Winston Smith

Considering modern cast iron is much rougher and will accept a polymerised finish,I can't imagine your pan won't season well. Look like new? No but perfectly serviceable.

I'm extremely skeptical. First thing though is that I can believe that the KA is the best all around performer. I've use used them for decades and for light jobs no problem, but for good sized batches of bread I think not.I have a 6 qt Pro that I've had to fix 3 times for busted metal gears. I wound up buying a Bosch Universal which has become my "go to" bread machine and that would be for bagels and pizza, both using high gluten flour. My favorite formula is a slight variation of Jeffrey Hamelman's bagels using a boiling lye dip and I've done a triple batch twice, although it's usually double. That's where CI loses credibility with "the KA was the only machine which didn't bog down." I just don't buy that. Since I bought my machine I've gone through more than 100 lb high gluten and 75 lbs King Arthur bread flour in about a years time and it runs like new. Is it better than the KA? No. The Pro is better for most other things and kneading less than a full batch produces sub optimal results. It's for bread, lots and lots of stiff "mixer killer" dough and I simply can't cram enough in to break the thing. CI gives it a 1/2 star for kneading. I don't think so.

What I do is boil the chestnuts to cook them then"X" cut while still hot. They should peel well for you while the shells are still steamy, but I like a toasty flavor from roasting. While I'm cutting I place a cast iron pan on high heat and set my oven to high broil. After all are ready I put them into the pan and into the oven until the shells crisp. I've found this method produces a tender nutmeat with good texture and taste and easy to remove shells.