Cast Iron Beckerheads, Sound Off!

Target had a final clearance on a 12in Lodge with a grab handle on the off side for 18$.....could not pass it up last week.

Cooked a wave of bacon on it, cleaned and then bacon greased 4 times until smoking on the bbq at 325 to jump start the coating.

Also picked up a huge 17in Lodge with 2 d handles for 45$ at a discount warehouse, don't know if it was the best deal but I have not seen one that size around here before and snapped it up.
I fits perfectly on my large Big Green Egg, looking forward to some charcoal cooking with it soon.

I have to recondition 2 pans and a dutch oven due to my wife's OVERNIGHT SOAKING with SOAP!!!!!!

She is now banned from doing anything with cast iron except putting them away after washing BY ME!
 
Brad "the butcher";13208985 said:
I have to recondition 2 pans and a dutch oven due to my wife's OVERNIGHT SOAKING with SOAP!!!!!!



Keel hauling, no too harsh,

50 lashes, no too messy,

Divorce, no too expensive,

Stern talking to, no it will just come back to haunt you.

I have walked this path myself many years ago!



I clean all my iron now too!
 
Last edited:
Yesterday, Sam's Club had a "bacon-encrusted pork loin" in the meat section reduced for quick sale. I was needed to recondition my non-camp-style Lodge dutch oven, so it seemed like a good idea to buy it. After scrubbing some of the gummed up oil off, I oiled it up and cooked the pork for a couple hours. The dutch oven is looking better, and dinner came out great.



It is the "other white meat." Of course loin doesn't have much going for it plain, but the bacon crust made up for it.



Made some gravy from the drippings and served it up with bulger and red quinoa, along with some chilled applesauce.



In other news, my wife bought me the Lodge Sportsman's Grill for Valentine's Day. I'll have to wait until next weekend to try it out though.

That got me poking around the Lodge website, and I noticed that they are making a cast iron wok now. I'd been wishing they made one for years, so am seriously tempted. Anyone have any experience with one?
 
From over at ESEE... I got permission to quote it here.

expatriated said:
Boring Alert: This will be a thread about old cookware. If you're bored easily, quit reading now.


In an effort to keep the other thread from getting too hijacked and because several of you have PM'd me asking me the same thing, I'm going to start a new thread here to address everything.


Recently found this pan in the antique store in the ghetto I go to:

IMG_1819_zpsc9601b00.jpg




IMG_1820_zps867152f5.jpg



IMG_1822_zpsdd7f90bc.jpg



IMG_1823_zpsb8c95c3d.jpg



IMG_1824_zps4bb2ea50.jpg



The tag said $15. I paid $10. I did not know what brand it was or what year it was from because of the build up of scale. I would put this at about 30 years of build up, more or less. Most people would not touch this and some would even just throw it out. I thought this one was really old because of the raised heat ring on the outside and also the shape of the handle support. So, I took a chance.

I have a restoration process that I do involving soaking in lye and other things.

After a week in lye, this is what she looked like:


IMG_1867_zps04cc408d.jpg



Turns out to be a NATIONAL pan. This pan was manufactured somewhere between 1914 and 1930, so roughly 90-100 years old. As you can see, there was some metal pitting on the bottom. No big deal really. I ground it down and smoothed it out. (SORRY, don't have an AFTER picture of that.)

IMG_1868_zps342fac79.jpg


Re-seasoned:

IMG_1872_zpsb7b3bfa2.jpg


IMG_1873_zps0b35c7ff.jpg



Back in use after a few decades. I have since cooked about 30 cakes of cornbread in it as well as a bunch of other things and it is well seasoned and cooks perfectly on the stove, in the stove or over a fire. Cooking with cast iron can take some getting used to but once you get it down, there is nothing better!

This one is good for another 100 years. Seriously, my great grandkids could be using this. They just don't wear out.


IMG_1875_zpsc2782703.jpg





***********RESTORATION PROCESS:
You got old pans?

If they are vintage and worth restoring, this is what you want to do:

Take a PLASTIC container. I use a Rubbermaid tote with a good lid to it.

