My new Martin Ballard & Ballard - seasoning question

Here's what I have so far ... (by the way, Doug was right and right)

It was rusty, but the gunk buildup wasn't too bad, so I went straight to the e-bucket. I was traveling all day yesterday and it ended up being in the bucket about 24 hours. Then I scrubbed it with a Chore Boy, a stainless brush, back to the Chore Boy and then a #0000 steel wool pad.

... then my daughter in California called ... So, i decided to put in in my 50/50 vinegar bucket while we were talking. After 30 minutes in the vinegar, I scrubbed it again as listed above.

I wish I had taken a picture of the bare metal, there were a couple of spots on it that had a very (almost bright) copper color.

This is what it looks like after one round of Crisco and one round of lard. (I baked it for an hour at 425 with the Crisco and one hour at 350 for the lard.)





Here are a couple of close-ups. It has some pitting, but the pits are very small (although plentiful in patches) and not very deep. I think they will fill in if I season it enough. (or maybe I will try Crisbee on this one?)





My questions are: Should I have given it some time in the lye? Would that help with the dark patches? The vinegar didn't seem to help the splotchy color variances. Should have have tried repeated soakings?

Right now I'm leaning towards thinking the color variances will even out with a few more rounds of seasoning.

Also, the spots where the bare metal seemed to be a bright copper color and also the spots with the most pitting and are the lightest color after seasoning. The copper color went away after tons of scrubbing, but those areas are still lighter (I tried to evenly scrub and not just concentrate on the copper spots). What would cause the copper discoloration?

Edit: Also, I think I scrubbed this pan more than any other I have done. Still, should have have scrubbed more on those dark patches? When do you know to stop? How do you know you are at the point where additional scrubbing will not reap any additional benefits?

Also #2, the pan is definitely bowed in the middle. It sits flat, due to the way the outer ring is lower than the bottom of the cooking surface, but the cooking surface definitely sags. I'll post a picture of that later.

Edit #2: I forgot to mention, during the scrubbing, I used a wooden skewer to dig in each letter. That was a pain, but I could tell it was making a difference so I took the time to go over every letter on the pan. (and there are alot of flippin' letters!)

I'm adding the "before and after" pictures, so you can see where the light colored areas on the seasoned skillet matches up with the rusty areas on the original.

I wonder if I didn't get all of the rust off (it wasn't there to the naked eye) or if I didn't get all of the old seasoning off of the dark areas and therefore should put it in the lye bucket for awhile.

IIRC, mine was splotchy like that as well. You could try vinegar/steel wool or Evaporust to try to even it out. I would just season it.

Roger that. Thanks! I'll season it a few more times and see how it looks. If it doesn't improve, I'll start over.

Are you going to take it up to 500° so it turns black?

Hilditch

I took Hilditch's advice and seasoned it a couple of more rounds at 500. (I put Crisco on it at 325, increased the temp to 425 for 15 minutes, wiped it down again, increased the temp to 500 for another 45 minutes, and then let it cool in the oven.)

Here is the final product ...



It looks lighter in color in the picture than it does hanging on the wall. To the naked eye it is black and you can't really notice any color variation.

Looks awesome! Well done.

No good reason why, but if mine I’d want the cooking surface to have some seasoning on it without damaging the finish on the bottom from a burner. Bingo! Oven grilling. Heat it up to 325° and cook the bacon in the oven. Up it to 375° and cook the pancakes or french toast. Sear steaks at 425°. None of this should affect the seasoning on the bottom unless it had a thin coat of canola and then it would get to be a gloss black. Hmmmm………

Hilditch

In my humble opinion, you did a fantastic job on the griddle Spurgeon! So much work!! The result sure looks worth it. Congrats.!:bow:

A beautiful job on a beautiful piece! :icon_thumbsup: