Gratuitous Cast Iron

[1nderbeard]

nice. I collect vintage cast iron. thankfully I started pre-pandemic before everyone & their mom did, so I have a few uncommon pieces.

if curious - post some closer, detailed photos and I may be able to identify. Or is it so old there is a gate mark on the bottom?

I don't see any markings at all on it. There is a ring around the bottom of the skillet part.

 

[1nderbeard]

Next two:

On the left is a Griswold 8. Funny story on this one. We'd just moved in to this neighborhood and an older couple was having a yard sale. I was looking at his skillet. At the time I just had a few newer pieces I liked. He wound up giving it to me for .25. He hated it. I am under the assumption he had washed all the seasoning off and tried to use it, because everything stuck for a few weeks. After a few rounds of oven seasoning and a few pounds of bacon it's a great piece. My wife's favorite.

On the right is just a modern lodge flat. It is used mostly for frying pancakes or making toast.

Today's menu was eggs and toast.

 

[1nderbeard]

Whats the trick to make them non stick? I have tried them and always just had a mess of stuck food. I would like to give it another shot though.

Season and use.
There are various methods to get them ready to use on google. Basically
1 - get it hot
2 - put on some kind of oil
3 - wipe the oil off (I know it seems weird)
4 - bake it hot for like an hour
5 - repeat (the more you repeat the easier it will be to use)

Can't recall the exact temps. 200-300 for the wiping of the oil, around 400-500 for the baking on. I've used just regular vegetable oil and grape seed oil. Doesn't make a huge difference IMO.

I also cook bacon or some other fatty stuff in it for a few weeks to get some use.

After that, you're golden.

 

[1nderbeard]

My late grandmother gave me all of her stuff before she passed. Mostly no-name medium skillets she'd picked up at yard sales. She did have one nice Griswold.
All were pretty rough. She had never gotten the hang of using them (google didn't exist in the 60s), and had just stored them in her basement.
Took a while but I got all the rust off and got them all re-seasoned. Gave them out to people in the family that wanted them.

 

[armalitesheepdog]

Season and use.
There are various methods to get them ready to use on google. Basically
1 - get it hot
2 - put on some kind of oil
3 - wipe the oil off (I know it seems weird)
4 - bake it hot for like an hour
5 - repeat (the more you repeat the easier it will be to use)

Can't recall the exact temps. 200-300 for the wiping of the oil, around 400-500 for the baking on. I've used just regular vegetable oil and grape seed oil. Doesn't make a huge difference IMO.

I also cook bacon or some other fatty stuff in it for a few weeks to get some use.

After that, you're golden.

Thanks. I may pick another one up and try that. One more question. When you wash it with dish soap do you need to re season it or just wipe down with oil.
I know there's youtubes but I rather ask you guys.....

 

[Crandall Crank]

I DO NOT use hot water and soap to clean my CI. I'll use warm water and dry immediately. I also don't wipe with oil after washing. It's common for people to wipe their CI with too much oil. The proper amount is has been described as "if you wipe your finger across your forehead" is the amount of oil that should be wiped on the CI skillet.

The older skillets are smoother because they've had 50 years of a spatula wearing it down.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Thanks. I may pick another one up and try that. One more question. When you wash it with dish soap do you need to re season it or just wipe down with oil.
I know there's youtubes but I rather ask you guys.....

Never dish soap for any reason.

Steps break down.

Buy skillet.
Cook a bunch of bacon.
Use a wooden spatula to scrap out bacon gunk.
Rinse with water.
Get a bristle brush scrubber
Scrub with water while the skillet is kind of hot. Your brush should be dedicated to only cast iron and never used elsewhere.

Once the skillet is clean. Wipe it dry.
Then while it's still warm. Apply oil. Veggie oil , canola, flax seed etc. Flax will give it a fishy smell though.
Coat the whole damn thing in a thin layer of oil. Top bottom sides handle all of it.

Then throw it in the oven for like an hour or so at 350. After the hour just turn off the oven and let it rest in the oven until cool.

Follow these cleaning steps after every use until you achieve nonstick.

After you achieve nonstick.
You can rinse with water after you're dont cooking and maybe do some light brushing. Wipe dry and you're done.

My skillets I use everyday and have had them for years. So I rarely have to do a full season. Typically I use them until my eggs start sticking then I'll re-season. Bit of you can't make scrambled eggs with out losing most of the eggs to stick then your season sucks.

 

[Hoosierdood]

Thanks. I may pick another one up and try that. One more question. When you wash it with dish soap do you need to re season it or just wipe down with oil.
I know there's youtubes but I rather ask you guys.....

Tip - open the windows when seasoning or do it on your grill outside. You have to get the oil past its smoke point in order for the molecules to break down and bond to the cast iron. It smells bad.

When cooking, use plenty of oil. You will use more than you would in a regular non stick pan. I use metal spatulas for most stuff when cooking. Deglaze the pan after cooking with warm water and wipe dry. You can also use a soft bristled brush if necessary.

 

[Alamo]

Whats the trick to make them non stick? I have tried them and always just had a mess of stuck food. I would like to give it another shot though.

