Thanks friends, and sorry for posting the same question again today (for some reason this thread was not visible to me when I started he second one). Your answers make sense and are very clear.
My very first restoration was going okay, but the crud (not rust, just carbon) on the sides would not come off after repeated "EZ off in the bag" applications.
I figured out that the ez off on the sides tends to slide off and into the bottom of the pan by gravity, so the bottom was VERY clean and smooth but the sides not at all. I took off the rest with a wire brush, and even THAT took quite a while.
I won't do EZoff again. The pan fully submerged in lye has to work better on the sides.
By the way, I am making a series of humorous videos on cast iron restoration and I promise you'll get a laugh, though you will already know more about the process than the videos will offer.
Thanks again.