Cast iron, ya got any.

[RED333]

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Left is a new one, I have not had time to work it up.
The Middle is a Wagner, right a Griswald.
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and the rest of what is made ready to cook.
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Just a bit over half of what we have.

Wife buy them at yard sales, we have been collecting them for 20 plus years.

[UncleJak]

Not quite as much, but I have three pieces and love them. Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[Murgatroy]

I bought the wife a good sized dutch oven a year or so ago, she loves it.

[VERO1]

Got quite a bit laying around here, though not as much as you. I have 2 favorites in my batch. One is a Griswold chicken frying pan with its lid. The other is a Griswold Santa Claus cake pan my mom bought in the 60's. I'm not sure it has ever been used!

[BrasilNuts]

I've recently been reintroduced to the joys of cooking with cast iron. I've always used cast iron for corn bread and pineapple upside down cake, but I've been branching out and using it for other things lately.

I've got 6 or 8 skillets of various size, but I need to hit the yard sales in the spring and see what else I can find.

[seez52]

hell, I thought you were talking about tractors! Just fixin to post a photo of my old Massey.

[RED333]

hell, I thought you were talking about tractors! Just fixin to post a photo of my old Massey.

O YEA, post it!

[Caster]

[/url]Just a bit over half of what we have.Wife buy them at yard sales, we have been collecting them for 20 plus years.

Hey, what is the one on the bottom left for? I have one I use for an ingot mold sometimes.

[RED333]

Egg poacher.

[Caster]

Hmm. Makes reflect ingots for my Lyman lead furnace.

I have a corn cob shape cornbread pan I was planning to use for an ingot mold. ....next you visit mom, swing by. You can have it.

[luvmyberetta]

All I cook on is cast iron at home. I have several in various brands & sizes including a Griswold & Wagner that are both 70+ years old we still cook with every day. Last year I picked up some Lodge skillets at the Great Smokies Flea market to give to my local Boy Scout troop.

[tennessee01tacoma]

Man, what a collection O.P. I have 1 skillet and 2 actual Dutch ovens, meant to be used in a fire, a 2 quart and a 4 quart that needs cleaned and seasoned.

[Luke E.]

 That's quite the collection Red! I'm quite envious.

[RED333]

Hmm. Makes reflect ingots for my Lyman lead furnace.

I have a corn cob shape cornbread pan I was planning to use for an ingot mold. ....next you visit mom, swing by. You can have it.

We have bout 10 of them, LOL, thanks.

[Troutburger]

I have a griswold, and my grandmothers warner. I feel like it's my last link to the best cooking I have ever known.

[JWC]

I have quite a bit. Mostly standard stuff, various sizes of skillets and dutch ovens. I've grabbed a few pieces at sales but have cleaned up and given it away to family or friends.
You have some pieces I would like to have,like a waffle iron. But I don't really need one. My wife don't like waffles so she probably wouldn't use it. And I probably wouldn't, my biggest risk of starvation is her not being home to fix my plate. She and I both prefer to cook on cast iron.

[Junkstack]

I've got a handled griddle I use for paninis, a couple 5" used for skillet cookies, and a square 7" for random other stuff

[Dennis1209]

When I was young my grandmother made the best fried chicken and meats I've ever had. Many years ago I went out and bought a medium and small cast iron frying pan and Dutch oven as she used and tried to duplicate her cooking without success. What male kid growing up is interested in how to cook like grandma? I experimented with seasonings, oil's and shortenings but not the same taste and goodness. The cast iron did make a nice difference though, even heat distribution, no added Teflon taste's, and iron lasts forever if kept seasoned, etc.

 

I'm a little ashamed to admit this but, it finally hit me one day not long ago what it had to be and tried it...

 

Lard and / or fat renderings. BINGO!

 

Probably not very healthy but WOW, what a taste difference!

 

Oh yea, at the flea markets around here they want small fortunes for cast iron cookware.

 

What's the deal on the "Griswold" cast iron cookware? Isn't all cast iron cooking utensils the same?????

Edited December 19, 2013 by Dennis1209

[RED333]

When I was young my grandmother made the best fried chicken and meats I've ever had. Many years ago I went out and bought a medium and small cast iron frying pan and Dutch oven as she used and tried to duplicate her cooking without success. What male kid growing up is interested in how to cook like grandma? I experimented with seasonings, oil's and shortenings but not the same taste and goodness. The cast iron did make a nice difference though, even heat distribution, no added Teflon taste's, and iron lasts forever if kept seasoned, etc.