Put the pan in it and fill it up with water a couple of inches above the top of the pan.

Add 100% Lye. It has to be LYE. Lye is hard to find now because it's used in Meth cooking. But, if you go to Lowe's, you can see some drain cleaner that says 100% Sodium Hydroxide. That's what you want. That's lye. Here's what I use:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_486650-331-H...ductId=4751600

Alternatively, you can get Jeff to send you some of his lye he uses at the farm in the "HOW TO COOK METH CLASSES".

Pour that into the water and stir it with a wood or plastic stick.

Make sure you don't get ANY of this on your hands and ESPECIALLY not in your eyes! It will burn/blind you.

Put the lid on it, make sure no kids can get to it and let it soak for 3 days to however many it takes. Lye will not harm metal, but it will eat EVERYTHING organic. You can safely leave the pan in there for a month if you want, however long it takes. My pan is about as bad as you'll see and it took about 10 days.

Use heavy duty rubber gloves when picking the pan up and checking the status.

Once it's clean, you take it out and rinse it off really well. Then, rinse it with vinegar. This will take off any rust if there is any. It will also chemically neutralize the lye, making anything left on it non-toxic.

Next, get some 0000 steel wool and some Dawn detergent and just give the whole thing a good scrubbing. Another good rinse and dry it really well. Then reseason it and you're done.

You can pour the lye solution down the drain when you're done but again BE CAREFUL it doesn't splash in your eyes!!!!!

DO NOT USE THIS METHOD WITH ALUMINUM PANS. IT SUPPOSEDLY CREATES DEADLY CHEMICAL GAS THAT WILL KILL EVERYONE IN A 5 MILLION MILE RADIUS. Someone geeky smart like Nem or someone would have to explain why.




*********Seasoning Process:

Caveat: For as many people out there using cast iron pans, there are at least that many seasoning methods. You can find temps from 200 to 500. You can find times from 30 minutes to 6 hours. I won't argue with anyone that mine is any better than anyone else's but so far, this is what I've found that works for me:

I put about a quarter size amount in the bottom of the pan and rub that all over the inside and out with a cloth or paper towel (paper towel will put off some lint if that bothers you).

I then bake it upside down (in case anything drips but you really shouldn't have it that thick) for 1 hour at 400. Then, I just let it cool in the oven. Then another dime sized amount of vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan and rub it around just on the inside. It's good to go, I hang it up on my pot rack. You can do this over and over if you want, or you can just let it build up over time as you cook in it.

Here's some things to help you when you're first starting out with that seasoning coating. The coating is VERY thin in the beginning and fragile. You can build it up over time to where it's slick as snot and tough as nails but you need to take your time. What will help:

-use a lot of fat when you first start cooking in it, but add the fat AFTER the pan is heated

-do NOT cook on high. Cast iron retains heat better than anything else, so you don't have to have the heat anywhere near as high as with other pans. I cook omelets on like a 3 out of 9 setting.

-stay away from acidic foods like tomato based sauces and stuff until that coating is really thick.

-proteins in meat can sort of bother the seasoning in the beginning so use lower heat than you think and lots of fat. This is if you're cooking burgers or a steak in it.

-best things to cook in the pan when you're starting out is bacon, cornbread, fried chicken, things like that. High fat/oils and/or lots of liquid.

-use no soap during clean-up if you can help it--just wipe it out with a vegetable oil soaked paper towel. If you have stuck bits from chicken or whatever, use a bristle brush with no soap on it. Once you get a seasoning built up from thin layer on top of layer, it will pretty much be impervious to anything.

-The most important step in the seasoning process in my opinion is to go slow. Most mistakes I've made were putting it on too thick. Lots and lots of thin layers built on top of each other is best. Too thick at one time and it is sticky and uneven.








Finally, here's the same pan as above with my world famous pecan pie cooling in it as I type this:


IMG_1913_zpsc4f8705c.jpg
 
I got a chance this week to fire up the new Lodge Sportsman's Grill that my wife got me for Valentine's Day. Made some kebabs out of marinated sirloin, pearl onions, mini bell peppers, and some cubed Roma tomatoes. Put each different food on it's own skewer since the meat takes a lot longer than the tomatoes. Not great photos, but is was almost dark and I was in a hurry. I'll get more action shots next time. I did use the BK5 to cut up the food stuffs.





