anyone use cast iron skillets and etc?

[recon1s14]

My my this is a surprise, I didn't think anybody else used them I only use cast iron skillets for my cooking, for one reason and one reason only...flavor, and because they can be used as a very handy SD tool but mostly for flavor hehehe

[powernoodle]

care to give details on how you did this?

Its been a few years. I remember checking out the process on the interweb, and then coating the pan in some kind of oil. Maybe it was Crisco, but I don't recall. I think that some oils/fats may be better than others for this application. I recall also that high heat was recommended. I tried it in the oven, but it was too smoky. So I baked the heck out of it in my gas grill. Thats about the best I can tell you.

You might check out something like this: link.

[555]

I haven't seasoned pans in the oven for years now. I find cooking with olive oil seasons pans as well if not better than oven seasoning with Crisco. We use cast iron most of the time, other when needing a sauce pot. Indoors and over open wood fire outdoors.
Wagner, Erie and mostly Lodge. BTW with use, rough Lodge pans will turn to a smooth non-stick finish.

[Phydeaux]

Most of my cast iron skillets were garage sale finds 25+ years ago. I got an 11" skillet dumpster diving at the first apartment my wife and I lived at after we got married. It was caked up with bacon bits, bacon grease, burnt bacon..... soaked it in hot water and scrubbed it out. Almost 30 years later, still one of my favorite pans.

I also use a carbon steel wok that my dad got me when I was in college.

Ric

[rocketbomb]

I've never really had trouble with my Lodge stuff after getting a good seasoning on it. I cook almost exclusively with cast iron and carbon steel cookware (glass and stainless do have their place in certain instances, though I use glass mostly for baking).

This is a skillet I found in a pile of scrap metal.


Have also a Lodge 8" skillet with lid, 5qt Lodge pot with lid, and a few Paderno carbon steel items-- one each 6" and 9" round baking pan and a very nice 12" skillet.

[hung-solo]

here are the final results (plus weeks of cooking with them) the #8 pan and #5 pan i showed earlier in this thread. the #6, mom has.

#5






#8







sorry for the bad pic quality. took it with my droid x under a light. should have turned the light off

[hung-solo]

I've never really had trouble with my Lodge stuff after getting a good seasoning on it. I cook almost exclusively with cast iron and carbon steel cookware (glass and stainless do have their place in certain instances, though I use glass mostly for baking).

This is a skillet I found in a pile of scrap metal.


Have also a Lodge 8" skillet with lid, 5qt Lodge pot with lid, and a few Paderno carbon steel items-- one each 6" and 9" round baking pan and a very nice 12" skillet.

so you never had those eggs stick to the pan real bad. esp on those peppled surface? do you use crisco to lube the pan.. lol i said lube.... i also have a lodge logic 5qt with lid. just never really cook with it. i need to do many crisco oven runs with it. its pretty damn rough even with factory seasoning (it also has the pebble finish that i do not like)

[hung-solo]

Its been a few years. I remember checking out the process on the interweb, and then coating the pan in some kind of oil. Maybe it was Crisco, but I don't recall. I think that some oils/fats may be better than others for this application. I recall also that high heat was recommended. I tried it in the oven, but it was too smoky. So I baked the heck out of it in my gas grill. Thats about the best I can tell you.

You might check out something like this: link.

i will check it out. thanks noodle... i do not recommend doing the oven cleaner mess. too many chems. just do the oven cleaning method or your grilling method. its smoky as hell but at least you are not getting chems into the iron. just me being picky

[hung-solo]

Sorry to toss you off your feed there, our pans go back on the stove for a heat up after a good scrubbing under hot water in the sink. Nothing left on them from old Sounder. You NC guys sure live sanitary. LOL You should spend some time with the jackpine savages, you would really see some stuff.

we have our own locals who live "rough" ie" Appalachia. not to mention the few reservations we have. yes i try to live sanitary

[rocketbomb]

so you never had those eggs stick to the pan real bad. esp on those peppled surface? do you use crisco to lube the pan.. lol i said lube.... i also have a lodge logic 5qt with lid. just never really cook with it. i need to do many crisco oven runs with it. its pretty damn rough even with factory seasoning (it also has the pebble finish that i do not like)

I generally use canola oil, olive oil (rarely), or butter on my cast iron. The quality of the seasoning for me has made far more difference than the roughness of the pan in things sticking. A smooth pan can be much nicer to cook in though, depending on what you're doing.

[hung-solo]

i am stoked.. so my parents went to my grandfather's beach house for the weekend. he built it in the 60's. my grandmother must have taken some of her old cast iron skillets there. i told mom to bring em back so i can clean them up. 60+ yrs of gunk on it... come to find out the one she brought back is a Griswold #8. those things can go for $40 and up. i have seen some go for $80 in good condition. Griswold was one of the best cast iron skillets made. they used some really good iron ore and the more you cook on it the more glass like feel it has on the inside of the pan.. awesome! ill take some pics in the condition its in now, after a 3 hr oven self clean bake, and after... i am excited about this pan.

[Blais]

I love these cast-iron threads. I've got an awesome dutch oven and 8 or so skillets of all different sizes that see regular use. In fact, I don't own any non-stick or stainless frying pans.
For you guys that live in towns with transfer stations (dumps) instead of curbside pickup, you can probably obtain quite a few pans if you keep a lookout . Of all the cast iron pans I own, I've purchased exactly one.

