Thread: Cast iron?

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Before/During and After Soda Blasting and then Before, During and After Seasoning PICTURES would be in order

I would be sure to thoroughly wash, rinse and dry whatever cast iron you work on before seasoning.

Thoroughly washing & drying, for sure!

Originally Posted by Learner

Thank you for the useful information DD. looking forward to redoing some of my Cast Iron that doesn't perform as it should.
I ordered 3 pucks of Buzzy Wax. Now I will be shopping for some lye.

If you are going to venture into the lye I can only share with you the mistakes I have already made or others have made that I listened to.
1) wear gloves! it will eat your skin
2) it is poison! mark container and keep away from animals/children
3) fill the container you are going to use with water first then add lye. doing it the other way around causes the lye to spread into the air and you can breathe it in, not good.
4) if your in an area with cold/freezing temps lye slows down in the cold. add a $10 fish tank heater to your lye bath and your tank with be fine all winter.
5) you can reuse the lye bath for many many many months
6) disposal of the lye, do not dump down your drain. yes I know it is used as drain cleaner but that amount is not good for the plumbing or septic systems. Dilute with a lot of water and pour out in a safe area.
7) washing your cast in soap and water after lye bath will neutralize the lye
8) dry and season immediately after cleaning. raw iron will begin to oxidize almost immediately. if not ready to season leave iron in the bath until you are ready to season. it will not hurt it. I've left pieces in the tank for well over a month its fine.
9) lye will not remove rust. elbow grease and steel wool will tho. if rust is real bad, electrolysis (e-tank) is the next step.
10) hope this is helpful to you and others. its a whole nother sickness! just like R.A.D.!!!! hahaha

I went looking for lye today but didn't find any. I even tried the 3 Ranch and Home type stores so off to Amazon I went. It should be here by next Wednesday. I figure that two lbs will last me the rest of my life.

I'm wondering about storing it I have access to food grade buckets out of the local chain store for the premixed liquid. Probably either the original container or a smaller plastic one for the other Lb.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I went looking for lye today but didn't find any. I even tried the 3 Ranch and Home type stores so off to Amazon I went. It should be here by next Wednesday. I figure that two lbs will last me the rest of my life.

I'm wondering about storing it I have access to food grade buckets out of the local chain store for the premixed liquid. Probably either the original container or a smaller plastic one for the other Lb.

lye bath calls for 1lbs to 5 gallons of water.
You should be able to store it in original container? You got powder lye?

i had to get a bigger boat!

my 12 quart camp oven wont fit in my 5 gallon bath

so I got an 18 gallon bin and added 10 more gallons of water 2 more pounds of lye for a total of 15 gallons water 3lbs lye

i have the dutch oven, lid and this Wagner Ware skillet in there now

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I went looking for lye today but didn't find any. I even tried the 3 Ranch and Home type stores so off to Amazon I went. It should be here by next Wednesday. I figure that two lbs will last me the rest of my life.

I'm wondering about storing it I have access to food grade buckets out of the local chain store for the premixed liquid. Probably either the original container or a smaller plastic one for the other Lb.

Did you check Walmart in the Plumbing asile they have Drain Openers that are 100% pure lye

My very first Enameled Cast Iron I have ever owned

It was funny Shan says "I can't believe you are ok with a Red one when all the other CI is Black, won't it drive you nuts"
I says "No Babe it makes total sense to my brain, most everything I make in it will be Red anyway"


First dinner in it is a Lentil Soup with Smoked Hamhocks and Andouille Sausage
I used these New Orleans styles for the first time in this recipe, will be using them again

The new Lodge 5.5 Qt DO
Lodge 12" skillet to do the Mirapoix base


















Good Eats !!

Looks delish Glen. Those spicy New Orleans dishes just seem to fit the kind of weather we’ve been experiencing lately. ANd lots of crusty bread to sop up the juices. Yum.

Congrats on your first enamel dutch oven! they are fantastic! I use them for all my sauces, chili's, jambalaya, gumbos etc...

they are great for baking bread too... altho I usually use black iron for bread

(its not a competition chili so yes there is beans and corn in there)

Originally Posted by DupreesDiamond

If you are going to venture into the lye I can only share with you the mistakes I have already made or others have made that I listened to.

4) if your in an area with cold/freezing temps lye slows down in the cold. add a $10 fish tank heater to your lye bath and your tank with be fine all winter.

10) hope this is helpful to you and others. its a whole nother sickness! just like R.A.D.!!!! hahaha

Sorry to delete most of your post. The reason I did was to highlight my question.

My question is 'Does the fish tank heater go INTO the lye batch? If so what keeps the lye from eating the wires etc?

It's cold here and I'd been thinking about just using an old electric hot pad to put underneath my plastic container.

Thanks for posting the details of how you use the lye bath and for explaining how the fish tank heater works and why.