Here's how I season my large Jambalaya pots (AKA wash kettles, gypsy pots, hog pots).......some as large as 30 gallons. Clean the interior with Bar Keeper's Friend followed by a second water washing with Liquid detergent then a good rinsing. DO NOT skip this important step. Then warm your pot over an outdoor burner using a small flame. Then intent is to "warm" your pot on the bottom and sides and completely dry it. Allow your pot to slowly get HOT. Put a little lard (or Crisco shortening) in the pot and when it is melted.....CAREFULLY smear it completely around the pot....both inside and outside......using a wad of paper towels. Wipe off all excess lard....no puddles allowed. You only want a "thin" coating of lard. THIN is important. Then using a PROPANE torch heat the pot "evenly" and completely around it. After it gets hot all over....start working the torch in smaller areas...heating that "small area" to the smoking point of the lard. As you do this, you will see it turn black. Don't heat any longer after it turns black....move your torch to another adjacent area and repeat. Continue to keep your pot hot by heating completely around it with your torch....then focus on a smaller area again. Do not let your pot overheat in any one area to the point of where the seasoning flakes (or burns) off. It is important that you do not burn off the seasoning that you just laid down. The more you do this....the better the seasoning layers will develop. FYI, on a very large pot I use the kind of propane torch that they sell at Harbor Freight for de-icing driveway or for burning grass. For smaller pots I use a smaller propane soldering torch. To prevent future rust in storage and to help further develop its good seasoning layer. Coat the interior and exterior of your pot lightly with some melted lard (purchased stuff...not bacon fat). NEVER EVER coat your pot with regular cooking oil as IT WILL eventually get sticky, gummy, and go rancid. There is nothing worst than that rancid taste in your cooked food. You can prevent this from ever happening by simply using either Crisco shortening or purchased Lard for coating your pot between use. ......grapeseed oil is highly recommended for indoor oven seasoning (less smoking). Best of luck to you in your outdoor cooking adventures. Dan Semper Fi-cus

They are lovely, Cherbo! I love the color. A friend of mine used Paton's Classic Wool in beige to try KoolAid dyeing and it turned out very nicely. We did a mini workshop on it in my kitchen. It was pretty amusing seeing that what we were cooking was... wool :) Socks are my favorite thing to knit, too. These are fun to make and felt: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter02/PATTfuzzyfeet.html I posted them on another message here. I have made several pair of them for relatives (and myself) and now get requests. They are very yummy and cozy. Diane

Right but that type of campfire is prohibited in every rv camp ground we have stayed at. Unless it's in a very contained metal enclosure they would consider it an open fire. Now down on the beach itself in some areas you can do that since there's not much to catch fire. I was just checking out several other rv campgrounds we have been considering in other areas and each of those also prohibited fires of any kind other than in a contained metal bbq grill. Their liability increases dramatically if they allowed anything else. Now in boondocking situations if the landowner permits it you might be able to get away with that kind of cooking. The drought conditions in many states would likely determine the safety. Containment is the key, if completely contained it can be much easier to extinguish and control. It doesn't take much to burn an rv to the ground fast that's probably why they have gotten so strict with the rules. They do have those kinds of cook outs on the cattle trails and ranches and the competitions that are at big campgrounds for those events. We have been to a few of those years ago and it was wonderful. Great food especially the cobblers made in the cast iron Dutch ovens with the coals on top.

I gathered most materials suggested here laying on the countertop awaited to be experimented one after another. I normally don't use DAWN. But my regular dish liquid did not work, so I followed some suggestions here and bought a DAWN Platinum 4x More Grease Cleaning Power. I asked my husband, whose arms are full of muscles, to use regular scrubbing pad with DAWN. It did not work at all. Then, he still used DAWN with a steel wool. The grime was getting loose gradually, although not quick. OK, so DAWN with steel wool worked! YEAH! I don't bother to try others, then, since this one worked.