My Lye Tub is Kaput

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

DonnaM

Member
Raining though it was, I thought I'd check on my lye tub, and when I unfastened the lid, there my 4 pans sat, full of lye but in an empty tub! What? Upon further investigation, I saw that my little aquarium heater had drifted against the tub and melted a hole in it. Sigh. :( Nothing to do but retrieve the pans and work them over with a SS scrubber, which I've done. Here they are, cooling with their first coat of Crisco. (I let mine cool and congeal before I wipe them down.)

IMG_2681[1] by donna manion, on Flickr


Here's what I do to avoid fishing around in the lye to retrieve a pan. I tie one end of this synthetic cord to the pan handle and affix a washer on the other end, which hangs on the outside of the tub. Has worked for me so far.

IMG_2680[1] by donna manion, on Flickr


So, tomorrow it's back to the store to buy a new tub and more lye....
 
Well, yes, I'm THINKING about an e-tank. Since it's raining and raining here, I believe I'd be better off waiting until summer. (That's when it stops raining--LOL!)

Yes, that's a BSR chicken fryer. I found it with its lid at a second hand shop probably a couple of years ago, for $4+. I thought it would be a good camping skillet. It sort of got lost in the garage until I got bit by the CI bug--that's when I remembered I had 2 or 3 CI pans out there...somewhere. When I finally found them, one turned out to be the SBL Griswold ("that started it all") and the BSR chicken fryer. The 3rd was Asian.

BTW, I'm totally impressed that you could recognize a BSR from that distance! :whip2:
 
DonnaM said:
BTW, I'm totally impressed that you could recognize a BSR from that distance! :whip2:
Click to expand...

Not so hard, when you got one right there in front of you, and just happen to have it in the oven, at the time. I love mine, because it's deep, and I can throw in a bunch of veggies, with a little olive oil, kosher salt, & ground pepper. Roasted veggies are one of our favorites. Got the lid also, but don't use that much, just the base....

Remember > http://www.castironcollector.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5089
 
Ah, yes, Nick...your "brown pan." :-) I remember. Mine is a bit of a spinner too. Wish it weren't so, but I love it anyway.

I'm thinking I might try baking a flattish round of bread in it. Have you tried that?
 
DonnaM said:
Ah, yes, Nick...your "brown pan." :-) I remember. Mine is a bit of a spinner too. Wish it weren't so, but I love it anyway.

I'm thinking I might try baking a flattish round of bread in it. Have you tried that?
Click to expand...

Nope, it's just my wife & I, so we do the cornbread in a #3 Sidney-O. That Chicken Fryer would be a bit much bread for us (and we'd probably sit there and try to eat it).

As for the color of my CF, I've been wiping a small bit of oil on the outside, every time I use it in the oven, and I think it is beginning to darken up a bit. The inside is beautiful, but we'll see. If it hasn't blackened up in a month or so, I might just hang it back in the e-tank for a day or two, and start over. That skillet is really a hand full, especially at 400-450 degrees, but it's definitely a keeper. It's my main oven cooker. I do like the deep sides...:)
 
Great cautionary tale in the OP about the potential problem using an electric heater in a plastic lye tank. What the rest of this thread has to do with that, I don't know. The subject has changed four times already. That's called chat. Please, folks.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top