It seems that cast iron would be more porous than cast aluminum, thus work better for seasoning. The concept of sandblasting the inside of the pan is interesting. Doing that would add to the surface area of the pan which might allow it to absorb more grease than a polished surface. Exactly what that does for cooking isn't clear in my mind. In any case, I won't be using cast iron cookware on my electric stove. Having said that, I do use a cast iron pizza pan. That gets baked and never touches the source of heat. It does pretty well with a fresh baked pizza in that the heat is more evenly distributed. The best part of the cast iron pizza pan is that it heats left over pizza almost to the same quality as fresh baked.
You have a lot more stuff to play with than I do. I cleaned house thoroughly when we moved down here to Missouri. Even so, I never had an aquarium or the pumps necessary to run on. If I got serious about vacuum packing I'd just do a Google search and see what I can find. One interesting note I can add is that we bought a twin bed for the guestroom early on in our move. The mattress is made of foam and they did exactly what you are suggesting to do with the pillows. The flattened out the mattress to be about 3-4 inches thick. Wife and I were amazed at the mattress coming to life when we poked a hole in the plastic wrap. I'm not sure why they did that because the weight of the shipment didn't change. It just used a smaller box. If I knew what was going to happen I would have recorded the unboxing. LOL
Flashpoint
Re: Flashpoint
Many years ago, when I got the first Corning Stove with the ceramic cooktop. I took all of our cast iron pots and pans to a machine shop that did motor heads for cars. He only charged me five bucks each to grind them perfectly flat on the bottom, even the ones that had rings on them that held them up from the surface.
Any of the newer ones I bought were already turned flat on the bottom, some decoratively too.
I never bought one, simply because they are so expensive, but they have a set of cast iron skillets from 6 to 14 inches, all with a copper bottom covered in stainless steel. The display has one showing the cast iron skillet, next to it the copper layer, and next to that the stainless bottom, but that one is cut in half so you can see the layers. How they bond that to the cast iron must be some trick they have, hi hi.
That being said, Debi has a few pots that have a thick aluminum plate in the bottom covered with stainless too.
I wondered how they did that until I saw a short video on the making of YETI drink cooler containers.
How did they get the insulation inside the layers of stainless steel with no seams?
In the video it showed three separate components, the outer can, the inner can, and the formed insulation piece.
On the drink holders, they all slide together, and then the very top edge is welded then ground and buffed down, so it looks like a continuous piece of metal with no welding marks, stains or seams. It was interesting.
I did learn that molten cast iron can be poured into a mold that already has a stainless steel liner, and that is probably how they make the skillets with the copper bottom, and why there is stainless steel above and below the copper because copper melts at a really low temp compared to iron or steel.
But since I've never seen how they are made, I'm only guessing here.
I can't sleep on a foam mattress, although Debi likes having a foam layer over the mattress.
I have two pieces of foam at the foot of my bed because it helps keep my feet warm, hi hi.
But I sweat like a stuck hog if I sleep on anything with foam in it.
I bought a dog bed, 14 x 18 inches, with 3 inch high sides. It came packaged in a 5 x 6 x 2 box. We didn't know what it was until we opened it, and it puffed up and opened into the doggie bed.
My son gave me some printed T-shirts that came packed in soup size cans a number of years ago.
Any of the newer ones I bought were already turned flat on the bottom, some decoratively too.
I never bought one, simply because they are so expensive, but they have a set of cast iron skillets from 6 to 14 inches, all with a copper bottom covered in stainless steel. The display has one showing the cast iron skillet, next to it the copper layer, and next to that the stainless bottom, but that one is cut in half so you can see the layers. How they bond that to the cast iron must be some trick they have, hi hi.
That being said, Debi has a few pots that have a thick aluminum plate in the bottom covered with stainless too.
I wondered how they did that until I saw a short video on the making of YETI drink cooler containers.
How did they get the insulation inside the layers of stainless steel with no seams?
In the video it showed three separate components, the outer can, the inner can, and the formed insulation piece.
On the drink holders, they all slide together, and then the very top edge is welded then ground and buffed down, so it looks like a continuous piece of metal with no welding marks, stains or seams. It was interesting.
I did learn that molten cast iron can be poured into a mold that already has a stainless steel liner, and that is probably how they make the skillets with the copper bottom, and why there is stainless steel above and below the copper because copper melts at a really low temp compared to iron or steel.
But since I've never seen how they are made, I'm only guessing here.
I can't sleep on a foam mattress, although Debi likes having a foam layer over the mattress.
