Restoring some heirloom cast iron

[camp_cookie]

My mother recently gave me a small skillet and a griddle that had belonged to her maternal grandmother. She found them in in storage in our old dairy barn. I have no idea how long they were there, but it was most likely 30 years or so.

Here are a few before pictures of the skillet:

and the griddle:

I washed them as best as I could with detergent and then washed them with Coke a few times. I put them in my gas grill at full blast (around 700 degrees) and burned all of the old seasoning off of them and washed them some more with some of the Camp Chef cast iron cleaner. I also used a flexible putty knife to get off stubborn little bits of the old seasoning. I coated them with the Camp Chef conditioner and seasoned them. The griddle has received a second seasoning with Crisco.

After:

I don't know who manufactured them. The "3A" mark on the skillet is the only mark on either of them.

This square skillet was my maternal grandmothers and is the skillet in which she always made cornbread for me. It was unused for many until my mother gave it to me. The seasoning was beginning to flake off, and it was beginning to rust. I decided that it needed to be cleaned and re-seasoned. I used the same procedure as outlined above. It is seasoned with Crisco. Nothing on it indicates the manufacturer.

Before:

After:

They will all probably need to be seasoned more, but they are in much better shape now.

 

[Katie H]

Well, camp_cookie, first, you have some treasures. What you have to do is to get them clean and seasoned.

My first response would be to PM Uncle Bob and ask him what to do. Be sure you send the pictures in your PM to him.

Best wishes. The pieces CAN be brought back to their former glory.

 

[camp_cookie]

I made this same post on a few cast iron collector/user forums, and the pieces have since been identified as being made by the Birmingham Stove and Range foundry, which makes sense as my grandmother lived just outside of Birmingham until she was 13 and came to GA. The BS&R also had a foundry in Atlanta. I don't know if the pieces were brought with the family from AL or obtained once they got to GA, but at least now I know who produced them.

 

[Katie H]

Well, now, what you have to do is to enjoy using them. There's nothing like cast-iron cooking!!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Wow, that's amazing, cookie! Thanks for taking the time to take and post the pics. This topic comes up regularly.

 

[AMSeccia]

I am amazed at how well you cleaned those up. Treasures to be sure, enjoy!
Whatcha gonna cook?

 

[dianabell]

Wow. What a transformation. They're beautiful. I never knew about the techniques you used. I'll try to remember them. I cleaned a small very rusty skillet that was my mother-in-laws. I put it in my oven and turned it on self-clean. I found out later I could have warped the oven racks at such a high temperature. I like your gas grill technique. I then used salt and lemon juice and a wire brush 2 or 3 times. Then re-seasoned.

 

[CeliacFamilyCook]

Thanks so much for posting this! DH and I were going through some of our old boxes (you know how it is, they move with you and never get unpacked) and we found an old wagner ware cast iron skillet. It wasn't in horrible shape, but definitely needed some TLC. I wasn't sure how to go about it. This helps a ton!

 

[sparrowgrass]

Beautiful job!!

 

[Uncle Bob]

Looks good Cookie!! Now go fry some Chicken, Fry some bacon, Fry some Fish!! CI loves Fried foods!!!

 

[camp_cookie]

Thanks to all for the kind words.

I'm looking forward to cooking with these pieces and sharing family history and memories with my little girl.

 

[Constance]

I have a nice collection of cast iron in the basement, including a wonderful chicken fryer, which is about 6" deep and has a lid. It's dry down there, so nothing is rusty, but it's filthy.
I can't use the stuff because it's just too darned heavy for me anymore, and I suppose I could clean it up and sell it, but I prefer to hang on to it, just in case we should ever have an emergency where we have to cook over an open fire. You just never know.

 

[Bigjim68]

Looks like you did a good job in rescuing some family heirlooms. Some of my cast iron is from my grandmothers, and most the rest of it was bought at yard sales for almost nothing. I probably would have passed on skillets as bad as your's looked. Now I will look at them as restorable. A wire brush chucked in a drill works wonders on sust. Never tried the coke route, what does it do? I always remove the seasoning on resale cast iron as I have no idea where it has been or what has been in it. I have a square skillet similar to the one you have, which does double duty as a bacon press on a cast iron grill. I hope that these pans came with your grandmothers recipes for corn bread and fried chicken. Grandmas recipes in her cookware always tastes better.

 

[jabbur]

This thread inspired me to drag out the 3 skillets I have and get them into cooking condition. Well, the one is a small "ashtray" size but it was in the worst condition. After removing all the gunk and getting down to the original finish, I foung that my larger skillet is a Griswold #8. The smaller one doesn't have a brand on the bottom and is just the right size for 2 eggs. I've reseasoned them and they are looking and cooking good! Now I want to look for a good griddle and a 12" skillet. Will have to hit thrift stores and estate sales this spring. Thanks for the instructions on restoring cast iron.

 

[C Fowler]

I just received a skillet from my Aunt - I was wondering if it was possible to fix it up. Now I know and will get to work on it.

I love cast iron for cooking on the stove top and I always use it for biscuits in the oven.

I have a lot of the All Clad Copper Core pots and use them all the time, but some times you just need a good 'ol cast iron skillet.

 

[Leolady]

You did a good job on those pans, and have some excellent photos.