Michael Cochran

Nobody's being mean to you, or making jokes. There was a reference to age and anvils age much slower than people do. 

I am curious as to what I could be since you say it's not a pen/pencil holder. The size would be good for one on a large executive desk.  Do you know what it is?

14 minutes ago, Rick S said:

Dumbest welding story. Back in school while welding overhead, my arm caught on fire from some slag. The bead was so nice I wouldn't stop. The class gathered around to see why I was screaming.

I don't have anything useful to add to the discussion but I have a 'catching myself on fire' story. I was asked to help out in the gate shop at work one day and I obliged them since they needed the help. I didn't take into account that my pants were more than a little tattered and frayed. In less than 90 minutes I'd already caught my pants on fire 5 times. The first time I didn't think about it at first just thinking one of those random hot sparks burned into my pants and was on my leg. I finally figured it out when the guy next to me hit me and said "dude you're on fire!" Supervisor offered to find someone else but I reminded him he didn't have time to train someone new just for an occasional day. I made sure to keep an eye out the rest of the day for sparks and made it home without any more trouble. 

It wasn't too much. An onion, a few carrots, little salt and pepper, about 6 ribs and a few liquid ingridients. I'm a little disappointed but I'm not out of the fight yet. I knew it wouldn't be perfect the first time but definitely hoped for better. 

Thinking about it now I realize I didn't do it right at all. Instead of cooking something I've never cooked before I probably should've done a meal I'm familiar with. Just like I've learned in many other places in life change as few variables as possible to help achieve some measure of success and build from there. I'll try again but next time it'll be something I already know how to cook. Probably a roast chicken. That should be easy enough to have something turn out at least semi edible lol. 

Just for laughs here is a picture. Once you get past the charred spots it's not too terrible. The meat is done so no food poisoning on account of that  

I got distracted as I was cooking and underestimated the heat of the coals from the fire. Anyone care to guess what happened? I know next time I'm gonna have to pay more attention and I'm thinking one of those laser thermometers might be very handy as well. 

10 hours ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

Necessity is the mother of invention and usually a good solution. Looks like you found a good one, I'll have to remember that one, so much better than my Coleman stove when searing steaks in our cast iron skillet outside so the smoke detectors don't go off.

Well I'll let you know if it works out halfway decent. I had to clear the jet on it and probably have to do something else to get it burning right. I messed up and left it setting out in the weather when I moved stuff over from my old shop to my new one and it's gotten a little cruddy. 

12 minutes ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said:

You say when you grill it's with gas. Why not use the gas grill with the dutch oven and for heaven sake don't cut the legs off.

I'm not cutting the legs off. I might have a screw (or 7) loose but I'm not going to ruin something like that on purpose. I thought about the gas grill briefly but truth is I wasn't sure how well it would work. 

I actually had a genius idea just now when I went out to smoke (kids don't smoke, it's bad for your health and quitting isn't easy) and I remembered I have a turkey fryer. I need to hook a gas bottle to it and see if it's any good still. If it'll still work I could use it when I'm supposed to use a stovetop. 

Mother can't cook. My grandmother I had growing up had recipes that she wrote down and tweaked but never wrote down the changes. It was fine while she was here but now that she's not ... She did try to show me a few things but I didn't pay enough attention. Thankfully my wife is able to cook better than I can but I want to contribute and allow her to take a 'day off' and is not be forced to eat stuff I wouldn't normally feed a dog. Lol 

I hope I don't sound as defensive to anyone else as I feel like I sound. I've noticed several times lately that my words are defensive sounding even when there's no reason for it. It's something I'm working on trying to correct. 

35 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

I'm getting the feeling you are a city fellow...

That hurts Thomas. No I'm not a 'city fellow.' I blame my lack of knowledge of these kinds of things on the not having a father in my life nor a male role model that was able to help me learn as well as a lack of desire to learn when I was younger. 

37 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Got a steel plate?  Place it on something that won't catch fire  and place the dutch oven on it and build a wood fire nearby and shovel coals over to place under or around the dutch oven as needed to maintain the temp needed.

I have a bald spot in the back yard I could build a fire. That's probably what I'll do tomorrow. I also have some old solid brick that I could use to build a fire ring as well as an old grill grate I could use. 

41 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

You may need to build a spider for it to suspend it even higher.  A blacksmith can do it easily for you.

I'll look around and see if I can find a blacksmith near here lol. 

I have no idea what I 'spider' is but I'll look and see what it is for future reference. 

You're right. I should've mentioned it's the wife's stove not mine.  

I'll be sure to tell my wife you said it was ok to do that.  If I had an extra cooktop I'd be fine with that idea. 

2 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Do you have a propane forge?  Can you turn it way low?  Can you set it so the door is up?

I'd be looking for one of the old natural gas rings they used to use in boarding houses and apartments. I had one and had the orifice soldered over and redrilled for propane and used it camping for many years.

Stovetop cooking---why not over briquettes?

