Oct 24 2013
I finally seasoned the skillet the sixth time and I am happy with it. I have some bacon to fry in it tomorrow and will start using it after a few batches of bacon. The 8 inch is a nice size for cooking for two. I mentioned the hollow ware being a lot lighter than the modern cast iron skillets. I weighed my new lodge 8 and it was 5.25 lbs. The Wapak 8 hollow ware weighs 3.75 lbs.
Thanks to Slaga for the good info on rust removal. If I ever do another cast iron piece I will try the electrolysis. With the Wapak skillet I didn’t try to remove all the rust but did some sanding on the inside after the first seasoning. I think some of the rust occurs during using the self-cleaning oven, not sure on that.
I did end up with a nice black color on the two skillets I have done. The few times I have used the Lodge 12 inch it has been non-stick and cleans up nice. When thinking about it I wonder if it is necessary to remove the rust. Rusting was used for years on gun barrels and parts for a long lasting finish. Browning is basically rusting the outer surface of metal until you get the desired color and then stopping the rust.
In the 80’s I was into shooting and building black powder rifles. I built three rifles from kits, a 32 cal., a 45 cal., and a 50 cal. I bought an extra nice tiger striped maple stock to build an authentic Hawken style 45 cal. Rifle. I had all the right parts and barrel bought but got away from shooting and they all lay in my workshop until I retired in 2003. I finished the rifle then and following are a couple pics of the browning.
Maybe someone can tell us if it is better to remove all the rust from cook ware before seasoning or not.
I am hoping Pappy will post some photos of the skillet he is working on and the processes. It will take a little time using my Wapak 8 inch to see how good I actually did seasoning it. The Lodge 12 inch I retired to the garage, that thing is about too heavy for me. It weighs 13.5 lbs. with the lid!
Inside after six seasonings
Bottom
Hawken, lockplate and hammer
Barrel, nose piece, and ramrod inlet tube
Smokin Don