Old cast iron? Advise?

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Angie

Head Chef
Joined
Feb 26, 2006
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Iowa!!!
I have never owned cast iron...mom was so against it (bad bad bad..fat, etc). I've been wanting one for some time now.

My good friend said she has one for me. Her mother in law passed away a year ago and my friend's grandson has taken over living in the house. To make a long story short, this house is probably less than 800 sq ft and was packed to the rafters with "stuff".

I guess there are at least another 5-7 cast iron skillets in the house. For some reason I think they are hanging on the wall but that might just be an image I made up in my head..:mellow:

Anyway, I've read a lot about the care if cast iron on this site.........but I'm wondering, if it IS hanging on the wall and full of dust, etc, what is the proper care?

Thanks!!!
 
Oh, grab it and go. This is EXACTLY what you want--one with a big head start.
. All you have to do is wash it off and start using it. Fry your bacon in it, do your fried chicken in it. Use it every chance you can for frying. Then rinse it out well with hot water wipe it dry, and put a very light coating of vegetable oil on it and put it in the oven on 300* for 10 minutes.
OR if the seasoning is good, you don't need to retreat it with the oil. And if the seasoning is as good as mine is, I have washed it with soap and water too when absolutely necessary.
 
Thanks! I've wanted one for ages and I figure a good ol' seasoned one is PERFECT!
 
How you initially care for it will depend on what condition it is in. grab as many as you can and then come back and tell us what they look like. We can walk you through what you will need to do.

If they are in perfect condition then all you will need to do is risnce them in hot water and wipe with a paper towel to remove and dust and dirt. that is the best case scenario.

The worste case scenario is that there is rust, in which case you will need to sand the rust off and reseason the pan.

Either way, you will be happy with what you get for sure!
 
And if they say Griswold, or Wagner on the back (especially Griswold), do a little happy jig. But whatever the brand, enjoy them like a good friend.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Howdy. I have had an old cast frypan for years and have to admit that the cleaning issue got to me so it got stashed at the back of the cupboard. It was only recently in a clean out that I decided that if it deserved space in the house I had to use it. wikipedia.org has a section on reseasoning cast iron which was useful - although I am yet to actually get on and do it. Having recently found DC, I will be having a good search here before I do anything with it!
 
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