taste of it. Hot canola fumes make me gag and head for fresh air.

Nice skillet!

Out of all that stuff blasted, only one piece is mine, this dutch oven -





The sharp eyed among us will spot the Yeti sticker in the pot. YES, this is from the elusive antique Yeti cast iron collection. This one had dimples in the lid to self baste. I usually see pimples on self basting lids. Interesting.

It will be seasoned today after I get my coffee and Irish cream. I’ll let y’all guess what I’ll be seasoning with...

I swear that kid is Birmingham. I wonder if other started doing their dimples that way.

You ever season with lard?

That’s what I used the only time I did it

Ok cool, mine looks like regular cast iron. Nothing out the ordinary I guess

So I guess lead was prob never melted in it. Thanks

That was an interesting batch of cast iron. The dimpled DO is a Birmingham piece says BF research. Never heard of them. There is also a Monkey Wards piece too. Never seen one before.

Interesting stuff and lots to learn.

I think the little awards one was my favorite.

Only always. I’m letting the kids experiment with different oils. So far we have -

Flaxseed oil
Coconut oil
Avacado oil
Bacon grease
Peanut oil
Lard
30 weight
Coon grease

Hopefully, it’ll all work fine. Hopefully.

I expect a mess or two.

Here are the four skillets that I decided to improve the cooking surface on..

The first one started to rust before I could get oil on it... the others appears to have some swirl marks in the photos but, that’s just the way the oil dried... I’ll post more pics as I progress with this

Knock that rust off with a little sandpaper.

Surface texture on those looks really nice!

I could stand there and sandblast all day long. I love that stuff.

Here we go -

This is the dutch oven after soapy wash and rinse, then oven dried at 250°. It’s still hot.



Look at the pic below. Iwant to call your attention to the rings on the inside of the pot. It’s the first time I’ve even seen that. I tried to call it poor workmanship, this pot is from Korea, but on closer inspection, I decided they were too uniform and evenly spaced and they encircle the entire interior of the pot. I was hatching a idea. I called my wife over to look at it. First time for her too. I asked her why she thought it was there. She scowled and said it could only be for heat distribution. I agreed immediately. Those little rings give the sides much more surface area and better, more even heat up the sides. An advanced design or a happy little mistake? I dunno but I ain’t grinding them off.



I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of lard and let it melt.



Then I used crumpled newspaper to sop up melted lard and wipe it down. The inside of the pot and the outside of the lid are wiped. The remaining melted lard will do the flip sides.



The flip sides are done and it’s in a 400° oven. If this works out, it’s pass 1 of 3 towards a well seasoned pot.



Ok, not bad. This is after the first pass -

It’s gotta cool before pass 2/3. It came out of the oven above the flashpoint of paper.



You can see here how quickly lard works. You can do it in her over too as it does not smoke if you wipeout the excess before heating. You will smell a hot skillet but it’s not intrusive.

Guessing newspaper doesn't leave little paper particles like a paper towel?

If it’s rough, it could but I don’t see that hurting anything. Won’t it just burn off?

TexasLefty and I were wondering so I looked this up.

It’s just cheaper. If you get torn paper towels, try dobbing it instead of wiping.

Oh no Cast, I gotta wipe. 3+ times!

Paper flash point is Fahrenheit 451°, like the movie. So if you get it over 450°, it’s gone.

So if I put some newspaper in a 400 degree oven, it wouldn’t catch fire?

We all appreciate it!

Sounds like the start of a very good thread. Take lots of pics.

BTW, your venison pastrami is great! Better come get it quick.

Daaaaang it!!!! I’ll be there tomorrow or Tuesday!