I think the King of Stoves (aka Biscuit) recommended this one, and it is a good one.
 
I got a chance this week to fire up the new Lodge Sportsman's Grill that my wife got me for Valentine's Day. Made some kebabs out of marinated sirloin, pearl onions, mini bell peppers, and some cubed Roma tomatoes. Put each different food on it's own skewer since the meat takes a lot longer than the tomatoes. Not great photos, but is was almost dark and I was in a hurry. I'll get more action shots next time. I did use the BK5 to cut up the food stuffs.

I think the King of Stoves (aka Biscuit) recommended this one, and it is a good one.

The Sportsman's Grill is brilliant. We use it almost daily in the summer.
 
That is a great post. And a world class pie.

Agreed. Great post with some really useful info. We've been using cast iron almost exclusively for about 15 years (we still use stainless-clad pans when we are cooking something that requires deglazing) and can't be more happy with its performance.
 
Last edited:
ooh, I can jump in on this....kinda lol

when I moved into an apartment for college, I ended up with one cast Iron skillet (mom had plenty...this one wasn't even seasoned), and a chasseur french oven, which is unfortunately enamel coated. I will say the enamel is nice when others are living in the same house...I don't have to worry about them cleaning it. They are pretty much all I used to cook with anymore unless I am cooking a large chili or gumbo in which case I use a 16 quart stock pot. anyways. the skillet is a 10 1/2 inch wagner, not a clue how old. I've got the urge to cook some bacon now that I read this thread. I think I'll use my BK17 to help me cook lol.
 
ooh, I can jump in on this....kinda lol

when I moved into an apartment for college, I ended up with one cast Iron skillet (mom had plenty...this one wasn't even seasoned), and a chasseur french oven, which is unfortunately enamel coated. I will say the enamel is nice when others are living in the same house...I don't have to worry about them cleaning it. They are pretty much all I used to cook with anymore unless I am cooking a large chili or gumbo in which case I use a 16 quart stock pot. anyways. the skillet is a 10 1/2 inch wagner, not a clue how old. I've got the urge to cook some bacon now that I read this thread. I think I'll use my BK17 to help me cook lol.

A Wagner skillet, a BK17 and bacon - sounds like a perfect combination!
 
Now you're just showing off! lol

I've go 1.5 backstraps left from last season and 2 or 3 tenderloins lol, just waiting for a good reason to thaw them out

I also have venison sausage that I need to pick up from louisiana next time I am down there
 
Guys, hope you don't mind me posting a more in depth description of my restoration process than the one that was reposted above. I got a lot of requests for some details over on ESEE's site and I wanted to repost here to maybe encourage some guys that are on the fence about getting their grandmother's rusted skillet out of the back of the pantry and start carrying on the legacy. This is a great thread and glad to have it. Some of you guys have some awesome collections!

As you veterans know, there are different methods for addressing the scale and the rust. I have just used lye and vinegar but I've seen great results from the oven cleaner, electrolysis and everything else. I just use lye and vinegar cause it works for me and it's cheap and I'm used to it. I'd like to try electrolysis one day.



Anyway, here's my post from over on ESEE:






If any of you weirdos are still following this thread, here's my update to the cleaning process for the pan I bought last week and listed a page or two before. It's not finished yet so I'll update this as I complete the restoration.


Before:

$10 at a local antique store.


IMG_1916_zpsd6f872bd.jpg




IMG_1917_zpsc332d8bc.jpg



IMG_1918_zps742c001c.jpg




What I use. Lowe's. $15. You only need half the bottle and you can re-use the solution over and over again. You want it to be 100% Lye. There are some drain cleaners that have lye in it but it also has other harsh chemicals. Alternatively, or if you're planning on doing dozens of pieces, you can order lye online. Preppers who make a lot of their own soap do this. So do meth heads. But, we're all friends here, right?


