DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Here's another brands.
https://www.carolinakettles.com/htdocs/kettles.htm
The 80 gallon monster weighs 500 lbs and will set you back almost $2,000!
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old cast iron
- Thread starter simps80
- Start date
https://www.carolinakettles.com/htdocs/kettles.htm
The 80 gallon monster weighs 500 lbs and will set you back almost $2,000!
BritKLR
Rising Sun Member
Yeah. I'll have to dig out some analog photos of those events. I swear some of them were probably the 90 gal ones! Thanks for the link.
Some of them were very cool. Kinda a hunters version of a fish fry. They'd get started early with several guys donating some game meat, let it cook all day while adding veggies, wine, etc....and the ladies would cook these massive biscuits so by the time everyone showed up you had this steaming bowl of stew and biscuits round a firePit. The bigger ones would have live music. Good times
Some of them were very cool. Kinda a hunters version of a fish fry. They'd get started early with several guys donating some game meat, let it cook all day while adding veggies, wine, etc....and the ladies would cook these massive biscuits so by the time everyone showed up you had this steaming bowl of stew and biscuits round a firePit. The bigger ones would have live music. Good times
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We have what I can only describe as a "cauldron." This I got from my great grandmother and I was told it came from the family place in Verginia circa 1770s, then to Texas, then to California, then to Colorado. We use it not and again when we slaughter turkeys. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it.
Paparoot
Rising Sun Member
Mike, have you heard of Smithy cast iron works?
simps80
Rising Sun Member
rover67
Rising Sun Member
yes, cause I watch too much Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ha me too, he's kinda funny but I keep coming back.
simps80
Rising Sun Member
found a griswold #10 (~12") large skillet.
This is the pan I wanted.
It's only a small logo, 716s not like some uber rare pan. but I wanted a griswold for the 12" size because they start getting kinda heavy, but these pans are light. For comparison, its lighter than the stargazer #8 pan....
the youngest this grisold pan can be is born in 1957 --- and its in amazing condition for 62 years old....amazing durability
anyways - cleaned it up good, then seasoned it 4 cycles until it wouldn't accept any more at temp. did the stargazer at the same time - I managed to cook through the seasoning on the stargazer with lots of peppers and tomatoes and the final straw - searing rib eyes at over 500 degrees....
i'm not nice to this pan, but its modern, very well made and durable as hell, and re-seasoning is easy, and its readily available new if I somehow ruined it - which I won't be able to do...
but i'm nicer to the older cast I own and use that I can't just go buy new if I need to....
little splotchy on the stargazer, not concerned with the aesthetics of that pan- its my daily that I beat the hell out of.... but the inside is smooth as glass ... I didn't strip it all the way down like I do the first go around with old...
I just steel wooled it then re-coated
the griswold took the seasoning really really well, and is super slick. cooked a fried egg in it to test - real good, worked real nice.
anyways here's some cast iron before & after porn like I said I think it was 4 cycles coulda been 3
This is the pan I wanted.
It's only a small logo, 716s not like some uber rare pan. but I wanted a griswold for the 12" size because they start getting kinda heavy, but these pans are light. For comparison, its lighter than the stargazer #8 pan....
the youngest this grisold pan can be is born in 1957 --- and its in amazing condition for 62 years old....amazing durability
anyways - cleaned it up good, then seasoned it 4 cycles until it wouldn't accept any more at temp. did the stargazer at the same time - I managed to cook through the seasoning on the stargazer with lots of peppers and tomatoes and the final straw - searing rib eyes at over 500 degrees....
i'm not nice to this pan, but its modern, very well made and durable as hell, and re-seasoning is easy, and its readily available new if I somehow ruined it - which I won't be able to do...
but i'm nicer to the older cast I own and use that I can't just go buy new if I need to....
little splotchy on the stargazer, not concerned with the aesthetics of that pan- its my daily that I beat the hell out of.... but the inside is smooth as glass ... I didn't strip it all the way down like I do the first go around with old...
I just steel wooled it then re-coated
the griswold took the seasoning really really well, and is super slick. cooked a fried egg in it to test - real good, worked real nice.
anyways here's some cast iron before & after porn like I said I think it was 4 cycles coulda been 3
LARGEONE
Rising Sun Member
Beautiful Mike! I'm jealous.
Nice, I like the griswolds. I need to spend more time at flea markets to get a set
rover67
Rising Sun Member
I have a #10 Griswold just like that one Mike, I use it and my Mauviel big Steel Paella pan every day. Those two are literally my go to's for anything unless it's like boiling water for pasta or potatoes or whatever.. I love that Griswold. I tell ya, the hype is real, it kicks complete ass. The surface is perfect and I don't know how or why but it hold the season better than any lodge or whatever. It has transformed into something thats slicker than greased owl shit only after like a year. Never tried those new "nice" pans like the stargazer to compare it but I feel like I'm set with what I have.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Bear in mind I'm "that guy" who has no qualms about metal utensils, salt or, God forgive me, using my grandma's #8 O'Brien dutch oven all the time to make chili and stew with tomatoes and all.
I'm in the unhip minority using Lodge things everyday but with time they can build a decent seasoning just fine. The middle of the 5SK we use for eggs every morning, for example, has a pretty smooth surface. It's of course not uniform being as-cast rough still (I've never actually seasoned it "properly" even, just years using it). That's why I posited that maybe the rough finish isn't so bad as it gives the seasoning more surface to hold. This pan is developing a very bulletproof surface.
