Tag Archives: Cast Iron

End of Week 2 Update.

04 Monday Nov 2019

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This has been a very busy week.  Last Thursday was the last day of a very busy month.  I will not schedule as much as I did last month.  I never thought November would ever get here.  If you saw my last blog, you read of my accident with the band trailer.  I never heard anything today so I guess everything went alright with the insurance company.

The above picture is of an iron pour.  Sparks in the Dark, as they called it.  About 100 boy and girl scouts paid $20 for a scratch block so that they could “scratch” in the mold design so that when they poured hot iron into the mold, they would receive their artwork in solid cast iron.  This was Saturday night, which was very cold to me.

I lost two pounds this past week.  I thought about joining a gym with a personal trainer, one that would tell me what I’m doing wrong and maybe would develop a plan for me to follow.  Then I got to thinking, why would I do that.  Why would I pay for something that I knew in a few weeks or even a month or so, I would change my mind and not go.  I would be just wasting my money.  There is a gym, however, that a church sponsors that I have already joined a couple of weeks ago.  It’s only $5 a month and there’s no contract.  You can go one time a week or five times a week and it’s still the same price.  There’s no physical trainer though.  They do have some cycles, treadmills, a weight room, and ellipticals.

It’s supposed to be pretty and warm the first part of this week.  I think I’ll go to this gym or go to the track and walk.  It’s going to start turning colder by the end of the week so if I’m going to enjoy the outdoors I’d better do it now.

365 Day Photo Challenge 331/365 “Happy Thanksgiving”

26 Thursday Nov 2015

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Thanksgiving

I’m stuffed to say the least.  I’m thankful that my family is here with me today.  With the kids getting older I’m not sure how much time we have with them.  I know that they will always try to come home for the holidays.

I’m also thankful that I’m still here to be able to spend time with my family.  With the diagnosis of CML my life was changed forever.  I’m thankful for the men and women who discovered the drug and for all those patients who did the case study that allowed the passage of this drug to take place.

We spent time with my wife’s family today.  Tomorrow I’ll be able to spend time with my mom and dad.  I’ll get up early tomorrow and cook breakfast for my family then I’ll start working on a Dutch Oven dish to take to my parents.  This will be the first time that I’ve cooked for the parents in my Dutch Ovens so I’m excited about this.

Speaking of Dutch Ovens, I have a new blog that I would like for you to check out.  It’s going to be full of different recipes that I have gathered over the past several years.  If you like cast iron cooking this will be for you.  If not, then don’t feel obligated to follow.  I posted my first post just moments ago.  https://thecastironblackpot.wordpress.com/

Again, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

“Life Goes On!”

 

365 Day Photo Challenge 279/365 “It’s Scientific”

05 Monday Oct 2015

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I was never good in science way back when I was in high school.  To me either I didn’t find it interesting or the teacher didn’t make it interesting to me.  However, I find this process interesting and it seems to work.  Don’t ask me to give you specifics on how this works all I know that it does.

While there are many forms of removing the seasonings of a cast iron pot or skillet this method has always worked for me.  I’ve heard that you can use Lye but you can’t leave it in the mixture for long periods of time.  There is a process that you can use Easy Off but the fumes are very harsh and dangerous.  With the E-tank method you can put your piece in the mixture and leave it in there with no consequences, or at least I haven’t found any yet.

By using a manual battery charger, you hook up the negative post to the piece you want to strip and the positive to your sacrificial anode.  As you can see in the picture I have the negative going to a piece of iron that stretches across the plastic drum in which I hang my pieces from a wire.  It works really well.  Although it’s not good for your sacrificial piece of metal.

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When it gets to this point I usually just grind it down to bare metal and reinsert the iron into the solution.  You will have to replace this piece after a while though.

365 Day Photo Challenge 278/365 “CI Kind of Day”

04 Sunday Oct 2015

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MY girls got in really late last night, actually it was this morning when they finally rolled in from their band competition.  We all slept in except for one of my four legged kids.  Clyde never allows my wife to sleep in.  He’s always trying to get her up around 6am or so.  Any way, most of us slept in.  I had a meeting with a scout and being that I’m the chairman of the Eagle Board I had to be there.

After the meeting I came home and got the grill ready to start putting another coat of seasoning on my recently cleaned cast iron. It usually takes about three to four hours to put one coat of seasoning on a piece of cast iron and that doesn’t count the cool down process.  The whole process can take several days to several weeks depending on how much rust and/or grease is built on the piece.  I’ve left pieces in my Etank for several days at a time just because I didn’t have time to work on the cast iron.  When it comes out of the tank it’s got to go through at least one seasoning process otherwise it will start rusting on you.  Sometimes it’s a long process but when you get the last coat on that piece of CI, it’s totally worth it.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 271/365 “In My Element”

27 Sunday Sep 2015

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I spent nearly all day in the kitchen starting off with breakfast.  Bacon, eggs, and sausage all cooked in my 10in Lodge skillet.