I have two pieces of foam at the foot of my bed because it helps keep my feet warm, hi hi.
But I sweat like a stuck hog if I sleep on anything with foam in it.
I bought a dog bed, 14 x 18 inches, with 3 inch high sides. It came packaged in a 5 x 6 x 2 box. We didn't know what it was until we opened it, and it puffed up and opened into the doggie bed.
My son gave me some printed T-shirts that came packed in soup size cans a number of years ago.
Re: Flashpoint
I never slept on a foam mattress until we moved down here to Missouri. For many years before we left the Windy City I had my eye on one of those Tempur-Pedic mattresses. They are expensive as all Hell which was one reason I hesitated to get one. Plus, I met a lady who did buy one and regretted it dearly. She has had back pains ever since she started sleeping on the mattress. In a way that makes sense. One of the features they brag about is that the mattress is pretty flat compared to regular foam mattresses. In fact there is a lifetime guarantee that the foam will not permanently compress more than 1/16th of an inch. If it does they will replace it free. And, there is a cool mattress cover sold by the same company. No sweat is the promise, and in fact they say it is cooler than a conventional mattress.
We bought one the first day we arrived here and they delivered it the next day. The first night was unremarkable, but then I too developed back ache problems. This lasted for a couple months but now there is no pain. The explanation was that my spine was deformed from sleeping on whatever it was I did sleep on. The Tempur-Pedic mattress changed all that over a period of time. I can't tell if that is true just by looking, but I don't have any more back pain due to the new mattress and I don't sweat during my sleep. I'll assume my spine curvature is correct now, but I can't prove it.
The theory behind cast iron makes sense, but it simply did not work in my case. I believe the problem is that the entire pan was pre-seasoned. I have no idea how they did it, but the bottom of the pan had just as much grease embedded as the frying surface. This bottom grease is what oozed out of the pan and stuck to the ceramic cook top. Perhaps that would not have happened if I had it milled the way you did to your cookware. For now I'm sticking with the all stainless Cousinart pans. The only other pans I would prefer are all copper, but I have not won the lottery yet.
We bought one the first day we arrived here and they delivered it the next day. The first night was unremarkable, but then I too developed back ache problems. This lasted for a couple months but now there is no pain. The explanation was that my spine was deformed from sleeping on whatever it was I did sleep on. The Tempur-Pedic mattress changed all that over a period of time. I can't tell if that is true just by looking, but I don't have any more back pain due to the new mattress and I don't sweat during my sleep. I'll assume my spine curvature is correct now, but I can't prove it.
The theory behind cast iron makes sense, but it simply did not work in my case. I believe the problem is that the entire pan was pre-seasoned. I have no idea how they did it, but the bottom of the pan had just as much grease embedded as the frying surface. This bottom grease is what oozed out of the pan and stuck to the ceramic cook top. Perhaps that would not have happened if I had it milled the way you did to your cookware. For now I'm sticking with the all stainless Cousinart pans. The only other pans I would prefer are all copper, but I have not won the lottery yet.
Re: Flashpoint
I sleep on my right side, always have. I can't sleep on my back at all.
Well, unless I sitting up type of sleeping, so I'm more sitting than laying.
Of the copper cookware I've had, including the skillets, they were all lined with a thick nickle layer inside.
Pain in the arse to keep the outsides clean and shiny though.
Sold them before I moved south at the auction. They did fetch a higher price than most other things.
Pre-seasoned cast iron cookware will do just like you said.
Best to buy plain cast iron and season it on the inside yourself.
You can scrub down the outside with a good cleanser and get most of that outside seasoning off.
Seems like I wiped the pan we had with alcohol first, then a good scrubbing.
But in the end, I sandblasted only the outside with fine grain sand. Did that to all the cast iron I had at the time so it all looked new again. Well for a week or so, then it gets the rust patina on it.
Well, unless I sitting up type of sleeping, so I'm more sitting than laying.
Of the copper cookware I've had, including the skillets, they were all lined with a thick nickle layer inside.
Pain in the arse to keep the outsides clean and shiny though.
Sold them before I moved south at the auction. They did fetch a higher price than most other things.
Pre-seasoned cast iron cookware will do just like you said.
Best to buy plain cast iron and season it on the inside yourself.
You can scrub down the outside with a good cleanser and get most of that outside seasoning off.
Seems like I wiped the pan we had with alcohol first, then a good scrubbing.
But in the end, I sandblasted only the outside with fine grain sand. Did that to all the cast iron I had at the time so it all looked new again. Well for a week or so, then it gets the rust patina on it.