About Me

I started fabricating things out of metal when I was very young. My dad raced stock cars and swamp buggies and I got my start welding at age 13 while learning about motors and racing. By 13 I was also racing stock cars. Over the years I built and raced stock cars, swamp buggies and mud boggers. I have made many things for myself and others such as utility trailers, bridges, and sculptures. I worked as a welder for only 1 year of my career making car hauler trailers. For most of my career I was a plasterer in Florida. After moving to upstate NY I worked in a variety of jobs in the construction field. I have only started exploring the artistic side of metal fabrication during the past five years. We started the metal business in 2006 to take my career in a different direction. It will take a while, but my plan is to fill this blog with pictures of many of the things I have built over the years. I hope you enjoy seeing some of my unique creations. My wife is actually writing this blog for me but she is presenting it from my standpoint with the information I give her. I am more skilled with a welder than a computer.

Monday, August 13, 2012

Seasoning and Cooking with Old Cast Iron Pans


Rusty Old Cast Iron Skillets
Sandblasting the old cast iron skillets 
All cleaned up and seasoned
Three of the Skillets in our kitchen
Getting the fire ready for cooking
Bacon, Egg and Toast Breakfast
Bacon Cheeseburger Dinner
This project started when I  read an article in the current Countryside magazine called "Rusty Gold."  It was an article about rescuing old cast iron pans. We happened to have six old skillets lying around.  My friend gave me a set of three skillets and my parents had given me a set of three skillets the same size as the other set. So with six pans and a sand blaster, I went to work.  Some sources say not to use a sandblaster because it may decrease the value of the pans...but we aren't selling them. We are going to use them.  After sandblasting them down to the metal, they were coated with lard, and baked at 450 degrees for 45 minutes.  I  used a stove that is in my garage to do this so there would be no smoke in the house.  After the pans cooled for an hour, they were coated with vegetable shortening and baked again.  At this point they had a nice black shiny coating. We have decided to use one set in the house and one for outdoor fire cooking. I made a set of hooks to hang them on so that they are handy to get to and add a little touch of country to our kitchen decor. It is recommended to cook high fat foods the first few times they are used until they get a really good seasoning on them.  We used two of them on the open fire to cook breakfast this morning and then used one again to make bacon cheeseburgers for dinner. We hope to do this often.
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