 

I'm a little ashamed to admit this but, it finally hit me one day not long ago what it had to be and tried it...

 

Lard and / or fat renderings. BINGO!

 

Probably not very healthy but WOW, what a taste difference!

 

Oh yea, at the flea markets around here they want small fortunes for cast iron cookware.

 

What's the deal on the "Griswold" cast iron cookware? Isn't all cast iron cooking utensils the same?????

We have a winner!!!

 

 

Is a Hugo the same as a Cadillac?

Both will get ya there, one is a bit better ride.

I can not put my finger on "why" some are better than another.

They just "are".

[reed1285]

I have a few lodge pieces. I couldnt believe how much better breakfast foods (eggs, bacon, sausage, etc) tasted when cooked with cast iron. Wonder why?

[luvmyberetta]

Question about two of my 8" Lodge skillets. I don't know their ages & they look identical except one is much thicker & heavier than the other. Does that mean one is a lot older or were they simply offered in different weights from Lodge?

[RED333]

Older cast had a larger nickle content that the newer stuff.

Makes for a smother surface, and better heat.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

We cook with mostly cast iron, but only a few fry pans and a couple of bigger pots. Maybe the pots are dutch ovens, dunno nothin about it, but they make great chili, beans, rice and soups on the stovetop.

Long ago wife would routinely buy old cast iron cookware at the flea market dirt cheap, the bring em home, clean em up and cure em and put em up in the attic. She must have given a lot of them away because I seem to remember her buying more than we currently have in the house. Edited December 22, 2013 by Lester Weevils

[GlockSpock]

I cook almost exclusively on cast iron skillets. I love them. Got two skillets I use regularly, unsure of the make. I also got this today from the Wife. She's awesome like that.

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00022OK2A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00022OK2A&linkCode=as2&tag=tecstu-20

 

She also got me one of these:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087UYR1S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0087UYR1S&linkCode=as2&tag=tecstu-20

 

Typically all that is needed to clean out the skillets after cooking is a bit of oil and a paper towel. However, bacon and other things sometimes leave a gunky/sticky residue of fats/etc. This "scrubber" is very good at getting it off, and supposedly won't pull off your seasoning as bad as something such as steel wool. It seems that there are many, many people that all agree that they love cast iron, but start researching how to clean it and you will find 10 different people that will all tell you that the other 9 people are wrong.

 

Typically, if what I am cooking does not stick at all, I just wipe the pan out with a paper towel and then apply a very small amount of oil. If it sticks a bit (meat or cheese, etc), I find that taking a very small amount of water to the hot pan will most of the time "melt" the gunk. Then a paper towel will wipe it right out.

 

This is what I've been doing for quite a while now, and most foods do wonderfully well in there. How do you all clean yours?

[BigK]

I cook almost exclusively on cast iron skillets. I love them. Got two skillets I use regularly, unsure of the make. I also got this today from the Wife. She's awesome like that.
 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00022OK2A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00022OK2A&linkCode=as2&tag=tecstu-20
 
She also got me one of these:
 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087UYR1S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0087UYR1S&linkCode=as2&tag=tecstu-20
 
Typically all that is needed to clean out the skillets after cooking is a bit of oil and a paper towel. However, bacon and other things sometimes leave a gunky/sticky residue of fats/etc. This "scrubber" is very good at getting it off, and supposedly won't pull off your seasoning as bad as something such as steel wool. It seems that there are many, many people that all agree that they love cast iron, but start researching how to clean it and you will find 10 different people that will all tell you that the other 9 people are wrong.
 
Typically, if what I am cooking does not stick at all, I just wipe the pan out with a paper towel and then apply a very small amount of oil. If it sticks a bit (meat or cheese, etc), I find that taking a very small amount of water to the hot pan will most of the time "melt" the gunk. Then a paper towel will wipe it right out.
 
This is what I've been doing for quite a while now, and most foods do wonderfully well in there. How do you all clean yours?

Love that little grill!

As far as cleaning, I'm like you. If it won't wipe out, I try a little water and that usually works. If it doesn't a very light scrub with Chore Boy is all I risk doing to it, because, after wiping mine down with a little oil I always store mine on the top rack in the oven. They stay there when I bake and get moved to the bottom rack, if I'm broiling. It cooks stuff right off the pans. Seems to keep them better seasoned too, but I'm not sure.

Would love to hear an opinion on this too.