Just to show, I don't treat it very nicely, it's a the Honda Civic daily beater of pans for sure. But it had to work on an electric stove for 6 years. I find electric elements harsh on cast iron.
Which I think is maybe the point, care for your cast iron but don't treat it with kid gloves. I figure my elders just used the heck out of the cookware I inherited. Perhaps had they not those old Griswold and Wagners wouldn't be taking seasoning like they do now. The metal itself changes and ages to some extent with the heat/cool cycles and the seasoning has to develop, it's an organic interaction. They sure as heck didn't strip it every year and give it an artisanal seasoning using old growth Peruvian walnut oil. They just put in some lard or butter and went to town thrice daily.
I'm in the unhip minority using Lodge things everyday but with time they can build a decent seasoning just fine. The middle of the 5SK we use for eggs every morning, for example, has a pretty smooth surface. It's of course not uniform being as-cast rough still (I've never actually seasoned it "properly" even, just years using it). That's why I posited that maybe the rough finish isn't so bad as it gives the seasoning more surface to hold. This pan is developing a very bulletproof surface.
Just to show, I don't treat it very nicely, it's a the Honda Civic daily beater of pans for sure. But it had to work on an electric stove for 6 years. I find electric elements harsh on cast iron.
Which I think is maybe the point, care for your cast iron but don't treat it with kid gloves. I figure my elders just used the heck out of the cookware I inherited. Perhaps had they not those old Griswold and Wagners wouldn't be taking seasoning like they do now. The metal itself changes and ages to some extent with the heat/cool cycles and the seasoning has to develop, it's an organic interaction. They sure as heck didn't strip it every year and give it an artisanal seasoning using old growth Peruvian walnut oil. They just put in some lard or butter and went to town thrice daily.
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simps80
Rising Sun Member
truth Dave-
I use my lodge stuff all the time - especially the dutch oven - its indestructible and after so many years it basically wipes out clean
on that pic above there's maybe $120 in pans total - 90 of which was the new stargazer pan that I treat the worst of them all - i wouldn't buy that again. it's too heavy for its size and not worth the $$ when there's other old stuff out there for cheap that I like better anyway cause its old.
its all very durable
it hasn't made it 67 years being babied its whole life
- its hard to screw it up - worst that can happen is you have to strip it down and start over every now and then which is also not a big deal. It's possible to warp one of these pans - but not with anything I'm doing..I'm not going to throw my old pans on a camp fire, I would with a dutch oven but not with these thin wall antique pans...
Having said that, I started out only using wood utensils and never using soap etc etc etc, god forbid a steel wool pad... only used good oil or special seasoning pucks ... meh...its durable ass hunks of iron... i use crisco most the time now - plug your ears Ol' Cowboy Kent Rollins
I use my lodge stuff all the time - especially the dutch oven - its indestructible and after so many years it basically wipes out clean
on that pic above there's maybe $120 in pans total - 90 of which was the new stargazer pan that I treat the worst of them all - i wouldn't buy that again. it's too heavy for its size and not worth the $$ when there's other old stuff out there for cheap that I like better anyway cause its old.
its all very durable
it hasn't made it 67 years being babied its whole life
- its hard to screw it up - worst that can happen is you have to strip it down and start over every now and then which is also not a big deal. It's possible to warp one of these pans - but not with anything I'm doing..I'm not going to throw my old pans on a camp fire, I would with a dutch oven but not with these thin wall antique pans...
Having said that, I started out only using wood utensils and never using soap etc etc etc, god forbid a steel wool pad... only used good oil or special seasoning pucks ... meh...its durable ass hunks of iron... i use crisco most the time now - plug your ears Ol' Cowboy Kent Rollins
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
I don't scrub with anything if I can avoid it, definitely not steel wool. So true!
Now that you mention it I've started to wonder if the risk to old iron cookware is subjecting it to high heat seasoning. Flipped over and empty in a very hot oven seems to be asking to distort the bottom I'd think.
Now that you mention it I've started to wonder if the risk to old iron cookware is subjecting it to high heat seasoning. Flipped over and empty in a very hot oven seems to be asking to distort the bottom I'd think.
rover67
Rising Sun Member
I actually scrub and use soap sometimes as well as whatever utensils are around. Crisco is my go to after I went down the mud/80 equivalent path for pans and finally surfaced for air. I also have lots of lodge stuff which I use quite a bit and has been around for 20 years (used to buy a piece at the outlet in Tn each time I passed) and it works well not trying to diss... but the surface on the griswold is pretty awesome.
rover67
Rising Sun Member
We should cook more in cast iron on camping trips like we used to with Farnham a lot
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Just venture from the Front Range bubble! Kirsten and I usually bring the dutch ovens when we camp. It's not usually exciting 'wheeling with us, though. Except for Dollhouse last year with @Stuckinthe80s and @Mendocino. We did a salmon and rice in the oven for them.
simps80
Rising Sun Member
dutch oven blueberry cobbler cookef over a fire may be the best thing I have ever eaten
And it was oh so good!!
The Millers introduced Dutch oven peach cobbler to me on TBP 06! So good! I’ve tried to incorporate into my trips since then too
gungriffin
Rising Sun Member
Saw this and figured I would post it up here. It uses both electrolysis and oven cleaner. Quite a bit different than Cowboy Kent deals with rust, but the results are pretty impressive for being fairly easy: