An old guy at the Tucson forge meetup saw my setup and said, 'You're just cooking the top, son.' He showed me how a deeper bed holds heat way better. Anyone else run into this?
Ever feel like you've been doing something wrong for so long it just feels normal? I bet your metal was coming out all weird and you just thought that's how it goes. Like trying to cook a steak on a pan that's only warm in one spot. That old guy probably saved you years of bad projects.
Wait, did that old guy actually show you the difference between a hot pan and a screaming hot one? That's what did it for me, honestly. I kept cooking on pans that weren't hot enough because I was scared of smoke or burning things. Once I let the pan get properly ripping hot and waited for the metal to stop steaming, my steaks came out totally different. Would've saved me a lot of tough, gray meat if someone had just told me years ago...