I presently have 2 concerns: 1. Trying to be helpful, my spouse sandblasted (severe overkill!) my grungy cast iron skillet, taking off all the black down to the bare metal. Is it safe to use? Will the black reappear for safe cooking? Or do I have to dispose of it? I sure would like to save it. 2. Yesterday the septic tank got pumped (here in Michigan)at a charge of $150! The same company pumped it two years ago for $65! After complaining he said it was because of new environmental regulations. How does this compare nation-wide? I'm still in shock!

-- Sandy (smd2@netzero.net), July 08, 2000

Answers

Sandy:

What you basically have is a brand new skillet, and it needs to be treated as such. I believe the standard procedure is to heat the skillet in the oven and then apply cooking oil when it gets hot enough to where the oil smokes when applied. Coat both sides until the oil no longer smokes. P.S. I hope you gave your husband a good talking to. Came in to work one day to find someone had decided my favorite coffee cup just needed to be thoroughly cleaned. Coffee just didn't taste the same for a while.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 08, 2000.

Hi Sandy, here's what Lodge Cast Iron Mfg. says...Wash, rinse and dry thoroughly. Warm cookware, Grease cookware with a thin coating of SOLID vegetable shortening. Spread the shortening over the warm skillet with a cloth or paper towel. Be certain that the entire surface is coated. Place cast iron in oven and heat to 300-350 degrees for 30 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven while warm, pour out excess grease and wipe with a paper towel. Then tell hubby to never, never touch skillet again!:) I have heard that when a cast iron skillet gets really grungy, people put them in a fire to burn off the yucky stuff. Might be easier than sandblasting!

-- Annie (mistletoe@earthlink.net), July 08, 2000.

Being in Michigan you are in the Great Lakes basin and there are new regulations for wastewater treatment plants concerning their discharges, because theoretically all discharges in the Great Lakes basin end up in the Great Lakes. There is a drive to clean up the lakes. How that translates to septic haulers I am not sure. Many septic haulers take the waste to wastewater treatment plants and, depending on the plant, they are charged for that convenience. It could be that the wastewater treatment plants are passing the extra cost of meeting the new regulations on to their customers, i.e. septic haulers and those connected to their system. In some states if you have a septic hauler pump out your septic tank you can have them land apply your waste onto your land if you have enough area for disposal. It will have to be disced in or injected into the ground if the septic hauler has that type of machinery. It might save you money. But there also may be paper work involved. Ask you septic hauler about it.

-- R. (thor610@yahoo.com), July 08, 2000.

Sandy:

After thought. Why did you need to have the tank pumped again after only two years? Perhaps your problem is what you are putting into the tank. Were the original septic lines undersized, such as you added more bathrooms or a washing machine to the original system. If so, you might need to have the drain line extended. Where I am at the septic system, which has been in place for something like 15 years, seems to still be working fine, and I'm in a very high water table area.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 08, 2000.

Sandy, I too, live in SE Michigan and had the same sticker shock when I had my tank pumped out last year. I figured the price increase was due to inflation (it had been 6 years from the last time it was pumped). About 10 years ago we had pumped it ourselves using a "trash" pump and routed the stuff to a couple of 6 foot maple trees I had planted the year before (no where near the garden). Now 10 years later, those trees are over 40 feet tall. If I was going to do it again, I'd pump it into my garden in the fall, cover it with a good layer of grass clippings and leaves, then til it all in the spring. The benefits would last quite a few years I'd think.

-- Peggy Adkins (adkinsonthefarm@hotmail.com), July 09, 2000.

Here in NW Wasington, we just paid $265 to have our septic pumped. You guys have it cheap! Amy

-- Amy Richards (tiggerwife@aol.com), July 09, 2000.

We live in NW Ohio - 2 miles south of the Michigan border and just had our septic pumped about four months ago. It cost $65.00. Seems that we would have similar regulations here.

Terry

-- Terry (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), July 13, 2000.

Sandy.... here in Wisconsin... when I put the septic in 6 years ago... we had to sign papers saying that we would have our septic pumped every three years... and the county sends out paper work that HAS to be signed by the pumper.

I had to do it this spring and it cost me $100.00... and he had to dump the contents in a city system to process...

On the cast iron... just don't hit hubby over the head with the skillet... he was just trying to help out... <<>>... but it is useable yet... and the suggestions here are fine to re-season it...

by the way... when my cast iron gets grungy... I through them in my wood stove for a few hours... just use welding gloves to retrive it... regular hot pads will just burn through... and I re-season it and before long it is as good as new...

-- Mary Ann (peanut@wi-net.com), July 13, 2000.