Can't. Stop. Cleaning. Cast Iron.

So I can't quit.  I am obsessed with figuring out just exactly what this cast iron skillet looks like under all that carbon buildup.  Jason is just shaking his head and humoring me by acting super interested.  When I told his grandma about it today, she just nodded her head like she had known all along. 

Right now, I am on my third round of oven cleaner.  Instead of following the directions I am getting online, I am being impatient and only waiting an hour before I rinse and scrub.  So, while I have made progress... it has involved a lot of elbow grease and some disappointment.


This was from the first round.  Soaking in a plastic bag on the porch.


This picture doesn't do the amount of clean justice.  There is still a lot of black gunk on the sides though.
At this point, I am positive it is a National Wagner Ware 1359 Sidney -0- Number 9.  Although the pretty WagnerWare logo in the middle is messed up.  I was debating about whether or not to scrub the sides and inside once I got all the gunk off the bottom.  Again, curiousity and my tendency to obsess over weird things has gotten the best of me. 

Even though I feel a little guilty, I am stripping this whole thing down to bare metal.  I feel bad that ninety years of seasoning is being erased.  But it looks like a previous owner seasoned right over the top of rust, which has me going nutty and wondering if that is what ruined the logo in the middle.  Anyway, I am going to control my urge to scrub and head off to bed.  Tomorrow is another day!  And if I can wait 24 hours like I am supposed to, the oven cleaner should have done it's job.  Then I can start seasoning!

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