Thread: Cast iron?

The heaters I know of are made of glass and titanium. I would go with the glass ones. Walmart has them for 30$-50$. Depends on wattage as to how much it can heat up. Most have a built in thermometer. Hope this helps.

“My very first Enameled Cast Iron I have ever owned”

Yea, great for soups, stews, currys and roasts. Easy clean up. We bought a deep oval, years ago just for roasts, but use it for everything. Ours is lime green!

If the enamel stains, some Barkeepers Friend gets it off. It will develop a “Patina” with time.

We do it all in the one pot, browning, mirepoix and cooking.

Originally Posted by cudarunner

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.

Great timing on this question!!!
Just so happened this weekend I went out to check on some iron in the tank and the water felt hotter than usual? So I pulled up the heater up by the cord and MUCH TO MY SURPRISE... it was completely gone! The only thing left was the rubber suction cup and the thick top part of the heater with 2 wires exposed in the water heating it up!!! HOLY CRAP! glad I didn't just reach in to grab some iron like I usually do... Anyway is it possible that I banged it and it cracked? Yes, but the entire thing was gone! So I started reading a little more about lye and apparently it can dissolve glass! WHO KNEW! SO I have been researching a little more about heating the tank. They have external heater that you can wrap the tank with. And I have been reading about different heater to put in the tank. I think I am going to try a heater that you do not submerge completely as was my last one and not glass. I will follow up more on this as I find out more. ***Just be-careful!

Last weekend I went to help an old friend's daughter move into a different rental, however the owners hadn't finished with some upgrades so it was put off by a day so she asked if I wanted to check out some antique stores in Lewiston (30 miles away) and I said sure.

The first place was quite pricey and they didn't have any razor stuff or cast iron but the next place was pretty nice with a huge selection. However no razor stuff but quite a bit of cast iron, but the pieces were scattered all over and it was a pretty big place. Come to find out all of the pieces are there on consignment.

I found some nice Griswold and Wagner but whoever owns them is really proud of them. I will give them credit as the pieces were very nice and were even nicely seasoned. Then under a bottom shelf I spotted some other cast iron. Most of them were Lodge but there was one Wagner. The inside was a bit rusty and someone had started to use some kind of a grinder/sander but thought better of it.

It was priced at $15 so I popped for it.







After two days in a lye bath I rinsed it off and washed it well then since the sander had already been used I didn't feel bad taking some 120 wet-n-dry to the inside then back into the bath for a couple more days.

After a through washing and drying I used the Buzzy Waxx and here it is after three coats and three cycles in the oven.



I went ahead and did two more applications of the Buzzy but failed to take pics But here it is ready for it's first tour of duty. I made chicken noodle soup for supper and I wanted to roast the bones and skin from the thighs for the stock. I stirred them as they roasted and no sticking and I REALLY ROASTED the hell out of them.



I think it's a keeper

That's a neat little skillet Roy. Just right for us old bachelors. Today my #10 did up a nice mess of extra crispy hash browns and my favorite #8 fried up two smoked beef steaks. Since I'm smoking bacon today I decided to toss the two steaks in the smoker for about a half hour to lightly kiss them with apple and hickory. Sorry no pics the garage is so full of smoke I can't see a damn thing.

Awesome Roy !!!!

Just got some lye to get a pan into the bath. My BuzzyWaxx showed up the other day. Looking forward to trying this. Glad to see your opinion of it is so good Brother

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Just got some lye to get a pan into the bath. My BuzzyWaxx showed up the other day. Looking forward to trying this. Glad to see your opinion of it is so good Brother

I didn't take any pics but I also had a Lodge that's the same size in with the Wagner that I've had for years. I think I paid $10 at a yard sale, anyway it was really built up on the walls inside and out and in fact bits would break off while stirring and get mixed in with whatever I was cooking so that's why I wanted to start over.

When I pulled it out of the lye solution after two days, a section from around the outside came off in one long piece. I tried to save it to take a pic but it fell back into the solution and I didn't want to mess with it.

So the solution does work pretty well.

I'm also pleased with the Buzzy Waxx. I would have the piece at about 150 degs, then rub the puck around a bit, then use a small piece of t-shirt to spread it then take a large piece of t-shirt and wipe it well.

Then into the 150 deg oven and turn the temp up to 450 degs and once there I'd set a timer for 15 minutes and then when the timer went off I'd crack the door just a bit and let things cool down and start over again.

Awesome Roy

Thanks Brother

Originally Posted by Dieseld

Awesome Roy

Thanks Brother

Due to the container restraint that I had my solution is a bit stronger than recommended. I used 1/2 Lb of lye to 2 gals of water. Just FYI.

Since I consider this experiment a success I'll pop for a flat container that's big enough to hold my largest cast iron pan. I'm not 'Cheap' but I am 'Frugal' and I couldn't see buying the container if this didn't work to my satisfaction.