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[Canadian John]

 That's a goldmine of cast iron cookware.  Next you might consider building a rack to display that loveliness.

[Kristin Meredith]

It all looks beautiful JD!!!!

[Bar-B-Lew]

Congrats to you and those who helped you (and the person that gave it to you).  Great job!

[Brushpopper]

How hard was it to get the pucks out of the aluminum cupcake pan JD?  I have a tub of the Blackstone seasoning that I use on my flat top that I plan on using but I want to make some pucks just for grins too.  Might be good gifts for family members since we all have lots of cast iron.  I don't know if Bonnie will let me use her smooth sided cupcake pans.

[Canadian John]

  Bonnie should approuve IF you foil the cupcake pans..No matter what you use, the walls should be tapered and the pucks cool for easy removal. COLD is better(freezer/refrigerator). You'll fight puck removal

 otherwise. I would fill the cupcake pans ~ 1/2 to max 3/4 full as a little goes a long way.

 
 

[Brushpopper]

Will do John.  Thanks!  I'll post pics of everything when I'm done.

[jdmessner]

How hard was it to get the pucks out of the aluminum cupcake pan JD?  I have a tub of the Blackstone seasoning that I use on my flat top that I plan on using but I want to make some pucks just for grins too.  Might be good gifts for family members since we all have lots of cast iron.  I don't know if Bonnie will let me use her smooth sided cupcake pans.

I had some of the same questions you did. I ended up using an aluminum disposable muffin pan and it worked great. The pucks popped out easily.

[Brushpopper]

Good deal.  Thanks!

[jdmessner]

Round 2 is done! I think I will try a batch of pop-overs for a test run on the muffin pan. Maybe some pancakes on a few of the skillets. I was probably the most pleased with the bean pot.

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[Bar-B-Lew]

Pardon my ignorance with this question.  Why do those pans look silver/grey in color?  Most of the cast iron pans I have seen in my lifetime in my family or my wife's are black.

[jdmessner]

That is from the flaxseed oil. It ends up with an almost acrylic or Teflon look to it. I think the more the pans are used they will end up with more of a traditional black finished look.

[Canadian John]

 
  My  . Cast iron in its pure state has a silvery hue to it... The "black" comes from oil and minute food particles that have been transformed into carbon that we know as seasoning. It builds up over time

 - a very long time. This process can't be rushed. As the saying about cast iron goes, "the more you use it the better it gets" . New seasoning, no matter how well applied and cured, is delicate. The first few

 cooks are the most critical in developing, not destroying the seasoning. One  wrong cook,  improper cleaning or improper use of utentistas will damage the developing seasoning in its early stages..  Once the

 seasoning has developed (a thick black coating) then and only then can just about anything be cooked in it..

 New seasoning is brownish. In time with use, it slowly turns color going darker and eventually black as it develops and builds. The developing seasoning is not uniform in its transition. Certain areas tend to

 develop sooner than others.

 Proper care is paramount.  Clean after use w/o soaking for more than a few minutes then dry, heat, apply a THIN layer of cooking oil, or use a puck. Heat to barely smoking then wipe again to be sure of the

 thinnest  of coats, let cool + store in a dry place.





 

[Bar-B-Lew]

John, I get what you are saying.  How does the whole pan look black if you are only cooking in the interior of it?  Is the seasoning primarily from the heat being applied to the entire oiled pan?

[Canadian John]

 
 I'll try + answer. The seasoning is further developed after the initial seasonings by applying a thin layer of oil to all surfaces of the cookware as described above. The cooking process develops this into more

 seasoning. The food inside has an oil layer between it + the C I. IE: Oil, lard, butter etc is added to the skillet prior to frying an egg so the egg floats on it. The oil requirement to prevent food sticking reduces

as the more developed the seasoning becomes.

 IE:Cooking an egg. If everything goes to plan, the egg will slip out and the pan then the pan simply wiped clean + stored. No worry about germs residing as heat from the next cook will deal with it. Stuck on

food is an other matter.

 Heat/seasoning. There is initial seasoning that preps a bare pan, then on going. The thin layer of protective oil (all over) + the inner layer, in all cases is cured by heat.  These are meant to be ultra thin layers.
 
 Thick layers that don't develop, just like think paint, are common as people want to rush things. It' totally wrong. The outside of the thick layer seals the soft inside so it never has a chance to convert into

 seasoning  resulting in a soft coating.

 Heat in all cases has to match the oils smoke point.. Too high a heat that is over the smoke point of the oil will burn it resulting in the seasoning flaking off - a common problem.

 

 

 

[Brushpopper]

I had mine to where they were almost not leaving any residue on the paper towel when I'd dry them after washing and was not having issues with flash rust after rinsing with cold water.  I guess the humidity here was very low until Monday.  Both lids and cooking pots had flash rust after my final wash on Monday.  I borrowed my neighbors gasser and planned on seasoning them yesterday.  It didn't work out.  The two burners on the right are completely rusted out and the two on the left don't have heat deflectors anymore.  The entire bottom of the cooking chamber is rusted out too.  All I could get out of it was 265 degrees in the center of the grates after about 45 minutes on high, so I fired up my pellet grill and used it.  I had flash rust again after warming everything at 200 but went ahead and wiped them down and cranked it to 425 because I wanted to get at least one coat on before the weather gets ugly. 

It's been in the low 80s the last few days and by Monday it's not supposed to be above freezing for 24+ hours .  A lot of y'all are used to that but we're not.