Chicken fryer clean up...

[ironhead]

Doug. I'm thinking what industry is he talking about.? Did he even watch the video.? Lodge is the only one left in the U.S so I'm baffled. And from my knowledge no Cast Iron manufacture in the U.S ever used this so called Bead Blasting.

[Kevin A]

The industry refers to it as "Blast Cleaning"... I prefer this method over using a lye bath to clean cast iron prior to seasoning.
I'm Dean in Eureka, CA and I endorse "Blast Cleaning."

Really.? Back up your claim then Dean in Eureka, CA. I'm Don from VA and I think you're wrong

WOAH!!!! Take it easy there. No reason to take this issue personally.
If you'll go back to the beginning of this thread, it was about cleaning a skillet using glass beads prior to seasoning. Several posters have suggested that this method is the wrong way to clean iron, but have not provided a satisfactory reason why it is wrong. I've been cleaning cast iron and aluminum engine parts with glass beads in excess of 25 years. Many of them are far more valuable than most iron cookware out there. The glass beads I use simply don't do the damage to the metal surfaces that is being implied in this thread.
I'm not going to take issue with electrolysis or lye baths, if these methods work for you, I think that's great. I will say this though, I won't be soaking anything I'm going to prepare food with in a tub full of lye, especially something as porous as cast iron.

[doug hodder]

Ironhead... I don't know if Dean watched the video. I guess I'm responsible on the whole thing since I started this thread. I don't know what everyone knows about bead blasting, but the beads are basically glass and are about 120 grit to start with, get finer as you use it. When they hit the metal, they do the cleaning, but also break apart and are not as aggressive as a "sand blast", which is silica and a whole 'nother critter. Lodge uses a tumbler to clean, a step up and probably out of reach for most everyone.

The word "blasting" sort of has become the buzz word, kinda like Xerox for any type of copy machine. Not to sound patronizing, but when you say "so called bead blasting" makes me think that you might not have the all the info. There is a lot of different media that can be used to "blast" with.

Maybe a lye bath is the route to take for those people that don't have access to the equipment to do otherwise. For me, like Kevin says, I'd be reluctant to put something that caustic into a pan of a porous material that I am going to eat out of, and I'll eat food that I've dropped on the floor in the shop. A blasting is a lot easier and less hassle for me.

Like I mentioned, to each their own. I doubt that I've done any damage to my iron, it all got nice and clean, is all seasoned and cooks up fine. If I have damaged the value of the iron, so be it, I'm not a serious collector. I'll keep it with me for the rest of my life anyway. Doug

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

The industry refers to it as "Blast Cleaning"... I prefer this method over using a lye bath to clean cast iron prior to seasoning.
I'm Dean in Eureka, CA and I endorse "Blast Cleaning."

Really.? Back up your claim then Dean in Eureka, CA. I'm Don from VA and I think you're wrong

Don,
It'd be very easy to back up... Like I've already stated earlier;
A piece of cast iron that's been glass beaded and reseasoned looks no different from a piece that hasn't. I openly challenge anyone to be able to tell the difference from one to another.
BTW- I've tried several methods for resurecting old rusty cast iron, including electrolysis and lye baths... Glass beading works the best for me.
I've also read the opinions stated on the Griswold collectors website in reference to glass bead blasting.
For all the "purists" out there, that's fine with me if that's what they want to believe, but I'd sure like one of them to be able to identify which of my pieces have be glass beaded and which ones haven't.

[Steelheader69]

The industry refers to it as "Blast Cleaning"... I prefer this method over using a lye bath to clean cast iron prior to seasoning.
I'm Dean in Eureka, CA and I endorse "Blast Cleaning."

Since learning the lye method from a friends who are avid collectors (probably some of the premier collectors in US) I'm sold on lye. Very hands off, can sit in the tub as long as you like. Easy to do. Pretty easy the goop off afterwards. Down to bare iron. Doesn't devalue the product at all. Guess it all depends if you're a "got to have it now" type or are willing to let the lye do its job. If it's worth nothing, then blast it. I just know it's funny that most of the hardcore collectors can spot a bead blasted piece. Probably because they look at THOUSANDS of pieces of iron. For them, they can pick out the subtle differences that most of our trained eyes can't.