[Codger_64]

Griswold skillet quality varies with age (era). The earliest (pre-1890) were marked "ERIE". The logo style is the cue to dates after that. The later ironware were no better than Wagner of the same time period since they were made in the Griswold molds by Wagner (post 1957). Main differences will be smoothness of finish, floor and wall thicknesses and fineness of mold line finishes. There are other lesser known brands of bygone days that are just as good, mostly found regionally. Here I occasionally see Martin Stove & Range Co., Florence Alabama... my favorite after Griswold. Fanner, Crusoe, Puritan, Columbus are some others. I have a Lodge and it isn't nearly the quality of my Griswold and Martins. IIRC, Lodge is the only brand being cast here in the U.S. now. Maybe the Cracker Barrell ironware is made by them.

[hung-solo]

Griswold skillet quality varies with age (era). The earliest (pre-1890) were marked "ERIE". The logo style is the cue to dates after that. The later ironware were no better than Wagner of the same time period since they were made in the Griswold molds by Wagner (post 1957). Main differences will be smoothness of finish, floor and wall thicknesses and fineness of mold line finishes. There are other lesser known brands of bygone days that are just as good, mostly found regionally. Here I occasionally see Martin Stove & Range Co., Florence Alabama... my favorite after Griswold. Fanner, Crusoe, Puritan, Columbus are some others. I have a Lodge and it isn't nearly the quality of my Griswold and Martins. IIRC, Lodge is the only brand being cast here in the U.S. now. Maybe the Cracker Barrell ironware is made by them.

all of the griswolds are very good up until wagner bought them in 57. even then they are still better than today's crap with the rough interiors. i just purchases some old irons off ebay for decent prices except for one. ill post pics once i get them in. they will be in somewhat rough shape but i am going to soak them in lye water for a week, scrub them down, then soak in 50-50 white vineger solution to help rid the rust, scrub them down and start the seasoning process..

what i see a lot of around here are old lodges like what i have pics of above, BS&R like above (Birmingham Stove and Range), Wagners and Griswolds. I am stoked about the Gris #8 i just inherited. Its been sitting in the lye bath for 5 days. I may pull it out this evening and start scrubbing.

what i ordered was an antique dutch oven, i think its an unmarked wagner #8 with self basting lid. i purchased 2 10 inch unmarked wagners one with lid (dates approx 1960's with smooth interior --- they will be my camping pans). i also purchased a 7 inch Wagner from the 40's-50's pre Griswold purchase (Sydney O's).

i have the iron bug so bad i cant stand it

[hung-solo]

I love these cast-iron threads. I've got an awesome dutch oven and 8 or so skillets of all different sizes that see regular use. In fact, I don't own any non-stick or stainless frying pans.
For you guys that live in towns with transfer stations (dumps) instead of curbside pickup, you can probably obtain quite a few pans if you keep a lookout . Of all the cast iron pans I own, I've purchased exactly one.

post up some pics! thats what this thread is for

[Daddyo16]

Nothing like a mountain man breakfast cooked over an open flame in a cast iron skillet.

[willseeyalater]

For cleaning the built up carbon and food crud there a simpler way to get it over and done. Build up a decent campfire and as it is winding down place your pan(s) in the coals and let it burn them clean. Leave the irons in the coals until the next morning and fish them out to cool. When you can handle them take a soft bristle brush to them in a pan of warm soapy dishwater. They should come out of the process a flat grey tone. From there you begin the seasoning with light cooking oils and gentle heat cycles either on the stove top or in the oven. Wipe a light coat on and paper towel of the extra, bring it up to hot and let it cool then more oil and heat. Eventually you will have to try an egg fried in butter to see how it is working, better yet use some bacon or sausage first then the egg. That will be a good excuse to whomp up a batch of biscuits. Isn't this fun? Repeat every Sunday morning for the rest of your life.

[hung-solo]

For cleaning the built up carbon and food crud there a simpler way to get it over and done. Build up a decent campfire and as it is winding down place your pan(s) in the coals and let it burn them clean. Leave the irons in the coals until the next morning and fish them out to cool. When you can handle them take a soft bristle brush to them in a pan of warm soapy dishwater. They should come out of the process a flat grey tone. From there you begin the seasoning with light cooking oils and gentle heat cycles either on the stove top or in the oven. Wipe a light coat on and paper towel of the extra, bring it up to hot and let it cool then more oil and heat. Eventually you will have to try an egg fried in butter to see how it is working, better yet use some bacon or sausage first then the egg. That will be a good excuse to whomp up a batch of biscuits. Isn't this fun? Repeat every Sunday morning for the rest of your life.

that is another way to get the carbon off. too much trouble for me lol.. i have lye on hand and water.. works very well and in fact thats what was recommended on the griswold website. its the safest way to clean old iron. either way whatever works for you. i totally agree on the egg comment. it took me a good while to get to that point from scratch but when it gets there its totally worth it!.

one word on bacon and sausage. the sugar in it will stick to the pan some regardless of seasoning. when i start cooking with bacon ill scrub the pan afterwards (if the pan has new seasoning on it). keep the grease and use the grease for oven bake seasonings.

[hung-solo]

so here are 2 pans i just got. i paid too much for the Wagner large skillet and as you see i did a half assed job of getting all the old mess off. so ill have to re do the pan. see below..... btw it cooks pretty good and its so light. i love the pan just need to do it right from the begininng









this below is a Wagner deep chicken fryer. got it for $20... nice pan






i have 4 more pieces coming in. wife is gonna be pissed!

[Codger_64]

There are quite a few cleaning methods. When I got my last Griswold, it had so much gunk baked on the bottom and sides that the logo, model and casting numbers were just barely visible. I had it cleaned, cured and cooking that night. I chucked up a bronze wire brush in my Bosch drill and stripped it to metal in no time with no chemicals and no damage. The wire brush got into the deep logo, the handle groves and wall/floor angle with no problem. It got the carbon and the rust.

When shopping cast ware, don't forget the cornbread stick pans and the divided cornbread pan.