I use glass bead a lot at work but yeah on cast iron I wouldn't although it probably is better than using our "go to" media which is aluminum oxide. Glass bead "technically" doesn't profile the metal but does leave a finish, as you know! Took me some years to understand it's not an etched profile though. Anyway, you'd be shocked how many people come into our shop wanting me to give their Lodge pans a regular aluminum oxide blast.
Chicken lombardy in the unmarked #10 for dinner. Nice to saute mushrooms, pan cook the chicken and into the oven to finish cooking the cheese topping.
I cleaned up a Griswold #9 I found on eBay. Before: Then I put it in a trash bag with some lye and a little water for a week. Opening the bag: And now we have a nice pan again! I will season this soon but I put some oil on it in the mean time so it doesn't start to rust.
You can get lye on Amazon or other big web retailers. Wal-Mart would have it online I am sure. Red devil is a common one but there are many. I use it for drains and have a 50lb bucket... I love it. It also allows me to create soap out of my enemies. I wouldn't suggest generic drain cleaner as there might be other chemicals in there but some are pure lye and that is what I use. Easy off is an oven spray that has lye and works well. I have used it several times. You can neutralize the lye with vinegar before heating and sealing with some oil (or just skip to seasoning). I don't prefer the spray because it can get all over your hands and in the air, that is why I use the powder form.
Walmart has 100% lye in the paint section. Usually between the paint counter and misc plumbing parts and hardware. It's in smaller 1 lb white plastic bottles around here.
Anyone know the old Marlboro cookbook 50 from the trail? Every other recipe starts with "in a heavy cast iron skillet". That is my all-time favorite recipe book.
Great thread, trying to catch up on it. We have a cast iron frying pan, my wife and I love it and cook much on it. Recently what we now learned is the seasoning chipped. At first we thought it was rusted and breaking apart. Think we need to re-season it.
I got a call from a buddy just a few minutes ago, he told me where to drive and there was cast iron on the curb and some other stuff in boxes out for junk! 5 minutes I was digging in boxes and hit (Pay-dirt) I believe on 1 pan. Got some other small goodies but here's some pics. 2 Wagners are "NOT" old, (BUT the 1 ERIE is 1890 early Griswold)!!! The ERIE 701G is going in the electrolysis tank in 10 minutes!!! That pan is getting about $200.00 now. Found an empty McCullough chain saw case. I might squeeze a Stihl in there, or maybe not...