So, for me, I'll stick to the lye bath. If I have rust, I'll get the electro tank going and let it do it's job.

And Dean, you needed to tweak that electro unit. I've seen some super encrusted pans that have been resurrected with a properly tuned in electro unit. But, if you don't have it tweaked just right, it ain't gonna do the trick for you. Of course bead blasting will work. And, if you joined a collectors organization, you'll find LOTS of people who can spot a blasted piece. They do it all the time.

[doug hodder]

Sorry, I don't give a $hit if someone can spot the fact that maybe it was blasted. We aren't "hardcore" collectors over here. What matters is the pleasure in cooking for others out of it and the enjoyment that we all get. Poke 'em in the eye and then ask them how it looks. Bet they can't tell with a watery eye.....Doug

[packerz4]

Sorry, I don't give a $hit if someone can spot the fact that maybe it was blasted. We aren't "hardcore" collectors over here. What matters is the pleasure in cooking for others out of it and the enjoyment that they all get. Poke 'em in the eye and then ask them how it looks. Bet they can't tell with a watery eye.....Doug

x2

[TLC]

Sorry, I don't give a $hit if someone can spot the fact that maybe it was blasted. We aren't "hardcore" collectors over here. What matters is the pleasure in cooking for others out of it and the enjoyment that they all get. Poke 'em in the eye and then ask them how it looks. Bet they can't tell with a watery eye.....Doug

x2

X3
Only on this board can people get so fired up over a trivial subject. Who cares! Whatever method works for you and makes you happy, then that's all that counts.
Tom

[Laredo]

not so much with the fired up over a trivial subject.

fired up over safe food, you bet your shiny little aunt fanny.

I'll have to defer to Doug Hodder and Dean in Eureka over the safety and suitability of beading / blast cleaning -- I don't have that kind of equipment or experience.

I do have a self-cleaning oven and a very smart SO, who pointed out to me that the cast iron (provided I didn't lay it directly on the oven bottom, so I have to do the heavy pieces one at a time using the racks, and if I didn't accidentally use the method on cast aluminum instead) would not only survive the self-cleaning cycle in this gas oven, it would come out looking nearly new, and needing only to be wiped with a clean soft rag and re-seasoned.

Presto.

[rainjer]

Sorry, I don't give a $hit if someone can spot the fact that maybe it was blasted. We aren't "hardcore" collectors over here. What matters is the pleasure in cooking for others out of it and the enjoyment that we all get. Poke 'em in the eye and then ask them how it looks. Bet they can't tell with a watery eye.....Doug

I have to agree with Doug. I buy my cast iron to use, not look at it. The other fact is, I bet in 4-5 years of use, nobody would be able to tell it had been bead blasted , even a hardcore collector.

Jeremy

[Steve E]

I just don't know bout any body else on this here forum but I believe in Jaaasssco Paint Remover myself.....It just clean bout anything it comes in contact with...........

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

...most of the hardcore collectors can spot a bead blasted piece.

I don't think so.... Sandblasted for sure, but not glass beaded.
Why???...
Because the blasting media is round, glass bead blasting provides a peening action, rather than a cutting action so familiar with sand blasting and other sharp media. By glass bead blasting, no metal from the surface is removed thereby guaranteeing that no dimensional change takes place.
Peening with glass beads is a low cost form of creating a uniform surface layer of compressed stress. With cast iron, bead blasting tends to reduce the micro pores size providing a smoother and less porous surface. The corrosion resistance of porous metals is greatly improved after bead blasting.

Given these facts, Lodge should glass bead their product prior to sending it through the Lodgic process... IMHO
So, although no dimensional change takes place, but the micro pores size is reduced at the surface of cast iron when glass beading is used, which BTW is an improvement, I find it impossible to believe that a human being can detect this change with the naked eye, let alone after a coat of seasoning has been applied.