Cory Hess
Basic Member
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2014
- Messages
- 2,101
I had an exciting cast iron week. When we were first married and having kids we didn't have enough money for decent kitchenware. I got into cast iron simply because it gave good, even heat and I could pick up a pan for $5 at any flea market. As a result I ended up with a bunch of no-name pots and pans that served me well, but I knew that they were substandard by any aficionado's standards. A couple of months ago, we got a new dining room set and I lost the hutch where all of my cast iron was kept. I saved a chicken fryer and a griddle and everything else went into the garage to give away.
Last weekend, I did a thorough stove cleaning and decided that I was sick of the two pieces of cast iron always sitting out. I went online and ordered a Lodge combo cooker, figuring I could replace both pieces with one that would look better and take up less space. The chicken fryer and griddle went out to the garage with everything else. When the Lodge came in it all went into the trash bin. When I opened the Lodge I quickly learned about how rough the new stuff is finished. I went online to see what could be done and found some videos of people sanding down their Lodge's to make them smooth. I also found a link to a site on identifying old, unmarked cast iron pieces. I went down that rabbit hole and quickly started seeing pictures that had all kinds of bells going off in my head. I spent most of the night researching and running out to the garbage can in the driveway to retrieve my old pots. In the morning, my wife woke to almost all of the cast iron being back in the kitchen.
In the couple of months it was sitting on the garage floor, most of the cast iron had begun to rust and look pretty rough. I've spent the week sneaking out to sand and brush pieces clean and bring them in to be reseasoned. Out of my own trash bin I found an old Wagner chicken fryer, a couple of 40s-50s Lodge skillets, a couple old Birmingham Stove and Range skillets, and several other pieces that I had no idea were of any quality. I knew that they worked well for me, but having nothing to compare them against I was ignorant as to how they fared against the "good stuff". I never paid more than $10 on a piece of cast iron, and I feel like I've been sitting on a treasure trove. I'm so so so happy that I got out there to save them before the trash man showed up.
This is a quick snap of my Schrade 861 with my newly reseasoned Wagner chicken fryer. The new Lodge is going back to Amazon today.
Most people cannot get restaurant quality steak at home for 2 reasons, they don't start with good meat, and they can't get their cooking surfaces hot enough. Most fry pans are not thick enough to retain heat, and bottled gas BBQ's are simply useless. Get yourself a Cast Iron pan, season it and try it, over there in USA you can get Lodge Pans for nothing compared to over here.
