Crazy for cast iron!

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by Mad Cook

Don't cook anything very acid in your unlined CI - it will ruin it.

(signed) One-Who-Knows (sob!)

I don't think you can ruin cast iron with anything short of a blast furnace

[Cooking Goddess]

Originally Posted by Mad Cook

Don't cook anything very acid in your unlined CI - it will ruin it.

(signed) One-Who-Knows (sob!)

Cast iron is never truly ruined, just in need of a good restoration...claims my daughter the Girl Scout/now Leader. She's young. Perhaps you could challenge her with your "oops".

[Steven c]

Originally Posted by Cooking Goddess

Cast iron is never truly ruined, just in need of a good restoration...claims my daughter the Girl Scout/now Leader. She's young. Perhaps you could challenge her with your "oops".

I would have to Agree with the above, but I wouldn't recommend throwing a thinner vintage one in a roaring Bon fire. It might come out like a Pringle potato chip. There are better ways, and no sandblaster.

[Steven c]

Cooking Goddess your daughter is 100% right sometimes a neglected piece just needs a little TLC and it's up and running again:)

After pics with a couple of coats of seasoning.

[Steven c]

Last pic

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by Steven c

Last pic

Nice job, Steve. Looks brand new!

[Steven c]

Thanks Andy, that skillet is about 75 years old and the one I've been using lately is a tad over 100. Both now are black as coal and slick as a whistle. I baked a wonderful cherry banana bread in the one pictured here a while back. They are a very versatile piece of cookware and your only limited to your imagination with a well seasoned piece.

[Addie]

Oh how I wish I could use a cast iron again. But my hands tell me NO in a very loud voice called pain. I have trouble lifting the coffee pot when it is full. I am seriously considering an eight inch one. After all I am only cooking for two. And most of the time it is only one. Pirate cooks for himself.

[Cooking Goddess]

Originally Posted by Steven c

Cooking Goddess your daughter is 100% right sometimes a neglected piece just needs a little TLC and it's up and running again:)

After pics with a couple of coats of seasoning.

Of course she's right, Steven. She's my daughter, she's perfect...and yes, I'm biased. Good to see you back here at DC. That is a beautiful, old CI pan you have. My oldest pans are just a little older than our kids...about 37 years old. The pans are "about". I know exactly how old the kids are.

As a Girl Scout co-leader, she pretty much takes the cast iron in at the end of the Scout year and cleans it up to get ready for the next year...which is pretty much right away, since the troop camps several times during the summer. It doesn't always get the proper cleaning when they camp since facilities are sometimes limited...and the fact that the other leader drives around with it in the back of her van most of the year and doesn't, um, love it like Loverly does.

[caseydog]

I have two kinds of cast iron cookware. My plain cast iron is antiques Griswold, and I only use it for certain "special" cooks. I also have coated Le Crueset cast iron, that I can use for anything, and wash with soap and water. I can even pop it in the dishwasher, if I feel lazy.

To be completely honest, the only advantage to the Griswold is emotional, and it looks really cool as a serving vessel for guests after the cook. My Griswold #8 is my go-to for cornbread.

CD

[Caslon]

Originally Posted by Addie

Oh how I wish I could use a cast iron again. But my hands tell me NO in a very loud voice called pain. I have trouble lifting the coffee pot when it is full.

I use my 8" CI pan more than my 12" CI pan now. It can easily cook for two.

If you don't cook for more than two, why bother lifting that heavy 12" CSI?

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Caslon

I use my 8" CI pan more than my 12" CI pan now. It can easily cook for two.

If you don't cook for more than two, why bother lifting that heavy 12" CSI?

I think I will look into it next month. A monies this month are already allocated for bills and other expenses.

[Caslon]

Addie, it's only a matter of time before "Tommy Copper" ads appear for the wrist. They have one for the knee and the elbow already. I thought the copper infused into the weave was therapeutic, but all it does is reduce odor. Cleaning my 12" cast iron is a pain these days. Too small a sink, too heavy a pan, lol.

