I'm sure all of the above methods are the correct way or the way you were taught, as I do. I have my mom's 6" fry pan, her Dutch Oven and her 12" fry pan, that she used for over 50 years. She used them in her 2 restaurants and at home and I used them in my nightclub & later in my restaurant back in the late 60's thru the mid 80's. I'm still using them of course and my mom's method has always worked. After use, I wash in warm water with a little dish soap, rinse well and dry them. Using scraps of 100% cotton, (I save old T shirts).. I apply some Veg. oil on the cloth and in a circular motion..rub the oil into the grooves of the entire pan. I put it in my preheated oven at 250 degrees for 15 min., turn it off and let the pan remain in the oven. They have served me well all of these years.

Bunnyman, If you want to read a bit about the chemistry involved in seasoning a pan you will find that information buried somewhere in the post that I referenced above. It is a rather long post with lots of useful information. I am a retired chemist and know what I am talking about. I am an excellent cook and know how to apply science to my cooking. One day I intend to publish a cookbook and it will contain a chapter on the care and seasoning of cast iron. My love of cast iron began many years ago when I purchased a large cast iron Gypsy pot for cooking Jambalaya outdoors. This first pot was a 12 gallon size. Now I own many other cast iron pots ranging in size from 1 gallon up to 25 gallons. That’s not counting all of my skillets, Dutch ovens, griddles, etc. And yes I do own and use lots of high carbon steel, stainless steel, glass, aluminum, and cast aluminum cookware. The only pot I can find that will hold the huge quantities of rice and meat that goes into cooking a batch of jambalaya is one that is made of cast iron. FYI, that 25 gallon pot will hold 40 pounds of rice along with 40 pounds of onions and 100 pounds of chicken, pork, and sausage. This will provide enough jambalaya for 320 servings. Yes, glass most certainly is a liquid which is contrary to what many people believe. To clean your warhorse glass frying pan use a product called DAWN POWER DISSOLVER and your scrubbing days will be over. You are correct in stating that copper oxide is poisonous. However, aluminum is completely harmless and not at all related to any old timer’s disease. If aluminum caused any health risk whatsoever, we would not be worldwide drinking trillions of beers and sodas from aluminum cans. Theresa, Cast iron pans manufactured prior to 1890 used a completely different casting process than what is used today. These old pans will have what is called a “gate mark” on the underside of the vessel……the gate mark will look like a line. These gate marks were formed as the molten metal was "poured" into the pan mold. These old pans are much tougher and the surface is naturally a lot smoother than pans you see today. After 1890, they began a using a process known as "injection" (i.e. no longer pouring) sand casting to manufacture iron pans. The smoothest of the pan was a function of the quality (fineness) of the sand used in the manufacturing process. Companies like Griswold and Wagner Sidney-O had very good quality control both in the composition of their pig iron and in their casting process. This allowed them to make their pans THINNER and lighter while still retaining its overall strength. These old companies then used labor intensive machines to polish the interior of the pans. Most of today’s’ cast iron pans are inferior in quality to these old pans. The Le Creuset pans are an exception. The quality of their castings is outstanding. Jim, If you look at cast iron under high magnification, you will see that it does contain some tiny pores. Those pores will indeed absorb oil. Those tiny pores become perfectly sealed when you season your pan properly (i.e. the HIGH TEMPERATURE procedure). Low temperature seasoning methods do not give the same excellent results of high temperature seasoning……you will get much different results at different seasoning temperatures. This is because the extent of polymerization (seasoning) if a function of temperature. What many cast iron users simply do not understand…. that if ANY trace of water is left in a poorly seasoned pan, that water will initiate rust. When iron combines with oxygen to from that rust…….its volume expands tremendously. Ever notice how rust lifts the paint off of metal??? Rust will likewise literally lift the seasoning off of the pan. Since this occurs on a "micro" scale, you will know this is occurring on your pan when you observe some of the seasoning actually lifting and falling off. To prevent this from happening......ALWAYS dry your pan using burner heat after cleaning a cast iron pan……..towel drying is not dry enough!! This is especially true with rough surfaced cast iron pans like Lodge. The surface of most cast modern day cast iron products, such as Lodge, is rather rough and will hold/trap water easily. A smooth surface is much superior to a rough surface when searing meat. Those pores will collect meat juices that will steam the meat and will keep the temperature at 212 degrees F until that steam has dissipated. Smooth surfaces do not allow any water to collect between the meat and the pan surface; therefore, the temperature that the meat sees is always way above 212. Different cooking temperatures allow different chemical reactions to occur. Most cooks are familiar with what happens when you put too much meat in the pan and try to sear it. The silky smooth surfaces of those old cast iron pans do not allow meat juices to accumulate under the meat that is being seared…….the result is the buildup of a much better fond. Better fond equals superior flavor in ANY dish.....especially in a Cajun brown jambalaya. Good cooks know that fond can separate a good tasting dish from an truly outstanding dish. Dan

I don't do tile for a living but I do have just such a tub, which I tiled around four years ago. I did not use any sheet metal (don't see the purpose), but I did use tar paper behind the cement board. I think stuck it to the (minimal) tub flange with something... a bit of roofing cement, maybe? I can't remember anymore. I used Hardiebacker instead of Durock for the tile substrate. I chamfered the back bottom edges of the Hardiebacker so that the inside faces of the backer could be a bit closer to the tub deck (since the flange is too thick to be pinched between backer and studs). I filled the gap between Hardiebacker and tub deck with clear siliconized latex caulk and let that caulk dry completely before proceeding with the tile work. After setting and grouting the tile, the vertical corners and the joint between tile and tub were caulked with sanded, color-matched caulk from the grout manufacturer. After a few days' curing time, the grout was sealed with Miracle 511. Four years later, the installation still looks great. If you caulk the space between the Durok / tile and the tub itself, how does the moisture get back to the tub? Grout and Durock / Hardiebacker are both moisture-permeable. They are "waterproof" in the sense that water doesn't hurt them, but they are not waterproof in the way that a fish tank is waterproof.

You must support the cast pipe between cut and hub before cutting. That strap near sani-tee doesn't look snug,wouldn't hurt to strap up good down there also. All that pipe look's ok and I can't emaging it glogging enough to stop a proper size snake. Are you sure the snake isn't too small causeing it to kink when meeting resistance at ell or glog?