Cast Iron Skillets for Everyday Use and Beyond.

[Texas Rebel]

I just snagged a perfect griswold #5 at a local antique shop for $12, look around, there's a ton floating around randomly. I need a Dutch oven next.

Picked up a really nice #8 from freecycle. Just posted an ad saying I wanted old cast iron pans to try and clean up and some awesome lady gave me her old Griswold. She said it had mouse turds in it, but there was no rust. Cleaned it and re-seasoned it and it's my favorite pan. She also gave me a little 5-inch pan with no name on it but it seems pretty decent. I also just got an Emerilware 10 inch grilling pan for 10 bucks on craigslist. Only used it once so far to make some bacon and get it nice and greasy, but it looks like it should be pretty good for making steaks and chicken. I need a smaller dutch oven as well, mine is huge so I don't use it nearly enough.

Sweet deal,Cast Iron is always good to have.
What is this freecycle you mentioned?
Got a link?

[ZombieGranny]

http://www.freecycle.org/

[Texas Rebel]

http://www.freecycle.org/

Thank you

[Pondo_Sinatra]

Went to the local flea market, there were a few cast iron skillets for sale - including one bozo trying to get $80 for a seasoned "antique" pan that I couldn't find any markings on.

[Merovech]

Bit of an update here from me.

I recently moved and purchased a stove with of all things a cast iron grate on the top. I like it a lot better than the common hard to clean stuff.

I also broke down and purchased a lodge 12 inch skillet.

While I talk down Lodge a bit in my original post, I have found a few things out about them.

Trying to find a 12 inch or larger QUALITY 'antique' skillet from either wagner or griswold for under 200$ is almost a lost cause.
While skillets of 10 inches and below are easy to find and cheap. One of 12 inch or larger will run AT LEAST 150$ on ebay plus shipping.

If you buy one that large off ebay make sure you get insurance on it, the mail isnt gentle and sellers generally do not pack them well.

So I paid 18.99+tax at Target for a 12 inch lodge, instead of 200$ off ebay.

With the Lodge the Iron is NOT as high a quality iron as the older skillets, it is not nearly as smooth nor does it seem as pure. But it will work for the time being and it does cook well.

I also picked up an old corn bread pan like this:

It is a fun toy, makes really nice fully crusted cornbread, and prob some scones as well.

Along with these recent successes, I also made a mistake.

I purchased a 10 inch, deep skillet, I am pretty sure these are made for frying chicken. It had no markings except for 8V on the bottom.

I paid $30 for it, turns out it is a nickle alloy.

Now nickle alloy isnt a bad thing really, unless you have an allergy to nickle which Im not, nor is anyone in my family. However, I prefer not to keep the nickle allow stuff in my collection and simply keep only the pure iron stuff.

[TacAir]

Cool thread.

When my oldest son was married, I gave him the cast iron skillet I had received from my father, who, in turn had gotten it from his father. In Dad's case, I think grandpa was just helping out, in my case wanted him to have a good skillet to cook on. The skillet is strong enough, he can pass it on to his son, if that should be his desire.

I saw this because there are very things around that you can pass on to the children that have value and worth.

Thanks for the thread, I love my cast iron cookware...

[DarkAxel]

-the high price of quality large cast iron-

Since the price of junk metal went through the roof, you can find a lot of good stuff at scrap yards. I found a 15 inch Griswald skillet for 25 bucks at one place. It made a nice wedding gift on the cheap.

[duodecima]

So, I'm no expert on this, and I'm just learning to love cast iron, but I thought this was the place to put this. Merovech, if you want this post moved elsewhere just let me know...

Cleaning Really Cruddy and Rusty Cast Iron with Electrolysis

I picked up a couple of very cheap small skillets (#5 size) for a total of $8. They weren't in good shape, but when I got home I realized the crud and rust went deeper than I thought. There are other methods of cleaning, but I decided to try electrolysis. There are better writeups of the how and why of electrolysis out there – I decided to post to show that this is easy-peasy to set up, even for somebody who hasn't had more to do with electricity than flipping switches in decades.

I got my directions from http://www.wag-society.org/Electrolysis/electros.php. Looking over the 3rd option (A Simple Setup) I realized I already had almost everything I needed:



6 gallon bucket
2 pieces of heavy gauge solid copper wire
Empty Coffee Can (and tools to open it up as pictured: Can opener, Tinsnips, Hammer, Punch, Screwdriver (aka another punch))
2 decorative bamboo trivets
Wire Stripper
Pliers (to bend wire)
Car Battery Recharger
Washing Soda
Water


1) Open bottom of coffee can 85% of the way around, leaving bottom still partly attatched. Cut side with tinsips, so it unfolds.
2) Strip several inches off one end of both wires
3) Punch 2 holes in coffee can – thread 1 wire thru and crimp/bend wires&can edge so that it stays attatched.
4) Wind other wire thru and around hole in skillet handle.
5) Place coffee can side down in bottom of bucket
6) Place Bamboo racks in a v-shape inside sides of coffee can.
7) Place skillet in the V of the bamboo racks. Look and feel around to make sure there is NO CONTACT AT ALL between the coffee can and the skillet, and that the skillet is held securely so it won't move and come into contact with the coffee can if the bucket is bumped.
8) Fill bucket with water so skillet is entirely under water
9) Add generous ½ cup of washing soda, stir with hand to dissolve well. (1 Tbsp per gallon is needed, but measurement does not need to be precise.)
10) Plug in battery charger to AC current.
11) Attatch wire to the skillet to the BLACK clamp of the battery charger.
12) Attatch the wire to the coffee can to the RED clamp of the battery charger
13) You've done it! Little bubbles of gas should be almost immediately visible on the skillet.


