I realize this is VERY old thread. However some things need to be corrected. Just because people do it, doesn't make it safe. So here goes: A. NEVER use soap on cast iron, seasoned or otherwise. Best rule of thumb for cast iron: If you wouldn't put it directly into your mouth, it shouldn't go on your cast iron. Just because folks aren't concerned about ingesting SOAP themselves doesn't mean it's healthy. And since there are so many different soaps, one can't count that any product is OK. So, NEVER EVER EVER use soap on seasoned cast iron unless you're planning on stripping it down to iron and then starting the seasoning process from scratch. Otherwise that soap gets caught in your oil finish and sooner or later you ingest it. B. Clean your rusty cast iron this way: Wash it down to remove all food particles with a scrubber and NO SOAP! Then rinse well and place on a burner. Heat it until all the water disappears - add some oil (I use Canola) then use tongs to rub salt (I prefer pickling salt which is very fine while others go as far as coarse) around with a paper towel until the rust is gone. This works well and doesn't take long. Shut the heat off when you're done and let the pan cool down some before rinsing it out with hot water. Dry out the pan and put a light film of oil on with a new paper towel. You can heat it again and let it cool or not. But, you'll see a beautiful and fine non-stick finish build up if you do this consistently. And it WILL hold up to acid foods such as chili with little or no problem. If it doesn't you're one seasoning away from making it right. C. If it sounds like too much work, understand this: I'm cooking with my mother's 60 plus year old cast iron skillet. No other pan has ever measured up for certain foods such as fried potatoes. As mentioned above, it's browning properties are unique. And I've tried many s different cookware including Le Creuset cast iron non-stick. Once used to the process of creating and protecting the non-stick finish on your cast iron pans, you may never go back. (I know I won't). D. Not only does cast iron add iron to your diet, the non stick finish IT has is SAFE - no more worries about ingesting flaking Teflon or non-stick fumes. If you have children under three you want to be careful about how much food they eat cooked in cast iron so iron won't build up to toxic levels for the little folks.

That was caused by not seasoning at a high enough temperature......all you accomplished with your seasoning attempt was to create an oil removable coating on your pan. That is not the same thing as actual "seasoning". Next time you you re-season your pan with Crisco, do it a higher temperature.....350 degrees is NOT HOT enough. For best results you need to use a temperature that is ABOVE the smoke point of your seasoning oil (Crisco in your case).....use a 450/475 degree temperature instead. Make sure you put a VERY thin/light coating of "melted" Crisco on your "warm" skillet. You do not want the Crisco to be puddled or in a thick layer anywhere on your skillet. Again, use a very thin layer and place in a hotter oven. You will have to do this coating/baking procedure several times for the pan to develop a real nice durable seasoning. Dan

While removing a cast iron stack may look like simple manual labor to the untrained eye let me assure you that attempting to do so without a thorough knowledge of the procedure is at best a disaster waiting to happen. 4" diameter cast iron hub & spigot pipe weighs 30lbs per 36" length. When you have a stack beginning at the basement floor and rising through the roof on a 2 story structure, that said stack will average about 36 vertical feet. 36 divided by 3" per length equals 12 lengths x 30lbs = 360lbs. We must then add in another 20% for the additional hubs on fittings therefore the pipe and fittings will weigh approximately 1.20 x 360lbs = 432lbs. We must then add in the weight of the lead used to make the joints. Typically CI hub & spigot pipe required 3/4lb of lead for each 1" of pipe diameter per joint. .75lbs x 4" pipe = 3lbs of lead per joint. 3lbs of lead per joint x 12 joints equals 36lbs of lead so the stack has an estimated weight of 432lbs of pipe + 36lbs of lead = 468lbs. (Slightly more than the average weight of a V-8 automobile engine). At best the stack may have some wooden blocking or steel strapping holding it in place but often these old stacks were installed as a self-supporting structure. Even if it has blocking in most instances that blocking is simply two or three pieces of 2x2 that were haphazardly nailed in after the fact and generally will break out at the first sign of strain. Assuming for the moment that this stack may also have steel perforated strapping we must also keep in mind that the said steel strapping was initially installed in the 1940Âs and is most likely rusted beyond use by now. Any attempt at cutting and removing a section of this pipe from the bottom may cause the remaining portion of that stack to come crashing down instantly and without warning. Even if you are fortunate enough to avoid severe personal injury you may rest assured that in the process of the stack crashing down it will rip the horizontal branches out of the walls and may even result in causing the ceilings to collapse on the first and second floors as the lateral lines are torn from their hangers. Please do not take this lightly; about ten years ago I had a close friend who was killed by a falling stack. Before you begin removing a stack you should open the cleanout at the bottom and install an inflatable test plug or a large wad of rags tightly in the line to prevent any shards or bits of broken pipe from falling down into the line below the cleanout. You then begin at the top of the stack and work your way down in sections. Cast iron pipe can be cut with a circular saw fitted with a metal cutting blade providing of course that you have enough clearance to get the saw into the point were you need to cut it, and keeping in mind that the saw will shower the whole area with a shower of hot sparks. When one considers that in a 70-year-old house the plumbing chases are made of wood that is by now tinder dry and generally filled with highly flammable cobwebs this is not a good practice. CI pipe can also be cut with a reciprocating saw, but you can expect to spend 20 to 30 minutes and burn up two or three blades per cut. There are two simple alternatives. Contact your local tool rental company and you can usually rent a "Cast iron snap cutter" for about $15 to $20 a day. (Far less than what the blades for your reciprocating saw will cost). You then use the snap cutter to make the critical cuts where you will need a good square end on the pipe to tie in the new pipe. For the remaining cuts the solution is very quick and easy. Cast iron is a very brittle material. If you hold a 3lbs hammer tight against the pipe wall on one side will striking the pipe on the opposite side with a second 3lb hammer the pipe will shatter. You can easily break the pipe out in manageable sections working from the top down. When you get to the next to the last section in the basement stop breaking it out and use the snap cutter to make a neat finished cut on the bottom. After you make the final cut at the bottom reach down in the pipe and remove any shards that may have fallen down against the test plug, the remove the test plug and your ready to begin installing your new pipe. Although your may not have noticed it when you first looked you can be sure that the stack is rising straight up through your attic to the roof.

"After all, it is an air vent. No water runs through it." The line is connected to the side of the waste line. Pray tell what is to prevent any liquid in the waste line from backflowing into this fitting? The greater question is, Are we sure this is a dry vent? If so, it should not be there in the first place because code prohibits any horizontal run of a dry vent until the vent line reaches an elevation at least 6" higher than the flood level rim of the highest fixture served by that vent. Taking the discussion to the next level, for the exact reasons stated by Brickeye above, we dare not discount a crack in a vent because sewer leaking sewer gasses could accumulate in the floor cavity to highly flamable or even explosive levels, not to mention the amount of air borne toxins that might be present in sewer gasses. The simple solution is to remove the two clamps, pull the cracked fitting. Insert a new fitting and tighten the clamps.