old cast iron

[simps80]

The older I get the more I find myself getting interested in things that are old.
been fighting an obsession with old coleman stoves for a bit now...

but now I'm really starting to enjoy good cast iron (old) .

it cooks very well when properly cared for.

I've found the old iron is significantly higher quality than the new iron. funny how that works across most things...

I am mid-process on restoring a couple old one's I found a long time ago.

they were pretty neglected. So I stripped them down. Stripped down you can really see the difference in the quality. A glass smooth texture is what you can find on some of the good pieces. It's no wonder when properly seasoned and cared for they are non-stick, even cooking machines!

Anyway,
Found this pre-merger Griswold #3 that's 1957 or earlier.
the Erie, PA Griswold plant was closed in 1957.
It's small but perfect for camping single or cooking eggs. I'm 3 coats in on the strip down and re-season process.
I'll cook some bacon and potatoes in it for a while until it really starts to build back into the shiny black well-seasoned iron it should be.

here's just after stripping off the old rusty crust and getting down to virgin iron as best I can:

56565

3 coats in on new seasoning, as said I'll switch to natural process by cooking from here:

griswold was sold then sold to Wagner in 1957 based in Sydney, OH...where this next one originated.

I like this Wagner for bacon. Again, it was pretty bad when I found it, so stripped it clean and am in mid-process of rebuilding the base seasoning. On both these old pieces stripping it down far enough yields the original tooling spirals from when these manufacturers took the time to make them as smooth as possible. pretty neat.

This one will take a while to build back up, but it cooks pretty well now as is without sticking.

I've got some lodge, which is US made, but the current stuff isn't like the old stuff. real rough pre-seasoning to cover the lack of finish cast work...still cooks pretty good though cause of that composite bed-liner seasoning they put on it...

Problem with the older stuff, like Griswold especially, is China actually has been making knock-offs since the 80's so now some of the older knock-offs look like the real thing until you strip off the grime and old grease and notice the casting is poor....

If I could afford it, I'd like to try out some of the new USA based manufacturers like
Field
https://fieldcompany.com/

and i really like this one:
http://www.stargazercastiron.com/

both have started making cast like the old companies did, smooth smooth finish, high quality casting.

I'll probably buy one of those field 10" at some point if I can justify it somehow

How bout anyone else?

Anyone got a strange hankerin' for cast iron?
I gotta kick this habit, it's getting weird

 

[subzali]

You've seen this thread? https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-coleman-thread.406982/page-108#post-11755278

Got excited about cast iron a couple years ago, got a 10" Camp Chef, a book, and some tools. Would like to get a 12" and then start cooking/practicing more. The practice is the hard part for me.

Love what you're doing above, makes me want to go garage saleing...

 

[wesintl]

I prefer the griswolds. I have a couple lodge skillets too. Get a cast iron lamb mold for Easter!

I have a couple different lodge dutch ovens. I like the snowpeak cast iron too!

 

[simps80]

You've seen this thread? https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-coleman-thread.406982/page-108#post-11755278

Got excited about cast iron a couple years ago, got a 10" Camp Chef, a book, and some tools. Would like to get a 12" and then start cooking/practicing more. The practice is the hard part for me.

Love what you're doing above, makes me want to go garage saleing...

yep! love that thread.

here's my post in that thread on the 425 plain gold round tanker I found and took apart and got running again. It's actually a great great stove now:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/the-coleman-thread.406982/page-62#post-9960626

garage saleing is the only way to do it for me.
I got that 425 for 3 bucks,
the griswold above came in a box of old pans for $5
and the wagner I think I gave 5 for on its own, all 'estate sales' that weren't, they were just garage sales

it's a good way to spend a friday afternoon/saturday morning !

 

[Shark Bait]

How do you strip them?

 

[riderjgs]

Cast iron

Lots of ways to baseline and start over with cast iron. Google is your friend, as is You Tube. Easiest and quickest I've found is to stick it in your oven and hit "Clean." Then wipe off the residue and begin re-seasoning. Any vegetable oil works...some prefer melted Crisco. As mentioned, one hour at a time at 350-375 degrees. Usually takes two or three times, then just wipe clean after each use. NEVER clean with a detergent!

