My buddy waited a year for "Vagabond" lol.

Honestly, fifteen degrees is a huge deal with gray iron, especially on something thick like a cover. That small drop changes how the metal flows into the thin sections of the mold. Seen it myself on gear castings, the iron just doesn't fuse right. Jerry had it spot on with the full preheat.

Read an old shop manual that stressed the same point. It said to use a small torch tip and circle each hole slowly until the metal just starts to change color. Going past that cherry red is where folks get into trouble with warping.

My old 85mm lens on a tracker gave me the Horsehead Nebula last year, same deal. It's all about that total light capture.

Bet your grandma enjoyed that little kitchen experiment. Salt cookies sound like a great way to ruin a party. I once grabbed cornstarch instead of powdered sugar for a frosting. It looked perfect, then tasted like chalky glue. That's a mistake you only make once. Now I'm paranoid and taste-test every ingredient like a weirdo before it goes in the bowl.