Chris Topher

Wishing your grandson a speedy recovery

Whatcha gonna cook, or what didja cook?

@Chicago griller you’re in the right place to learn a lot about kamadoing!

You got a good deal, brother!

I’m guessing about an hour

This article describes supposed science behind using flax seed oil for cast iron seasoning http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/ I have read that flax-based seasoning is subject to flaking. I'm no expert and can't really comment, just reporting what I've heard about this technique. As far as stove top seasoning, I think you'd get better results in the oven. Cast iron is not a particularly good heat conductor, so, depending on your stove, you might get hot and cold spots and therefore uneven seasoning. The technique I have used is heat oven to 400*F, slather oil (I have used flax, crisco, and crisbee) over the entire exterior surface, wipe it all off until it looks like there is no oil left (this is important, you want the Uber-thinnest coating), bake (upside down to avoid any oil pooling) for about an hour, turn oven off, letting the cast iron cool in the oven. Repeat as desired. If you use crisbee, you have to pre-heat the cast iron to melt the crisbee (which is basically crisco and bees wax, I believe)

Looks good! I'll be right over!!

If the seasoning is scratching, it might not be adequately "cooked" on

while there are undoubtedly fake positive reviews, I think it's also a matter of context. A five star review that has little specifics may not be worth much, reviews--positive, negative, or somewhere in between--explaining WHY a product, service, company, etc. commands that review, to me, has value. I also think the overly negative reviews, again depending on context, are of little value and often reflect a disgruntled consumer acting in haste and anger, venting on the internet. We often see that here, where someone has a problem with a grill, registers on this site, and proceeds to vent how company xyz has the worst customer service ever or the experience with product xyz is the worst ever, without really giving the company a chance to make it right. I dunno, I guess I have experienced enough negative people in my life--a lottery winner... riding a unicorn... over a rainbow... toward a pot of gold... on an island of vestal virgins STILL complaining that the beer is too cold--where I'd rather, at this stage of life, hear false positives than false negatives. What do they say in statistics? Throw out the outliers?

I'm a fan of lodge CI and have a bunch of different sized skillets, griddles, etc. Made in the US, by a family-owned company with lots of history, and fairly priced. What's not to like about Lodge? I undertook a smoothing of a subset of them. I first tried the Avanti with a cordless drill. Even at high speed, it was pretty time intensive. I moved up to flap disks on my angle grinder. Like these https://www.homedepot.com/p/Diablo-4-1-2-in-40-Grit-Steel-Demon-Grinding-and-Polishing-Flap-Disc-with-Integrated-Speed-Hub-DCX045040B01F/301454111, but I'm not sure I started with 40-grit. It may have been 60 or 80. This knocked off most of the pebble-like surface. But, man, angle grinders are powerful and can do real physical damage without careful attention. Mine, a Bosch, has a locking switch, which kind of scares me, because once it's running, it is screaming. I'd hate to have it locked in the "on" position and lose my grip or have it run away on me... Anyway..., after this initial step (may have been 2 grits of the flap disk), I moved on to orbital sanding, moving up 2 or so grits. I don't think I got my to the smoothness that @wallawu show above but definitely drastically more smooth than factory. Did this make a difference? I dunno. Part of me feels that that real difference is stripping the factory seasoning off to bring the pan back to bare metal and starting off with a solid foundation of seasoning. I've used Crisco, Crisbee, flax oil, vegetable oil, and avocado oil at various times with really keeping track of which might perform better. I'm interested to see @wallawu's comparison with the original as time progresses. On seasoning, doing a little on-line research, there is so much material, a lot of it conflicting and, seemingly, a lot of pseudo-science. It's as much a rabbit whole as Kamado Guru... (castironcollector.com is a pretty good site, but a rabbit hole. You've been duly warned!) If you think the KJ vs. BGE, Ford vs. Ferrari, Pats vs. Giants debates are heated, just wait until you hear the Griswold vs. Wagner, flax oil vs. Crisco debates I think, based on not a whole lot, is that use matters the most. Use will build up seasoning over time, improving non-stick properties, regardless of smoothness. Avoid the dishwasher and maybe some extremely acidic foods for extended periods of time. Soap is fine.

not that I’ve cooked a soufflé or meth, just for the record

I follow Tartine’s sourdough recipe, which is a bit more involved, but calls for about 78% hydration, at the end. I’m thinking you need some more uncovered cook time, perhaps with some hydration lowering, but I’m no authority. thefreshloaf.com is a good resource (no affiliation, just a user)

I could see the dial dome probes and electronic controllers being off by a significant, ummm, degree. Odd that the 2 electronic controllers were 10% off from each other, if I read the original post correctly. While confusing, our cooks are generally very forgiving. We’re mostly not making soufflés or meth, so temps being off or swinging by a moderate amount, i.e. not running away and not crashing, should probably not greatly affect the cook other than lengthening or shortening the time.

dull shortly after polishing as the surface will oxidize without some protective coating

If it’s aluminum, the bare metal will form a protective coating. May not be as pretty as the black finish