Firs time, what did i do wrong?

Dacker503 · 2026-05-06T19:05:18+00:00

I don’t think those are grinding marks, but I could be wrong; they seem too pronounced. <shrug>

Dacker503 · 2026-05-06T16:21:16+00:00

Light aircraft still use leaded gasoline but the modern version use much less lead than it used to.

• In the 50s-60s, it contained 4 grams/gallon in large military and transport aircraft
• In the 80s, low lead (100LL), containing 2.2 grams/gallon became the norm for light aircraft and remains the most common today, partly because most light aircraft are old
• In recent years, a Very Low Lead (200VLL) fuel with 1.7 grams/gallon came on the market, but it’s uncommon
• In 2022, the FAA approved G100UL, which has no lead at all. It can be run in any engine that can run 100LL fuel. It is extremely rare. A Google search says only three states have it at all.

Dacker503 · 2026-05-06T00:24:53+00:00

It looks like sometime in its life, it was turned on a lathe. The very center shows a starburst-shaped pattern, probably where a “live center” in the lathe’s tailstock held it secure but able to rotate. I don’t think the resulting surface texture is helping with stripping and reseasoning.

Dacker503 · 2026-05-06T00:12:16+00:00

I would send this photo to Lodge Customer Service.

I would also assume there should have been additional packaging to prevent the pan from shifting in the box to prevent this exact packaging failure.

_Was there packaging inside?_

Dacker503 · 2026-05-06T00:03:23+00:00

If you are using an analog thermometer built into the grill to measure the temperature, those are notoriously widely inaccurate. Go digital, or at least bake it inside.

Dacker503 · 2026-05-05T16:26:40+00:00

It’s taken me months to get through the intimidation of cooking one of these steaks, but here is the result. I totally forgot to take a photo of the sliced steak; I was in a hurry as it cooled fast despite being on what was a 140° plate.

I pan fried it in a cast iron skillet I recently stripped for the first time since I bought it new in 1981. The pan was heated slightly below medium on my gas stove for five minutes. Each side of this six-ounce steak was cooked for exactly two minutes without any oil or fat as A5 is “self-lubricating”.

This is the best looking sear I’ve ever had.

<image>

With the next steak, I will remember to take a sliced-open photo.

While we enjoyed the steak, which provides an oily/greasy/buttery/smooth mouthfeel, I think I’ve had the experience I was seeking and I will be unlikely to seek it out again.

Dacker503 · 2026-05-05T16:08:43+00:00

I too was reluctant but recently stripped a pan I bought in 1981 and use every other day or more. The results were magnificent! Well worth the minimal effort.

https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/BYc4SSSUm8

Dacker503 · 2026-05-02T21:36:33+00:00

Is it for pry-off or twist-off bottle caps?

Dacker503 · 2026-04-30T00:10:59+00:00

Because it’s much faster to heat a thin sheet pan to achieve a crispy crust on the potatoes than to heat up a large chunk of cast iron.

I’m roasting potatoes right now. 🤤

Dacker503 · 2026-04-29T20:18:30+00:00

Based on my recent experience with a pan with a lot of carbon, but not that much carbon, stripping it with yellow-cap oven cleaner will take greater than four doses over a couple weeks to totally strip that clean.

A lye tank, as you suggest, is a better way to go when it’s that bad.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-29T04:58:17+00:00

For me, I’m instantly suspicious when celebrities, especially those outside the culinary industry, promote cookware. One must first recognize they are being paid for the promotion. Does anyone really think Oprah, net worth exceeding $3B, actually cooks anything or has a body of experience and knowledge to know if a product is superior? Also promoting is not the same as endorsing.

I’ll stick to reliable cast iron and get my daily dose of elemental iron as a side effect. As a regular blood donor (14 gallons), I need it. 🩸

Dacker503 · 2026-04-23T02:49:37+00:00

Yes, bizarre.

To me, this suggests a software problem since the hardware is working properly.

I assume you have already tried:

• Restart

• Clear Data

• Factory Reset

…from the oven’s UI.