 

I have a NC tool antique. I wouldn't feel comfortable using it too cook as the insulation has starting failing lately and is a health concern (afaik). I debated looking for a single gas burner just in case for a while just never got around to actually getting one. As far as briquettes go, I don't keep those things around. When I grill it's either gas or lump charcoal and wouldn't you know I don't have any lump right now. I'm looking at some of my smaller pieces of firewood thinking that's an option for tomorrow. 

Are all Dutch ovens equipped with such ridiculous legs or did I just buy the wrong brand?

5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Well my Father always said "Never sue anyone that doesn't have any money"---You can't get anything and you still have to pay your lawyer!"

 Probably some of the wisest words I've heard in a while.

So I have an uneventful update. I found a recipe that looked great and I was planning on trying tonight but it isn't going to happen. Between the length of cook time (and the late start due to helping my grandfather cut and weedeat his yard) and a stumbling block I'll have to put it off at least until tomorrow. The stumbling block is a simple thing I'm sure someone here can help me with. My Dutch oven has long legs cast into it that prevents me from using it on the stove (part of the recipient requires some stovetop cooking before going to the oven). I know a simple way to fix this problem is to cut them down shorter but I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to. The legs are about an inch and a half long, much too long for the electric eye to heat the bottom of it. If I had some plate steel that was sized appropriately I could just make a spacer to go under it. If I had a gas stove I'd simply not worry about it and turn the burner up a little higher. I haven't had the time to setup for camp style cooking yet and it's in the 80s today so that's out of the question. Any suggestions as to a work around that I'm not seeing would be awesome.

1 hour ago, Steelfinger said:

I'm also curious if anyone viewing has seen carbon foam...

I haven't messed with it but with my limited knowledge I'd imagine it wouldn't last. Seeing as charcoal is mostly carbon and it's burns readily I doubt carbon foam would last well for any period of time. 

On 7/23/2017 at 9:17 PM, ThomasPowers said:

I always clean and reseason my cast iron

Well I might be stripping the factory seasoning after all. I was already thinking about it but after you comment I'm thinking it's a better idea. The book that came with it mentions using a specific "conditioner" after every use which makes me a little unsure of what they used to begin with. 

You got it, Glenn. My wife actually suggested looking there first, I decided to ask because I know we'd have several cast iron cooking aficionados lol.

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Do NOT try cooking over the FIRE!

I wasn't planning on a large fire but you're right that 'fire' is the wrong word. I should've said using the coals. I appreciate the advice and will look up Alton Brown and his recipes you mention.  

Thanks, Jim, I'll share pictures if it's worth showing off. My cooking usually is nothing to get too excited about lol.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll get the app and see what I can learn from it. I've found several recipes online this morning and will be deciding on a meal in the next couple days. Of course I might decide on a different one last minute.

I like that kitchen you have setup there. Is that an old rivet forge or part of an old drum you have holding the fire in that first picture?

I just realized I should probably mention that the Dutch oven I got is a 10" and has a 4 quart capacity. If I enjoy it as much as I think I will I plan to go back and buy a larger one.

I just got myself a new cast iron Dutch oven yesterday that was on clearance at Tractor Supply (I went looking for something else and didn't find it but my trip wasn't wasted ). I looked through the Vulcans Grill section here and found a couple recipes I might try in my new oven but wanted some suggestions from those more experienced cast iron cookers we have on here. If you have a good Dutch oven recipe please share it. My plan is to make myself a campfire cooking set and cook something good over a fire next weekend if the weather will allow. 

I also am curious about the factory seasoning. Do most people actually use the factory seasoning or strip it and reseason the cast iron before they cook with it?

3 hours ago, asf130 said:

No eBook available and Get print book atm

It's there when I look. I clicked the first link at the top of the page and there it is. 

I saved some out of my old mattress after a successful hardening test thinking I'd use them for something. Truth is I ended up sending them all to the scrap yard after wasting too much time trying to straighten them and do something with them. I won't waste the time saving them again.

13 hours ago, Reeltree said:

It looks like a tight fit under the rim,,,how where you able to get it around the rim without chipping

2 hours ago, littleblacksmith said:

This may be a little stupid question, but how does it go on? I'm thinking about making some, they would sell probably purty good.

                                                                                         Littleblacksmith 

Maybe these pictures will help you out a little. Like I said before it's a slip on friction fit. It doesn't wiggle and has a firm grip but easily pulls loose if you pull it.

9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

forged stainless has a nice scale finish on it and dishwasher safe is a selling point with "no maintenance" modern folks.

That is a really good point. Now days people want as easy and little matenance as possible with everything they have. 

1 hour ago, Reeltree said:

It looks like a tight fit under the rim,,,how where you able to get it around the rim without chipping

I'll try to remember to take a couple more pictures when I get home showing the handle separate from the glass. There is a spring back on the cold steel that grips it tight but allows you to remove the handle. If you pull straight out it will come off but it's will not go any other direction.

I also rounded the edges some that was going to be contacting the glass to minimize the risk of it scratching and leading to failure of the glass.