Raven Jake Dawes

Reseasoning My Crusty Cast Iron

Y'all, I'm in the middle of a move and let me tell you, it's a rich voyage of discovery. Like King Tut's Tomb. Now I don't want to move anything that's going to go into go into another "maybe I'll fix this up someday..." pile. Time to roll up the old shirt sleeves and get to work. Here's some cast iron cookware I inherited that's pretty darned rusted (don't worry - no piece of cast iron is irredeemable. In certain quarters, it's a mark of shame if your iron's rusty, because it shows you ain't used it enough, but with some harsh chemicals and hard scrubbin' ANY piece of iron is salvageable. 

Seasoning iron is a Zen activity at best and a hot, tedious, stinky, time-consuming chore at worst. If you've got to do it anyway, might as well fill up that oven. Gather up all your iron, it ain't possible to over-season your pans.

Over there is your secret weapon - flax oil. 

The common wisdom, and what I've been doing all my life, is to wipe your new pan down with some canola oil and throw it in a 400 degree oven for an hour or so. Good to go. 

THIS IS COMPLETELY WRONG. I have seen the light, and I've got to thank Sheryl Canter, for setting me right.

After getting your cookware as clean and rust-free as humanly possible, put it in a 200 degree oven to get thoroughly dry and "open the pores" of the metal to better absorb the oil.

Flax oil. Flax oil only.

Rub a thin layer all over the pan, put it face-down in the oven and crank it up to 500 degrees. Cook it for an hour, then turn off the heat, and let it cool down in the oven. 

YOU DO THIS SIX (6) MORE TIMES

And your house smells like you're  frying fish.

Don't try putting on a thick layer, it will just be a gooey mess.

Seven times all up. Gonna take days.

But it's worth it. The final product turns out perfectly non-stick with a lovely shiny coffee brown polymerized hard-as-nails surface.

Note the difference in that fajita pan - just a black mirror (and a long ways from its scabby beginnings.) All of it looks better than new. Like I said, if you have to do the work anyways, git all your irons in the fire! 

 I haven't had a steak in a long while, but this recipe using a cast iron

pan on the stove has me thinkin' about it. Comes highly recommended.

In the meantime, I think I've found my perfect pan for grillin' veggies.

Cambria also did this experiment, and found that one of Sheryl's commentators had some more sound advice:

"The final thing I do for skillets after seasoning is to cook some "throw-away" eggs in olive oil. Scrape them around the entire bottom of the skillet with a good stainless steel spatula. I use a Dexters (which are collectables in their own right and made in the USA!). The eggs will stick at first. Scour the skillet with kosher salt and oil. Repeat two or three more times. After that you’ll find the eggs slide around like Teflon."  

So I'll be giving that a shot too, and see what happens. Bon Appétit, y'all.

Old Spanish Trail Association Conference Returns!

After several years, it's time for the Old Spanish Trail Association's Annual Conference to return to California. This time we're in Barstow from October 5-8, 2017. Needless to say, I'll be there all weekend, doin' some bloggin' and visitin.' If you see me, come up and say "Hi!"

 

Raven Jake Goes House Shopping

What do y'all think of my new house? This beauty just came up on the market, but I'm about $2.7 million light. Too bad, too because besides being the ultimate luxury Watusi Village   I've always wanted, it also comes with some fine African art and a flock  of flamingos. 

This house, which ought to have a name if it doesn't already, was the abode of  Lindi Biggi founder of Loving All Animals . Besides
being the ultimate party house with two full-sized patio bars, an amazing swimming pool and a small putting green, also provided a perfect habitat for her animal rescues which included a pack of small dogs and as many as 80 exotic birds. There's an aviary right outside the master bedroom that would make a perfect sloth habitat, but maybe that's just me. You wouldn't have to be an animal lover to live there, but it sure wouldn't hurt. 

73179 Joshua Tree Street, Palm Desert CA

... is going to be my new address after I win the lottery. But until then you can still see ol' Raven Jake in less fancy surrounds. 

     

 

Fiesta at the San Gabriel Mission

Happy 246th Birthday, Mission San Gabriel! We came down to represent the Friends of the Michael White Adobe at the Old Spanish Trail Association booth. Alex King's going to be here all weekend, so if you're around, make sure you drop in, say "hi" and learn a bit about the trail. We also ran into our old friends Helen and Christina Salazar, which was a special treat. The mission will be holding the fiesta all weekend, including food, rides, music and a car show, so c'mon down, if you can stand the heat.