Thread: Question about burnishing Arkansas black

Originally Posted by Steel

Yes.

Now I'm really confused! Which is it?

I agree !

Originally Posted by Utopian

I agree !

You're no help lol! [emoji23]

I always used to ask my Mother that when I was cooking. Done or keep going? She would reply-yes. In other words it is up to you to learn through experience when to say it's done. Based on your pictures it looks good to me but if it is not performing well and producing good edges then it will need more. Take a bite and see.

...And when you are done burnishing you will find you've expended much energy with minimal distinction from opposite side. But, it will be burnished.

Originally Posted by Steel

I always used to ask my Mother that when I was cooking. Done or keep going? She would reply-yes. In other words it is up to you to learn through experience when to say it's done. Based on your pictures it looks good to me but if it is not performing well and producing good edges then it will need more. Take a bite and see.

Regarding the actual burnishing issue. I actually do agree that it looks great as is but you need to go by performance, not appearance.

Regarding cooking, there is a cookbook entitled "Cook Until Done!" It arose from a guy's interactions with cooks who, deliberately or not, were quite vague about their recipe explanations.

Regarding your mother's leaving it to you to figure it out, for your own good, it reminds me of Paul, my former father in law. When his son was a teenager doing his homework, he often would ask his Paul how to spell some word. Paul always would answer in the same way...

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y!"

Originally Posted by Utopian

Regarding the actual burnishing issue. I actually do agree that it looks great as is but you need to go by performance, not appearance.

Regarding cooking, there is a cookbook entitled "Cook Until Done!" It arose from a guy's interactions with cooks who, deliberately or not, were quite vague about their recipe explanations.

Regarding your mother's leaving it to you to figure it out, for your own good, it reminds me of Paul, my former father in law. When his son was a teenager doing his homework, he often would ask his Paul how to spell some word. Paul always would answer in the same way...

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y!"

Ok. Let's be clear about one thing here Ron. To this day I still can't cook

OTOH it did help me become more independent. So to wrap it up I need no help and am a horrible cook all by myself.

Paul's son can spell one word really good. Dicksionary.

Originally Posted by Utopian

Regarding the actual burnishing issue. I actually do agree that it looks great as is but you need to go by performance, not appearance.

Regarding cooking, there is a cookbook entitled "Cook Until Done!" It arose from a guy's interactions with cooks who, deliberately or not, were quite vague about their recipe explanations.

Regarding your mother's leaving it to you to figure it out, for your own good, it reminds me of Paul, my former father in law. When his son was a teenager doing his homework, he often would ask his Paul how to spell some word. Paul always would answer in the same way...

"D-I-C-T-I-O-N-A-R-Y!"

Gonna wager like just about everything we do, the recipe thing isn't unintentional. They just don't know. Half the time when I'm cooking I add things until I have the flavor I'm looking for. Nothing's weighed or measured unless I'm baking. And even then half the ingredients aren't measured, I tweak it until the batter tastes like I want it to then bake until golden brown. I honestly couldn't even give you a cooking time for half the dishes I prepare.

As for the rock, try it out and see. I noticed a significant difference between my burnished side and the un-burnished side of my Arkansas stone. Un-burnished side has more draw, and actually feels kind of gritty. But it works well for pre-polishing and the like. I'd say the more I've polished and burnished my stones, the better they've gotten. But again that could just be me trying to convince myself all the work I put into getting them squared away. I did shave off an edge honed on the factory side before finishing it on the burnished side, and it was a passable edge.

Originally Posted by Marshal

Gonna wager like just about everything we do, the recipe thing isn't unintentional. They just don't know. Half the time when I'm cooking I add things until I have the flavor I'm looking for. Nothing's weighed or measured unless I'm baking. And even then half the ingredients aren't measured, I tweak it until the batter tastes like I want it to then bake until golden brown. I honestly couldn't even give you a cooking time for half the dishes I prepare.

As for the rock, try it out and see. I noticed a significant difference between my burnished side and the un-burnished side of my Arkansas stone. Un-burnished side has more draw, and actually feels kind of gritty. But it works well for pre-polishing and the like. I'd say the more I've polished and burnished my stones, the better they've gotten. But again that could just be me trying to convince myself all the work I put into getting them squared away. I did shave off an edge honed on the factory side before finishing it on the burnished side, and it was a passable edge.

That has been my experience also. The better the burnish the better the results but even straight from the factory was not bad.