Funny spot Haha or boohoo

[Michael Carson]

Found me a WagnerWare 1220 square pan for corn bread at a yard sale.  It had a light surface rust area on the bottom where it had sat on some wet plastic. After looking it over and studying it I figured No Big Deal. No pitting, light rust so in the lye bath it went. Came out and the rust spot was very dark. Next step was scrubbing with Bar Keeper's Friend and stainless steel scrubby. I scrubbed until no more red rust would come off. The area still stayed darker than the rest of the pan. The first coat of oil blended well until I cooked the pan. And so far that is what continues. Is this normal?

[Cheryl Watson]

Scrubbing alone/BKF, will not remove rust completely, which is why we use a Vinegar bath or electrolysis AFTER the lye bath. (The BKF will help neutralize the lye).

In many instances, black spots may indicate buried, deeper pockets of red rust.
It is difficult to asses rust by visual inspection alone.

I would re-strip in the lye bath, and then do a de-rusting treatment with the objective of completely removing the remaining dark areas. :)

[Michael Carson]

Thank you Cheryl.
I am really pleased with the performance of the skillet cooking corn bread and posted in Too Many Chefs in the Kitchen.
May God bless us all,
Mike