 

[DaveInDenver]

How do you strip them?

I soak them in a lye bath (which is sold as drain cleaner at most "real" hardware stores). After a few days in a mild solution they'll come out completely stripped of grease and oil (which is all seasoning is). It'll flash rust immediately so wipe it mineral oil and season using whatever process you normally use. I've been using flaxseed oil for seasoning.

I have an old Griswold deep chicken fryer and a Wagner dutch oven that were my great grandmothers and are smooth as glass now. Also a couple of pieces of post 1960 Wagner and some newer Lodge. The Lodge stuff is fine but it's worthwhile to sand it if you want a smooth finish. They just don't do as much finishing work now as back in the heyday.

The factory seasoning is pretty tough and there's an anti-stick benefit to the irregular finish, so I haven't smoothed all our Lodge. One that I need to work on smoothing is our Lodge wok. The rough finish on it works against you.

Other than some Revere Ware that was mom's and big stainless stock pots all we use is cast iron.

 

[SteveH]

For newbies, I heartily recommend Lodge's pre-seasoned. Works right out of the box. I'm just not someone who finds seasoning a pan much fun. I agree that the newer stuff isn't as finely finished, and the old cookware at our family cabin (from the 1940s) is superior.

 

[simps80]

How do you strip them?

this old guy is a hoot, don't let the Oklahoma fool you, he's beaten bobby flay



I skip some of the steps/work depending on how bad
and if it needs to come all the way down to cast, sometimes I just let an extended vinegar bath do it ...

1. if my wife is in a good mood: put the crusty pan in on a self cleaning oven cycle
2. cool it down to touchabe
3. wire brush it wipe it down real good,
4. if more -> white vinegar bath with some salt for X hours (where I've done it over 24 hours on a bad one before)
5. wire brush it, even wire wheel it, it won't hurt it if its good and strong
6. warm water and soap (never soap on seasoned, but going down and back up it's ok)
7. warm it up to dry it out
8. once its down to clean rust-free goo-free cast and all the craps off --> re-season which is its own process

what i've been noticing is once its seasoned real good the cleaning method Cowboy Kent does works great (Steam)
He heats pan up till you can't hold your finger on the brim longer than 5 seconds or so
runs sink hot till its HOT

put pan under hot water --> instant good steam --> clean with wooden spatula, or one of them composite plastic scrapers, or nylon brush or similar

and then EVERYTIME, heat it up a bit to dry it out, then small amount of oil re-applied once done,
not the whole re-season but heat up the pan a bit dry, then about a quarter dollar's diameter worth of oil wiped around the pan inside, then wiped off, then the left overs on the rag wiped around the outside and handle

been doing that here with this stuff now, and its getting to be real non-stick and super easy to clean off even burnt on fried eggs and such with a wooden spoon and steam if its real baked on

 

[mcgaskins]

I must be lazy because cast iron is way too much work for me, and for camping I find them super heavy and unwieldy. I bought a set of these aluminum non stick saute pans and Costco when they were around $20. Heat up fast, clean up fast, even heating, lightweight, and cheap enough I won't be upset if one gets destroyed. I respect the craft of caring for and cooking with cast iron, but it's only something I'd use a couple times of year at home.

https://www.costco.com/Tramontina-3-piece-Saute-Pans.product.100403378.html

 

[LARGEONE]

I pretty much only cook on cast iron and stainless pans.

When I was recovering from back surgery, I made the mistake of reading the interwebs (as Dave likes to call them) about all of the coatings used on pans. Since I was already having lots of nerve damage issues, I decided not to push it further. Also, parakeets (budgies) die if you overheat a teflon pan next to them...so that can't be good

Anyway, I absolutely love cast iron, but my newer pans suck compared to the older ones.

