2 cast iron cookware questions

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subfuscpersona

Sous Chef
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these 2 question fall in the realm of idle curiousity on my part but I'm betting that there are cast iron gurus out there who know the answers

1] why do some cast iron skillets have a heat ring on the bottom (it doesn't seem high enough to make any appreciable difference)? What's the purpose? My smaller skillets (#6 and down) don't have them but the #8 and #10 do.

2] what's the difference in wagner cast iron markings between "Wagner original", "Wagner Ware" and "Wagner Ware Sydney"? Were these all made by the same company? Possibly the same company at different periods? Possibly made in different countries (does "Sydney" possibly refer to Sydney Austrailia)?
 
I hope somebody answers about the ring. I've always wondered about that.
 
Hello psiguy :)

Hello psiguy!
I've just joined, and am happy to see that you are here.
Look forward to learning from you, as I have on the previous board.
Yours,
Liza
 
Re: Hello psiguy :)

lizamay said:
Hello psiguy!
I've just joined, and am happy to see that you are here.
Look forward to learning from you, as I have on the previous board.
Yours,
Liza

I'm here to learn too! Glad to see you here too.

Now, if somebody would clear up this mystery, I just might be able to have a good night's sleep... :D
 
Cast Iron Cookware....

The "cadillac" cast cookware in Canada is "Lodge"....if you want to check out there site it is...www.lodgemfg.com
I cannot remember if the have that ring on the bottom but I could find this out if they are of interest to you. :)
 
I love my cast iron ware also. I have ten and eight inch skillets, a grill pan, griddle, and a Dutch oven. I love to make frittatas in cast iron, they come out so good. I can remember my mom making shredded hash browns from scratch in her cast iron skillet when I was a kid. We always used to take that skillet with us camping. All of mine are also "Lodge" brand.
 
Bangbang said:
I always wondered why they are made of Iron.

Probably for two reasons - ecominics and durability. Iron was cheap and more durable than copper. It became popular somewhere in 1600-1700 after an Englishman adapted the Dutch "sand mold casting" method used for brass to iron - hence "cast iron". Which "might" be where Dutch oven's got their name. Low cost and durability surely made it attractive to pioneers moving West.

Aluminum didn't really exist until about 1825 - and I don't know about when it became affordable or used for cookware.
 
aluminum needed electricity to refine economically so it became a 20th century metal. It also has to be heavy cast and polished( like magnalite) or hard anodysed (acid electro dipped) to make it non reactive, and all that made it more expensive than cast iron.
 
Robo410 said:
aluminum needed electricity to refine economically so it became a 20th century metal. It also has to be heavy cast and polished( like magnalite) or hard anodysed (acid electro dipped) to make it non reactive, and all that made it more expensive than cast iron.

Anodised is a process that confuses me. Most references to the process involve a type of electrical deposition of material to the surface strata of the base metal. And anodise certainly could come from anode, the electricall positive portion of the circuit. Gold plating uses a similar technique, using a chemical to disolve the gold, which is used as the cathode, or emmiter, and the base metal used as the cathode. As electrons flow from the cathode to the anode, the gold molecules are deposited on the base metal and become molecularly joined to that metal.

What confuses me about the process is personal experience. I worked for Lockheed Missiles & Space, on a contract to overhaul one of the U.S. Navy's Deep Submersible Rescue Vehicle (D.S.R.V). When the electronics portion of the project was completed, I was sent to perform corrosion control on various hull and structural componants. Part of that control was the anodization of aluminum parts, followed by painting with epoxy primers and paints. The anodizing was accomplished by disolving a powder in ordinary fresh water, and then painting the aluminum with the resultant solution. It changed the aluminum color and created a hard-anodized finish that resisted salt water corrosion. The paint was applied to add further protection from the elements. No electricity was used in the process, except to power the compressor for the paint guns, grinders, etc.

Now I know this has nothing to do with cooking, but is merely the ramblings of a curious engineering type. I would hypothesize that there is both an electro-chemical technique, and simply a chemical technique. After all, it is by electrical eddy currents that base metals corrode in the first place, supplied by hte electrical properties of dissimilar metals, oxygen and the prescence of either an acidic or alkaline electrolyte (think battery). :wacko:

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Unreal! I was curious as to what a “heat ring” is for on older cast iron piece, and Google led me here. DC has it all!!!! :LOL:

Thanks for posting that link Michael!
 
Question About Skillet Markey " SIDNEY"

I have a question i hope someone can help me Answer.
I have a 10" Cast Iron Old Skillet Marked "Sidney"and 8 stamped on it also.
Is this a Really old Sidney Skillet?
An Imation?
HELP????
 
If you cant get an answer at DC try here Wagner and Griswold Society

I don't know much.

It is probably a Wagner

The later Wagners I believe are marked WagnerWare with a Sidney-0 below.

The older one often have "Wagner" I am not sure if just "Sidney" makes it even older or not.

I would say it is at the very least pre-WWII maybe older.

in either case it is probably a very good skillet... better than any new one you could buy today.
 
I have a question i hope someone can help me Answer.
I have a 10" Cast Iron Old Skillet Marked "Sidney"and 8 stamped on it also.
Is this a Really old Sidney Skillet?
An Imation?
HELP????

hi.
to the best of my knowledge, if it says Sidney in cursive script, it was made by the Sidney Hollow ware Company, maybe between 1886 and 1887.
that company was bought out by Wagner. i forget when.
it it says Sidney alone, no wagner ware or wagner also on there, it was made by Wagner, after the acquistion.
and of course if it says sidney in conjunction with wagner or wagner ware..you know the rest.
sorry if i was not of a great help. i don't know a lot. hopefully this will help some.
 
I am lucky that family handed down Griswold cast iron. There are the lodge pots and roasting pan and then a perforated cast iron griller, panini pan, and large round pizza pan.
 

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