Anybody Else Here a Cast Iron Collector?
- Thread starter CMH
- Start date
Walt thanks for checking in. Unfortunately I need it to work now. Fifty years from now would be my grandchildren's grandchildren fighting over it. I was reading a review of Lodge pans on a major restaurant supply website. The poster polished out the interior of the pan and said it worked great. Anybody familiar with the process?
I remember the Lodge CI of the early 70's to have been much lighter in color and the finish was like a fine sandpaper as opposed to the almost black today and with a pebbley surface.
Lodge is great but in order to meet its market they perform less finish work to create a "premium" product.
If you hunt wisely for a bit more than you would pay for Lodge you might find a Griswold thats a much more user friendly pan.
The black pans are their "preseasoned" line. The gray were the raw cast iron models.
I havent seen the raw pans lately, most places display the "preseasoned" pans.
I feel for companys like Lodge, Starrett Tools.
They put out great stuff but people want to pay shit and say why do I pay for Lodge when China will make "the same thing" for less?
So Lodge and Starrett water down there stuff and everyone that still uses them says "remember when" and the people that bought the China crap are on their third or fourth item.
Wheat have I got and how do I make it right.
Stopped by a yard sale this am and behold, 4 nice CI pieces. One was fucked so I let it go but got these:
-6" Skillet on the rear it says-Wagner then something I c ant make out then Sidney with an 0 belos it then at the bottom 06(8?) J...$2
-9" Skillet has only the #9 on the rear but has a small ring that elevates the skillet 1/6 or so off the surface..$4
-10" griddle on the rear it says 10-Made in USA-H/BM $4
So talk to me. Did I score?
they all need a good leaning and reseasoning.
Stopped by a yard sale this am and behold, 4 nice CI pieces. One was fucked so I let it go but got these:
-6" Skillet on the rear it says-Wagner then something I c ant make out then Sidney with an 0 belos it then at the bottom 06(8?) J...$2
-9" Skillet has only the #9 on the rear but has a small ring that elevates the skillet 1/6 or so off the surface..$4
-10" griddle on the rear it says 10-Made in USA-H/BM $4
So talk to me. Did I score?
they all need a good leaning and reseasoning.
Current production lodge is low grade garbage that's not worth the time & effort, unless you just need something really crude that you don't care about to get a quick job done. If you want something to throw in the campfire while hunting and you might misplace during the trip, it's a great fit.
If you happen to be current or former military, for Memorial day, Stargazer is offering 30% off, so you could go pay $25 for a Lodge brand piece of garbage, or about $62 for a top quality piece that will work right out of the box and for years to come. (My suggestion, get the pre-seasoned one to save a bit of time).
Put a fair bit of good work into them to restore them to perfect seasoned condition, then keep them forever, or if you wind up with too many, you can probably sell them for over $100 each on the right venues.
I have some old Wagner and Erie, that I found at a rummage sale. use it for everything from burgers, fried spuds. to corn bread. I bought a Lodge 2 sided griddle, and large dutch Oven at a Dicks. neither f those will " season ", spend more time cleaning, than using it.
You spent $10 on 3 items that would have cost us up here $60-$80 to buy new. If you like using CI, then yes, major SCORE. It don't matter what CI it is, or where it is, pretty much everyone wants to start with their own 'seasoning'. Some people are 'right particular' about their process. It can sorta be like 'barrel break-in', but that's another redundant story. Good Job, Maggot.
It is that 'pebbly' surface (from the sand-casting process) that I clean off with the carbide scraper that I'd made. Coming from my Trades, I like to get in there by hand, take my time, and do it right. Using the scraper PREVENTS me from any 'oops' moments that one could have with an angle-grinder, dremel, palm-sander, belt sander, or anything else that folks would think "I could do this faster with....."
It's your pan, you can do what you want to it. It is made out of 1 thing, cast iron. You can't hurt the cast iron, but if you go too thin, you can hurt the pan. So just focus on 'smoothing' the top surface. Remember, part of the allure of CI cooking is the heat that the mass of CI retains. Keep that mass.
Also remember, CI is actually brittle. They are no good for 'bonking' people/things with, cause they break. And they really AREN'T supposed to be "just put it in the fire, to clean it all off"..... of the old lore.
That's tantamount to dremel gunsmithing and crowning.
Personally, I will not get into the topic of collector's values and CI and stuff. Cooking here, only.
Score for what you paid. Good usable pieces. Does the #9 skillet with the heat ring have three little notches one the hat ring at 9, 12, and 3 o’clock from the handle?
When I moved into my first apartment [fifty years ago] my Mom put together a collection of her old china, silverware and cooking pots for me. She did not have a frying pan to give me so she bought one from a bargain store for I believe $3.00. It was a heavy 12 inch cast iron with a long 15 - 18 inch long wood handle. I was doing a lot of wilderness camping at the time and she thought the long handle would work well over an open camp fire. She tried to tell me how to properly season the "skillet" but I did not really listen as I knew Everything.
First use was on a camping trip over an open fire. Fried up a pound of bacon and poured out all the grease and then scrambled the eggs. When I tipped the pan to put the eggs onto the plates they slipped out without leaving a trace. Water was a scarce commodity so I just wiped it with a rag and put it away. I used that pan for the next fifteen years and it was just like a modern teflon pan as nothing stuck to it. I did wash it form time to time with soap and hot water.
My ex wife thru it away on one of her cleanup binges. I have never forgiven her for that.
First use was on a camping trip over an open fire. Fried up a pound of bacon and poured out all the grease and then scrambled the eggs. When I tipped the pan to put the eggs onto the plates they slipped out without leaving a trace. Water was a scarce commodity so I just wiped it with a rag and put it away. I used that pan for the next fifteen years and it was just like a modern teflon pan as nothing stuck to it. I did wash it form time to time with soap and hot water.
My ex wife thru it away on one of her cleanup binges. I have never forgiven her for that.
Hi,
I collect but really don't cook on them lol..I collect cast iron, meat grinders and cleavers to remember my upbringing. Raised literally dirt poor, hunting and growing our food to full scholarship to LSU to USN/Gov't to owning a business in 3 different countries....without a few of these pictured items none of that would have ever happened.
There are 2 more walls of them also.
Sincerely,
Theis
I collect but really don't cook on them lol..I collect cast iron, meat grinders and cleavers to remember my upbringing. Raised literally dirt poor, hunting and growing our food to full scholarship to LSU to USN/Gov't to owning a business in 3 different countries....without a few of these pictured items none of that would have ever happened.
There are 2 more walls of them also.
Sincerely,
Theis
Many thanks to all of you. I have a friend who has been trying to teach me for a long time (not a good teacher) how to use C/I and in one thread I have really learned how to get started and more important, what not to do. Also found some old Paul Revere stainless pans my Mom used, going to get them out as well. Have to go to a flea market the ex and I used to go to where a couple sold old C/I pans and try to pick up a nice old one. Bye bye non stick! Thanks again, Fred.
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