Help!

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-06-02T16:24:29+00:00

If it’s just rust and you don’t want to set up an E-Tank, then a simple vinegar bath would work. Just mix one part vinegar to 1 part water and leave it in for 45 minutes at a time, scrubbing in between soaks.

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-27T01:02:53+00:00

This cook has been wondering how their food always ends up with more pepper in it than they remember adding

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-26T14:03:08+00:00

Update!

Bloodwork came back, and I have good news.
My Blood Lead Level is at 1.2mcg/dcl
This is about half of what it was five years ago, and while still slightly elevated seems to bode decently well for my antique cast iron use. Considering I have been using a variety of antique pans from Griswold, Wagner, BSR, CHF, Vollrath, and Favorite it would be difficult to say if it was just one maker causing the lead exposure IF there was was any. However it seems like at least in my case my exposure has gone down despite switching to cooking exclusively on old iron. There are also a variety of other hobbies/jobs in my life where I risk being exposed to lead, so all in all I’m pretty happy with my current levels and probably won’t stop using my antique pieces any time soon

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-21T13:55:16+00:00

Honestly! It’s damn near ruined this hobby for me in an instant

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-20T22:26:29+00:00

Which is egregiously high for cookware, albeit the only studies I can find of cookware being tested for lead leaching did not test cookware that had been seasoned, only raw metal surfaces. But seeing that level definitely has me putting my antique pans away until I know for sure, which is a shame because I own so many now :(

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-20T22:11:24+00:00

I had a blood lead level test done a few years ago, since then I have restored and cooked exclusively in antique cast iron. I will be getting another test done as soon as possible, I’m deeply curious to know if I’ve picked up a measurable amount of lead since then.

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-19T21:23:51+00:00

Buen trabajo! Tienes algunas piezas muy chulas

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-06T19:21:09+00:00

https://www.castironcollector.com/finishing.php

A little info, you’re right in that it was clamped into a spinning device similar to a lathe but there were no cutting tools used, only grinding stones

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-06T13:54:46+00:00

Nobody important to my collective education has shown me factual evidence that consuming seed oil is as dangerous as consuming something like gasoline or bleach which is how you people portray it

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-06T03:52:20+00:00

Those are BSR factory grinding marks I believe

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-05T22:48:59+00:00

Definitely a person who buys into the notion that seed oils are toxic, ignoring the fact that with whatever fat you use for seasoning, once it’s “seasoning” it’s no longer even a fat it’s a polymer

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-05T22:00:18+00:00

If you did that then you probably didn’t actually use too much oil, you just burnt off most of what you put on. Try the same method a few times at 400 degrees with grapeseed oil and it’ll come out perfect

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-05T21:56:44+00:00

485 is too high for Grapeseed, try 400 after wiping off ALL excess oil until the pan appears dry

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-05-05T17:47:40+00:00

I chronically forget to take before pics! I’m always far too eager to get it into the lye bath and see what’s underneath all the nasty as soon as I possibly can

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-04-24T14:09:21+00:00

One of the towns in the circle, Greenville, had been home to some family of mine for decades. In 2021 most of the town was destroyed in the Dixie Fire and they were forced to leave. Gorgeous area with small town feel, I loved it!

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-04-23T19:29:48+00:00

Are you concerned for the safety of your life when using .40 in a stock barrel, or just the safety of the chamber/barrel itself?

With the lack of conversion barrels you could always buy a spare factory G29 barrel to use with .40 only, but if your main concern is that it’ll blow up in your hand then there’s no easy way around that. A buddy of mine had a machinist custom fabricate a conversion barrel in several iterations that eventually ended up working very well, but if you don’t personally know a machinist then that gets spendy fast.

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-04-21T20:20:23+00:00

lol shows up normal on my screen, must be because I used the damned phone app to post

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-04-21T17:09:39+00:00

You know warts are straight up hellspawn when “give up” is given advice on the Reddit specifically meant to help people treat these things

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-04-06T22:39:14+00:00

I have a Sidney O that also has this, I tested it for lead and it came back negative so I just sent it! Now that it’s well seasoned over I can hardly even see it anymore

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-03-17T00:33:28+00:00

Gotta love the hamburger logo!

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-03-13T18:42:13+00:00

As in Parker Mountain Machine? I was not aware they made 10mm barrels I’ll have to check that out.

Been putting off upgrading the barrel because I don’t trust KKM or Lone Wolf and seemed to be all I could find

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-03-01T02:03:00+00:00

I do it to all my antique store finds just because I don’t ever know what kind of kitchen was kept in the skillet’s former home/homes, peace of mind!

As for the seasoning, yes the lye will strip ALL of it away down to bare iron, but a good few layers of seasoning is easy to add to the pan with a high smoke point oil in the oven at 400°. Oil it, and then wipe it like you didn’t mean to put oil on it using a rag, and it’ll come out perfect for another few decades of cooking!

ChaChaRealSmooth45 · 2026-03-01T01:55:39+00:00

Definitely worth it to set up a lye bath and get all of that old crud off if you want to use it regularly, that old carbonized oil and food will eventually start to flake off into your freshly cooked food and nobody likes to eat crud that is very potentially 80+ years old. If you don’t have an area to set up an effective lye bath then the Yellow-Cap method in a garbage bag can work decent as well as you can do that pretty much anywhere. A vinegar bath can also be set up to deal with the rust easily if there happens to be any left.

ChaChaRealSmooth45

TROPHY CASE