(Yes, I am a doofus - I accidentally put the black wire on the anode and the red wire on the cathode, which is backwards. The charger clamps are hooked up correctly outside the pic. )

I made sure it's in a place that it's not going to be disturbed – and that is well ventilated! That's hydrogen gas bubbling up and if it got a chance to collect it would be flammable.

Note – the piece of metal used for the anode (the coffee can) is going to get really crudded up, use a piece of (ferrous) metal that you're willing to ruin. (It is called the sacrifical anode for a reason!) Other pics show using metal clamps to hold the skillet and anode – but I'm pretty sure my husband would have words for me if I used his good clamps for this!

This took me 1 trip to the store to get wire and something to hold/insulate the pieces. A plastic dish drainer in a square sterilite or rubber maid container would be even easier and more secure, I'm planning to get those. This is just the set up I cobbled together with as little new as I could. It took me about an hour, total, of messing around and running up and downstairs to find things, to get this up and running. It would likely take even less time for an organized person!

Within an hour the water was looking grey/orange, and was cloudy with foam and crud 7 hours later. At 7 hours, there were loose pieces of crud that could be easily removed from the skillet with my fingers but still more to come off. (TURN THE CHARGER OFF AND UNHOOK IT BEFORE YOU CHECK THAT!) My first skillet is still in there. I will post before and after pics once it's done…

[KentsOkay]

Some Cool Shit

[kbilly84]

I just got my first cast iron pan (well, actually a gift from my mom). Just a cheap-o pan she found at Big Lots of all places. It was labelled as "pre-seasoned", but I seasoned it myself this past weekend.
Cooked my first meal in it yesterday. Breakfast was bacon, French Toast, and scrambled eggs.

HOLY SH!T BATMAN!!

Why the hell did I wait so long to get into cast iron???? That was the best cooked, and best-tasting breakfast I've had in a long time. I was a bit worried about doing the scrambled eggs. Since that was the last thing to go in, I thought for that it would stick and get messy. But no, not even a little bit. They stayed un-stuck, and cooked up better than I've ever had in a "non-stick" pan. I was blown away.

My other pans are officially relegated to backup duty. (They're still in decent shape, so I'm not gonna throw 'em out). But I'm officially cast iron all the way.

Thanks to Merovech and all those who gave info/tips/advice on cast iron!!

[bacpacjac]

Love my cast iron skillets and dutch oven. They're nothing fancy but this little guy might find a permanent place in my pack. It only cost about $3 at the local second-hand store but it's worth so much more:

[offcamber]

I'm a big fan of cast iron, and have a number of different skillets and pots, but a couple weeks ago I picked up a cast iron wok at a flea market for $5 and it's just incredible. I cook everything in it now, lol.

Moral of story: If you find a good deal on a cast iron wok, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

[Last Knight]

Posted to subscribe! I've got a nice cast iron pan at home that I haven't had the opportunity to use, I'm going to have to cook the hell out of it whenever they let me outta here.

[Stix-N-Stonz]

You ain't lying about heirlooms. My maw is still using the pans her grandmother used. You should see that good seasoning and crusty exterior.


When i moved out i bought some cheap stuff and burned up like 4 pans and 5 pots until i went and bought my own cast iron. Its all i knew.

Sent from a gaffled Tapatalk.

[echo2]

Snapped a pic of what was in the cabinet...



internal racks.....



I'll get a pic of what's in the chuck box later....and I'll have to find a pic of some of the stuff at work waiting to be refinished....

[echo2]

Spoon cradle....



Ones at shop waiting refinishing....

[ineffableone]

I love cast iron cookware and recommend their use. It would be good however to point out there is another similar option.

Carbon Steel cookware. Also called Black Steel or Blue Steel as well as Carbon Steel depending on who your talking to or buying from. Advantages for Carbon Steel cookware is they tend to be a bit lighter than cast iron, they also transfer heat better, also carbon steel is less brittle than cast iron so can handle more rough handling than the cast iron can. Iron is a poor heat conductor while steel is a fairly good one, but also carbon steel cookware tends to be made thinner than cast iron cookware thus making it lighter and even better at heat transfer. This heat transfer though needs to adjusted to if your used to cast iron, or you will end up burning your food regularly. Carbon steel cookware is still heavier than stainless or aluminum but can offer more mobility for camping gear with a similar appeal of cast iron. Maintenance of carbon steel is similar to cast iron. Carbon steel needs seasoning like cast iron, and is cleaned the same way.

My suggestion is if you love your cast iron but find it heavy for camping or for your emergency preps, look into getting some carbon steel cookware. The similar performance makes them ideal alternatives to cast iron when weight starts being an issue. Getting some carbon steel cookware now and getting it seasoned and getting used to the differences in cooking with it vs cast iron is a good plan. Then you can set your carbon steel cookware to the side and keep using your cast iron for daily use. Pulling out the carbon steel occasionally to keep it seasoned and maintained.