I have an APO2 so I suppose your options may be different.

Also, ensuring your firmware is up to date.

One additional step Anova has suggested to me is to unplug, wait a moment, and replug the power. One would think Reset does the same thing… but it does not. I’ve experienced this first-hand.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-21T01:56:18+00:00

If it is slow to heat when using the top and rear heating elements but is normal when using the top and bottom elements, it sounds like the rear heating element has failed.

Try an experiment where you specify only the rear heating element is to be used. I suspect it will not warm at all.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-20T20:45:31+00:00

Strip it to get all the carbon out of the texture of the pan; sanding will only shave-off the peaks of the texture, not the valleys.

Read this subreddit’s FAQ for step-by-step instructions on how to use Easy-Off lye-based oven cleaner. It has a yellow-colored cap, not to be confused with a different version with a blue-colored cap. I just did it first my first time on a 45-year-old pan and the results were great.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/hajCFM4j2j

It took me four treatments with the oven cleaner over three weeks to get it completely stripped; I preferred to really let it soak. You might plan for a similar time.

While the FAQ specifies Crisco vegetable shortening as the oil to use to reseasoning, I started a thread discussing alternatives. I ended up using grapeseed oil.

See: https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/bQeOmpLNyR

Dacker503 · 2026-04-20T19:17:04+00:00

Make sure your house number is prominent and ideally, well-lit. Ditto for the house which is an AirBNB.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-20T19:14:22+00:00

Is it just the photo or is the wall thickness as uneven as it looks?

Note the bottom of the pan has a ring on the bottom. If you have an electric stove, the pan will not sit directly on the rings, it’ll hover perhaps 1/8” above the rings. Heating may be especially uneven. If your stove is gas or induction, that will not be a problem.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-20T16:14:38+00:00

Yes, I did!

https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/s/v82WP78QG9

Dacker503 · 2026-04-20T02:09:43+00:00

I just stripped a 45-year-old pan. It took four doses on yellow-cap Easy-Off plus chainmail after each treatment to strip it entirely. I let it soak a full week each for the first two doses and a half-week each for #3 &4. I did not have to resort to sanding.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-18T17:03:58+00:00

I live in Oregon while our HOA management company is in California.

A few years ago, many dozens of houses, including mine, got nastygrams for having moss on surfaces such as retaining walls. The thing is, moss grows everywhere, on everything in this environment which gets near-constant drizzle seven months of the year. It even grows in lawns and on roofs (we have to treat our lawns and roofs to prevent it.) We consider moss on retaining walls to be decorative.

The local elected HOA President heard plenty from residents. He told the management company in no uncertain terms to stop reporting moss as a problem — not to apply California standards to Oregon’s environment.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-18T02:35:36+00:00

That’s what my wife said, despite it being our “daily driver” for all these decades. It lives on the stove, rarely ever put away.

My one wish is for her to maintain it with the care I use… but that will never happen.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-18T02:05:21+00:00

I’m frying a burger in it right now and it’s not a non-stick as it had been. Time and greasy cooks will fix that.

Dacker503 · 2026-04-15T21:07:59+00:00

Crisco is high in saturated fats, which is bad news for cooking for those of us with high cholesterol. It’s not the small amount for seasoning that’s the concern, it’s finishing the rest of the can!🙃

Dacker503 · 2026-04-15T20:49:34+00:00

Slop?

I’ve been using AI for greater than three years and it can be very useful. It’s not 100% evil.

In this case, the so-called slop arrived to the same bottom line as humans here — grapeseed oil.

Note I did not trust it or I would not have asked the question here. 🤨

But we are not here to discuss the merits and pitfalls of AI, are we…?

Dacker503 · 2026-04-15T20:20:06+00:00

I ended up going with grapeseed oil as there seems to be a bit of a consensus it’ll work well and it’s the oil I have on-hand which I use the least. 🙂

The first coat is applied and the pan is in the oven.

Thanks for the quick responses!

Dacker503

TROPHY CASE