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After breakfast and after I cleaned up the kitchen I began the finishing prep work for the pizza for supper.

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There were no left overs.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 270/365 “Busy Day”

26 Saturday Sep 2015

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I had a fairly busy day today.  It started when I took my daughter to the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame for her music lessons then home for lunch.  After lunch I prepared the dough for the pizza that I’m planning on cooking tomorrow night.  I did get a chance to watch a little bit of the Alabama game but it wasn’t long before I had to leave and go watch my daughter’s perform with their high school band at a band jamboree.

Tomorrow is going to be just as busy.  The girls are wanting me to cook breakfast in the morning then I’ve got some cast iron that I’ve got to start on the re seasoning process.  I’ve got yard work that I’d like to do plus I wouldn’t mind going on a bicycle ride if I have time.

Once I start on the pizza I’ll try and remember to take pictures so that I can share the cooking process.  Right now the dough is sitting in a bowl with tin foil over it so it can rise.  According to the instructions, once I get it in the skillet I’m supposed to let it rise again for another hour before I put it in the oven.  I’m really hoping this works out.

“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 269/365 “It’s Pizza Time”

25 Friday Sep 2015

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I have many hobbies and as I’ve stated in earlier posts I love to cook and I love to cook in my cast iron.  If you love cast iron cooking as much as I do then you need to follow The Black Pot on Facebook.  It’s just a group page where I am starting to share my recipes as well as some tips on how to take care of your cast iron.  I have even put some information regarding restoring your cast iron if the need arises.

I’ve been seeing some homemade pizza recipes on different websites and it’s really sparked my interest being that I’ve never made homemade pizza before.  Tonight, on my way home from work, I stopped at the store and picked up everything I need to make this dish.  According to the directions, I have to make the dough a day ahead of time.  So, I’ll be making the dough tomorrow afternoon and set it aside to used Sunday evening.  I can’t wait.

“Life Goes On”

365 Day Photo Challenge 268/365 “Restoration Projects”

24 Thursday Sep 2015

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I got into restoring cast iron back last summer.  This was my first project.  It’s a Lodge Sportsman Grill.  I paid a lot of money for it and I accidently left it outside for several years.  I had misplaced it and couldn’t remember where I put it.  I originally thought that I had either left it at the last location I used it or someone stole it from me.  I never dreamed that I left it outside but alas I did.  When I found it I was so mad and disappointed in myself.  I thought it was ruined.

I started seeing a lot of posts on some of the forums that I follow about how to restore cast iron by using a process called Electrolysis.  At first I thought this was so far above my head that I wouldn’t be able to even consider it.  I was wrong.  I first started off with a five gallon bucket, a battery charger and a couple pieces of scrap iron.  I put the smaller pieces into the tank and after a couple of days, the process had stripped all the rust off of it and left nothing but raw metal.  I was impressed.  After I got all the pieces stripped I then began the process of re seasoning.  Which is another story altogether.

If there’s one thing I learned during the whole process is this.  Don’t re season your cast iron in your house.  It will leave a nasty odor and it will linger all day long.  If you have an outdoor grill this is where you should re season your cast iron.  Your marriage may last a little longer if you do everything outside.

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“Life Goes On!”

365 Day Photo Challenge 264/365 “Cast Iron”

20 Sunday Sep 2015

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Last week I put this 14in Lodge cast iron skillet in my electrolysis tank and today I pulled it out, scrubbed it with soap and water, dried it with a towel, coated it with Crisco and put in my gas grill for several hours to start the re seasoning process.  It took most of the afternoon but she’s finally done.

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After the skillet cooled down I couldn’t wait to try it out.  It was after 8pm but still I cooked up a pound of bacon.  This skillet is so big that I had to use two eyes on my electric stove.  Bacon is gone now, all eaten up.

365 Day Photo Challenge 260/365 “Two Hour Appointment Lasting Seven Hours”

16 Wednesday Sep 2015

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I had a doctors appointment today that supposed to have lasted only about two hours.  In fact, that’s what I told my boss.  When I got to the doctor’s office they decided to run more tests than originally planned.  I had to leave the doctor’s office and head to the hospital where I spent five hours waiting, taking more tests and waiting some more.  I really hate having to burn a day at the doctor’s office.

The above picture is part of a Sportsman Chicken Fryer.  The top, pictured here, is a griddle on one side and a grill on the inside.  I placed this piece in my electrolysis tank earlier this evening. I will leave it in the tank for a couple of days to remove all the rust.  Of course, as soon as I take it out I will have to begin the re seasoning process or else it will immediately start rusting again.  I’ll probably check on it Friday evening but I won’t have time to start the re seasoning process until either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning.

“Life Goes On!”