[jd_1138]

Originally Posted by Caslon

Addie, it's only a matter of time before "Tommy Copper" ads appear for the wrist. They have one for the knee and the elbow already. I thought the copper infused into the weave was therapeutic, but all it does is reduce odor. Cleaning my 12" cast iron is a pain these days. Too small a sink, too heavy a pan, lol.

I just leave ours on the stovetop. I very rarely lift it. Usually cleaning it is just a matter of wiping it out. Then the next time I need to use it, I turn the heat up high and it kills any germs that could possible be in there. If it's seasoned, usually a quick wipeout will clean it.

If it's super dirty you can pour a half cup of water in it while it's about medium in heat, and then wipe it out with a rag. And leave the heat on, so that the water cooks off so it doesn't rust the skillet.

[Farmer Jon]

I use cast iron all the time. I have quite a collection. My cousins family and mine went on a camping trip together. He pulled his pan out and asked me to help him reseason It. It wasn't bad but had a ton of buildup on the outside. Sure I will do it. I left for a while and when I came back he had built a big fire and threw it in there. Wouldent have been so bad but it was only half in the fire so only half was bare metal. In short he ruined a good pan that was our grandmother's. I chewed him out and he said someone told him Thats the right way to do it. Its not. I was pissed. I told him how he might be able to fix it and that he could do it himself. This coming weekend is our first camping trip of the year. I'm interested in seeing if he ever did anything with it.

Do not put you cast iron in a fire.

[Addie]

Originally Posted by Caslon

Addie, it's only a matter of time before "Tommy Copper" ads appear for the wrist. They have one for the knee and the elbow already. I thought the copper infused into the weave was therapeutic, but all it does is reduce odor. Cleaning my 12" cast iron is a pain these days. Too small a sink, too heavy a pan, lol.

It is not my wrist. It is my fingers. I had cortisone injections in them twice so far. Did you ever see pictures of gnarled fingers? That is what my fingers look like. I can no longer make a fist.

Those ads have been around forever. Copper is supposed to be the great healer. Hogwash!

[Stock Pot]

Time is on your side with cast iron. My best seasoned frying pan is over 40 years old. It just says "Made in USA" on the bottom and has the number 8 on the handle. Cast iron is one of those things that get better with time. Also, I've noticed that the new pans come with a slightly rougher surface than they used to. I used to work in a cast iron foundry so I know something about this. Better castings back in the day- more slag removed from the molten metal back then, I guess. Slag floats to the top and we used to rake it off with long handled wooden things that would occasionally catch fire during this process. The molds may have been smoother back then, too, or maybe they milled the final product smoother.

Also, consider carbon steel pans. They come very smooth and are easy to season. Carbon steel has heat transfer and heat retention almost identical to cast iron, and it is lighter to handle.

[Bigjim68]

Originally Posted by Stock Pot

Time is on your side with cast iron. My best seasoned frying pan is over 40 years old. It just says "Made in USA" on the bottom and has the number 8 on the handle. Cast iron is one of those things that get better with time. Also, I've noticed that the new pans come with a slightly rougher surface than they used to. I used to work in a cast iron foundry so I know something about this. Better castings back in the day- more slag removed from the molten metal back then, I guess. Slag floats to the top and we used to rake it off with long handled wooden things that would occasionally catch fire during this process. The molds may have been smoother back then, too, or maybe they milled the final product smoother.

Also, consider carbon steel pans. They come very smooth and are easy to season. Carbon steel has heat transfer and heat retention almost identical to cast iron, and it is lighter to handle.

Your #8 no name is most likely Lodge, 8 is the size number although it has nothing to do with the size in inches.

They were not sold as a rough casting as CI is today, but milled after casting.

Sears sold a lot of skillets marked this way up to about 35 years ago. IMO they are light years ahead of Lodge of today.

Sears sold a lot of these

[Stock Pot]

That makes sense. It was a long time ago, but I seem to remember buying that pan at a Montgomery Wards in Rutland VT. Wards competed with Sears and sold a lot of the same brand name stuff.

[roadfix]

For those who are crazy about CI there are a bunch of CI groups on FB that you can join.
I belong to one such group, Cast Iron Grills and Hibachi World.