Mike...lemme know if you ever find good quality stuff that you already have...I'd be willing to take at least a smooth 12" or 10" fry pan off your hands

 

[rover67]

Those new companies you linked Mike are cool. Competitive compared to griswolds or whatever unless you find them at yard sales. Are they still out there for the finding? It seems that these have gone the way of older 911's or even FJ40's now with prices through the roof. I never see them at random yard sales but maybe i need to try a more targeted approach.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Those new companies you linked Mike are cool. Competitive compared to griswolds or whatever unless you find them at yard sales. Are they still out there for the finding? It seems that these have gone the way of older 911's or even FJ40's now with prices through the roof. I never see them at random yard sales but maybe i need to try a more targeted approach.

Get out of the city and away from hipsters. Think yard sale season in Limon and Montrose.

 

[DaveInDenver]

cheap enough I won't be upset if one gets destroyed

That's the thing, it is actually difficult to destroy cast iron, basically getting cracked is what ruins them. Warps, loss of season, that stuff can be fixed. Pans made 75 and 100 years ago can be reconditioned and works like the day they were made.

 

[74fj40]

Funny you posted this, I have an older pan that is a much smoother finish and I enjoy it a lot more than my lodge. So this weekend I decided to do something about it. I put a higher grit flap disc on my angle grinder and went to town on the inside of the pan. I cleaned up all the very rough casting marks and divots. Then stripped it down, washed it and then reseasoned it. I’ve found that reseasoning on the barbecue is easy and doesn’t smell up the house. Nor does it heat up the house on a summer day like the oven.

I was able to cook an egg on it without it sticking too much. A little more oil would have remedied that.

 

[simps80]

yea Marco, pretty hard to find now.
If you spend a lot of time garage sailing like us bored old folks do, there are still diamonds in the rough, but not really doable for a lot of folks..and I wont buy old cast site unseen due to forgery and damaged goods...

i think these new manufacturers cropping up (there are a handful of them now) are a direct result of the demand overreaching the wider available supply now..

I will probably pop on one of those 10" Field skillets, the price is pretty good for what they have done as a two brother start up, reminds me a bit of you and Tim's work

the reason people associate cast with unwieldy and heavy is because of the way modern cast is made. A good old wagner or griswold is lighter like for like than what you can normally get today, so the re-invention of quality, light, usable, good cast-in-the-usa cast is cool imho

 

[jps8460]

Been cooking on cast iron exclusively for 9 years. Interesting conversation going on.

I own all of the above. Later lodge is one of my favorites, I actually prefer The grainier skillet.

My square wagner Sydney O is my second favorite.

This is cool, didn’t realize we had such a cast iron following in the club.

 

[jps8460]

I must be lazy because cast iron is way too much work for me, and for camping I find them super heavy and unwieldy. I bought a set of these aluminum non stick saute pans and Costco when they were around $20. Heat up fast, clean up fast, even heating, lightweight, and cheap enough I won't be upset if one gets destroyed. I respect the craft of caring for and cooking with cast iron, but it's only something I'd use a couple times of year at home.

https://www.costco.com/Tramontina-3-piece-Saute-Pans.product.100403378.html

100% agree F cast iron for camp kitchen, minus the occasional Dutch oven.

 

[ccslider]

I love cast iron. I mostly cook at home with it although do have stainless as well. The cast iron is the best pan out there, easy to clean, no cancer coating, is non stick if seasoned right, don't have to worry about scratching it.

My father in law has a collection of pans he finds at the flea market.

 

[simps80]

Been cooking on cast iron exclusively for 9 years. Interesting conversation going on.

I own all of the above. Later lodge is one of my favorites, I actually prefer The grainier skillet.

My square wagner Sydney O is my second favorite.

This is cool, didn’t realize we had such a cast iron following in the club.

I use the lodge quite a bit, cooked up some steak fajitas tonight,
I browned up the strip on the skillet, then onions, yellow and red peppers on the skillet, then put it all together in the lodge dutch oven with the grease from the pan and finished it off.

anyone got a recipe or some cast iron porn to share?