I’m sure there’s a post about it somewhere in the bowels of INGO (ewww!).

The basic technique (“seasoning”) is cleaning iron until it’s bare, coat it with a thin layer of high smoke point cooking oil, and bake the hell out of it at high temperature. Lather, rinse, repeat several times, the more the better. This forms a thin hard layer of transmogrified oil that acts like God’s own teflon.

Some people say they do it just by cooking/frying in it repeatedly. I think most of us go thru a specific seasoning process and then cook/fry repeatedly which adds to it over time, as long as you don’t put something acidic in it that destroys the seasoning, like tomato juice. Although I’ve gotten away with small amounts, I just make sure to oil and bake skillet afterwards to repair any surface damage.

The Wagner and Griswold cast iron website has several posts on how to season a skillet. That’s where I found most of my info.

Oh, and once you get the seasoning on, don’t wash it with soap or anything harsh. Usually you can just wipe or rinse it out and if it needs scrubbing, I use one of those little chain mail like stainless steel scrubbers. I heat it a little on the stove to dry it, and spray it with some Pam cooking spray, Which is basically canola oil, and that is a very high smoke point oil. Put it away until next time.

 

[1nderbeard]

I don't ever use soap, as said above. I do sometimes scrub with a light abrasive for super sticky stuff. Most of the time I re season after use on the cooktop. Get hot, apply oil, heat to smoke point, let cool.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

Protip of something gets baked on or is otherwise super stuck. Do about a knuckle deep worth of water in the skillet. Put it in medium heat on the stove. Add a bunch of table salt then scrub like the Dickens. This will fix your stick in food problem but will also nuke your seasoning. So beaure to do a full re-season after doing the salt scrub. I've had to do this twice. Works like a charm.

 

[planedriver]

I have a glass cooktop I’m worried about scratching, but I do have a Lodge skillet that I’ll bake biscuits in. I’ve tossed it on the grill for steaks a time or two as well.

If your pans have a smoke ring your glass top is likely to crack.

Buy a gas stove while you still can

 

[model1994]

I don't see any markings at all on it. There is a ring around the bottom of the skillet part.

Is there a notch in the heat ring, or is it a complete circle?

 

[1nderbeard]

complete circle

Is there a notch in the heat ring, or is it a complete circle?

 

[model1994]

complete circle

It may just be the photo, but it looks like there are three notches at 9/12/3 o’clock on the heat ring. (holding skillet up, handle being 6 o’clock)

That pan is well used and well seasoned, which can hide already-faint ID markings. If those are notches that I see, that would make this skillet a Lodge - I’m guessing an early 1940s. Hidden beneath the seasoning at 12 o’clock is probably a 3/4” size number.

 

[Alamo]

Here’s a link to the Griswold and Wagner Society forum with info on cleaning cast iron down to naked iron and then seasoning it.

Wagner and Griswold Society

www.wag-society.org

Arguments about how to clean, season, and maintain cast iron can approach 9mm v .45 ACP or Glock v 1911 territory, but I don’t think you can go far wrong at the WAG society web page.

 

[1nderbeard]

It may just be the photo, but it looks like there are three notches at 9/12/3 o’clock on the heat ring. (holding skillet up, handle being 6 o’clock)

That pan is well used and well seasoned, which can hide already-faint ID markings. If those are notches that I see, that would make this skillet a Lodge - I’m guessing an early 1940s. Hidden beneath the seasoning at 12 o’clock is probably a 3/4” size number.

There may be notches at 9 and 3 looking closely at it, but I don't see any at 12.

Looking at it I was thinking Birmingham Stove and Range "red mountain" 30s-40s. That would've been about when she was coming of age.

 

[Max Volume]

I love cast iron and use it almost exclusively. Several Griswolds and a lodge bought when buying my first house. There's a couple of Dutch ovens around also. I've found the best way to care for them is Kent Rollins method.

 

[model1994]

There may be notches at 9 and 3 looking closely at it, but I don't see any at 12.

Looking at it I was thinking Birmingham Stove and Range "red mountain" 30s-40s. That would've been about when she was coming of age.

Interesting. I’m unfamiliar with a manufacturer that did only two notches at 9 & 3. BSR pieces will have an unbroken heat ring. They are my favorite cast iron for user pieces as they’re noticeably heavier/thicker than most other manufacturers, and since unmarked they are typically cheaper to acquire.

Shown below is the handle of one of my BSR, which is a different style than yours. That is the main way to ID an BSR. Also, the pour spouts on a Red Mtn are larger. So I’m not sure it’s a BSR Red or even BSR. Hmm, now I’m curious. I’ll check some of my books/notes and see if I can find something similar.

 

[dnurk]

Protip of something gets baked on or is otherwise super stuck. Do about a knuckle deep worth of water in the skillet. Put it in medium heat on the stove. Add a bunch of table salt then scrub like the Dickens. This will fix your stick in food problem but will also nuke your seasoning. So beaure to do a full re-season after doing the salt scrub. I've had to do this twice. Works like a charm.

We use kosher salt as it is more coarse and abrasive but this is my preferred technique.