What is this salt-like stain?

[SpurgeonH]

Hey guys,
I posted this a few weeks ago when I was out shopping. I passed on it at the time, but picked it up a few days later when I stopped back in the store and found that particular booth was having a liquidation sale. I figured it would be a good pot for the grill.

Anyway, Here are the before and after pictures ...

I have a couple of questions ...

1. What the heck is the white stain? - Around the bottom of the pan (on the side, but not on the actual bottom) and also around the top lip, the pan has a stain that looks like a salt or water stain. (Kind of how my black dress shoes - the ones with the hole in the bottom - look when I wear them on a rainy day and the water soaks through the sole and makes a white stain on the sides of the shoe.) The stain wasn't there when I stripped it. It seemed to appear after seasoning and didn't go away after several rounds. Another weird thing is, when you apply the oil to it when it is hot, the stain goes away ... but after heating in the oven, it is back again.

2. Is the lid an early Lodge? Or maybe another foundry trying to copy the Lodge spikes?

Edit: Further disclosure ... I used Brawny paper towels to apply the Crisco. First time I've used that brand. The towels kept shredding on the rough surface of the band around the top. Is it possible the white stain is really just paper that is embedded in the seasoning?

 

[EricC]

What temperature are you using in the oven to season? Lots of factors can influence the exact combustion point of any particular example of paper but in general anything over 480 degrees will burn it off.

 

[MDFraley]

I would imagine that there would not be any paper that would still have a white appearance after a 400 degree oven baking so I would rule that theory out.
Have you tried to steel wool this area after it comes out of the oven? Did you use the e-tank cleaning method or just a lye bath for initial clean up? The e-tank cleaning should have removed most anything that may have been impregnated in the CI.
Throw all the information at us so maybe we can assit in the solution of your problem.

 

[SpurgeonH]

Thanks guys. Lately, I really been cranking the temperature up. (experimentation to see what works best for me.) On this one, I started at 200 for 15 min. Then 15 minutes at 275 and 350. At 350, I applied the oil. I believe for this one I did one round of Crisco, one round of lard, and then another round of Crisco. After applying the oil, I turned it up to 425 for 15 minutes. Wiped it down with a cotton towel again and then turned it up to 500 for 45 minutes. Then I turned the oven off and let it cool in there with the door closed.

I did not put this one in the e-tank. It's too big for my bucket. I did put it in my vinegar solution (50/50) for about 15 minutes.

Also, it was in my lye bucket for a couple of weeks or so. I had actually forgotten about it ... until I heard a metallic "clunk" when I dropped the Griswold cornstick pan in there. ha!

BTW - amazing how all of the black gunk just rinses off after a couple of weeks in lye.