IMG_1921_zps7e6ed2e7.jpg




This pan is small enough to fit in a 5 gallon bucket so that's the best case since I can put a tight-fitting lid on it and it won't splash. Fill it up a few inches over the top of the pan. I used warm water. Carolina Rose is supervising :) (She ought to be out catching me some rabbits but it's back to zero degrees here so she doesn't spend too much time outside.)


IMG_1923_zps00276146.jpg




What it looks like when you add the lye. By the way, for safety's sake, always add the lye to the water, not the water to the lye. It can bubble up and splash around.


IMG_1925_zpsde0b76b6.jpg



2 days in the lye....


IMG_1935_zps983f36b8.jpg




4 days in lye:


IMG_1942_zpsc4e8aebb.jpg




I took the pan out to take a look at how it's coming along. There was a few spots with some caked on scale that I COULD scrub off with steel wool but why expend any effort? I threw it back in the bucket for another day or two.

You'll notice quite a bit of rust under that scale. Lye does nothing to rust. That's what the vinegar step is for. After I scrub it clean, I'll soak it in vinegar for a few hours and the rust will all be gone.


It is a Wagner! :


IMG_1941_zpsb8505ba8.jpg




IMG_1940_zps1b4a4023.jpg




IMG_1939_zps8e56ae81.jpg




IMG_1936_zpsad73fb26.jpg




You'll notice the bottom is pitted a good deal. I'm planning on using this pan as an outdoor pan (grill and campfires) so it means little to me how it looks, just how it performs. It will probably clean up a bit better than it looks in this photo and once it's seasoned, it'll be fine. Again, if you like your stuff to be really nice looking or you just want to experiment, you can take a grinder to the bottom and smooth it out to your liking.

IMG_1937_zps8f38fb05.jpg




Stay tuned.... In another day or so, it should be baking some biscuits or a fajita steak or an apple pie or ......



EDIT: 2/27/14 UPDATE:

Ok, done with the lye soak. Pulled it out and rinsed it off. Lye did its job but now we have to address the rust, since lye won't work on rust. So I soaked it in the sink in a mixture of vinegar and water. I would have used straight vinegar but I didn't have enough left to cover the pan so I added water to fill over the top.

You might can see how yellow it started turning almost immediately. That's the rust coming off of it. You can actually see it floating away.


IMG_1960_zpsfbcba722.jpg



An hour later in the vinegar. What you see is floating rust.

IMG_1963_zps9392e5b9.jpg





Ok, here we are completely stripped and rust-free. You can see some discoloration in the metal that will not come off. There's really nothing to come off, it's just discoloration. That shouldn't bother you. Once it's seasoned properly over time, it will be an even, consistent dark color anyway.


IMG_1966_zpsfb8c80e2.jpg





Difference between the old stuff and newer Lodge: Machining. The old ones were machined smooth inside once they were cast. Helps with seasoning and with the subsequent non-sticking.



IMG_1967_zps970de8bf.jpg



Handle looking nice. #5 of course.


IMG_1968_zps35a5e8d9.jpg



Again, some discoloration on the bottom but nothing to worry about. Nice, solid pan.


IMG_1969_zps87d2323c.jpg



Here's a good example of how well the vinegar works. Look at the pic above of the handle that shows all the rust. Not a speck now :)


IMG_1971_zps01477b18.jpg




Stay tuned...Seasoning in the oven right now. Tomorrow will be pics of the final process :)


EDIT: 3/1/14

Here's the pan after a few layers of seasoning. I went with REALLY thin layers of seasoning this time as an experiment. It seemed to do better avoiding the sticky sections that you sometimes get if you put it on too thick. I will continue seasoning it until it is all one consistent dark black color.






IMG_1989_zpsd2b40267.jpg



IMG_1988_zpsf9b5303a.jpg



IMG_1987_zps9c979dd3.jpg



I'm officially finished with this post :)


(A couple of you have sent messages asking for permission to repost this in BF and other places. You guys can always repost this or anything else I put up here.)
 
So.... I may or may not have hacked the wedding registry and added a Lodge Sportsman's grill. :D
 
Excellent post. Thanks for sharing it over here in Beckerlandia.
 
Back
Top