My new obsesession: Renewing cast iron cookware.

[trof]

I have a 10 1/2" skillet/frying pan (#8 Lodge, but old), a #7 griddle, and a smaller 6" #3 WagnerWare frying pan that I inherited from my grandmother.
I'm 76, so...
I have a larger #8 griddle I got when my uncle died and we cleaned out his house.

The two griddles have a 'gate mark'. That's a 4 inch straight 'scar' on the bottom where they were broken out of the molds. That means they were cast between 1850 and 1870 or 1890.

This video will tell you how to refurbish groddy old ironware and reseason it. Worked great for me.

[Phoenix61]

1. I have a friend who is into the same thing

His latest find was some end irons for his outdoor fireplace.

[PoliticAverse]

3. They're actually called "andirons"...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andiron

[Phoenix61]

4. Thanks! nt

[democrank]

2. Just bought my son in law a new Lodge fry pan for Christmas

It came pre-seasoned, has a spout, about 10 or 12 inches across, only $19.99. Got it in a small hardware store here in Vermont. It's Made in the U.S.A.

My personal favorite is an old spouted Wagner.

[trof]

5. Great.

Modern Lodge surfaces are a bit rougher than the older ones, but work best with the factory seasoning (soybean oil).

The video is a good guide for maintenance and re-seasoning.

[democrank]

6. Thanks so much for posting this video.

I really appreciate it.

[trof]

7. Man? I'm a FANATIC now.

I'm going to start hitting yard sales and flea markets in hopes of picking up some collectible items. Refurbish and sell on ebay or wherever.

[Hortensis]

19. Terrific! Giving these great pans whole new lives

is a nice thing to get fanatic about, and I wouldn't be surprised if you never get punched out for expressing your views.

[mitch96]

8. "Modern Lodge surfaces are a bit rougher than the older ones"

?? A bit ?? Like the surface of a sandy beach rough.. I have an old pre 1940's Griswold (large logo) and the cooking surface is as smooth as a baby's behind. Properly seasoned and maintained it's very non stick. Use it to make french omelets. The older Wagners were great also.. My Wagner still has faint grind mark swirls on the cook surface. Back then they ground the cooking surface smooth.. Now a days they just cast 'em and ship 'em... I have polished the inside of a lodge pan smooth but it's a hell of a lot of work.. YMMV

m

[Major Nikon]

16. They cast them in sand

They could actually cast them in finer sand and get a smoother surface, but the coarse texture is designed to keep them seasoned longer because they aren’t used today the same as they were many decades ago. People tended to use more animal fats and use their cast iron more in the oven which made reseasoning rarely necessary.

[Hortensis]

17. Oh, that's why. Thanks. I purchased a new 15" with that rough

surface, while the old ones my mother-in-law gave me long ago are smooth as a baby's bottom. I much prefer them, but the new one's actually fine.

Even though it supposedly came pre-seasoned, I seasoned it again with some smelly, short-lived (goes rancid) expensive oil initially, but now I just clean/scour it with cooking oil and kosher salt and put it away.

[Major Nikon]

20. I use food grade linseed oil to season my cast iron

There's many reasons for doing it that way, but basically it lasts longer and performs better.

[Hortensis]

21. That's what it was! I read that it was the best and

so ran some down in a health food/naturopathic store. But the $10-12 I blew there for something that mostly didn't get used was basically my one shot at the best. If I were going to join the National Cast iron Cookware Society and take my pans hopefully to competitions, I'd commit.

[Major Nikon]

22. It is fairly expensive in small quantities

I also use it on my wooden cutting board and rolling pin and I store it in the refrigerator for a longer shelf life. Amazon currently has it in 12oz for $8 and that's enough to last a couple of years.

Reseasoning cast iron is a fairly lengthy process for me. I do about 4 coats alternating between cooling cycles and oven curing. Using linseed oil means I only have to do it about half as often. I'm not sure how much it costs to run my oven for 4 hours, but I'd guess about $1-2 which means the more expensive oil will pay for itself in the long term.

[Hortensis]

23. It lasts that long for you in the refrigerator?

I put it there for a long period and used it a second time, but after probably a year I discarded it since I was told it would start turning rancid far sooner. A small-town healthfood store is hardly the cheapest place to get it, but I could probably spring for another bottle if it'd really last a year.

Bet your pans look really good. Some old, long-used ones came with this place, but I only ran them through the self-cleaning cycle once, did some oven cleaner and abrasive scrubbing until an emotional "I'll consider it patina" button was pushed, and used the tung oil on them once. No sanding, and they do not look like my MIL's.

[Major Nikon]

29. You'll know when it goes rancid

It will start giving off a foul odor and if you've ever smelled rancid oil or fat you'll know what it smells like and it tastes much like it smells. Until this happens there's absolutely no reason to throw it out and arguably not even then if all you're using it for is seasoning pans. I've had some go rancid very soon after buying it and some last for 2 years. The stuff that's sold in small quantities tends to be of higher quality. I've had far more problems with the really cheap stuff sold in larger quantities.

The reason you don't want to consume rancid oil has to do with the free radicals that develop through the oxidation of unsaturated fats. So what if you're only using it to season pans? Remember that free radicals develop anytime you burn culinary fat and that's exactly what you'll be doing when you season your pans. So even if you were using fresh linseed oil that wasn't rancid, you'll still be creating free radicals simply through the seasoning process. The amount of these that will be consumed from the residue on the pan is most certainly negligible and not of any real health concern, IMO.

[Hortensis]

30. Thanks for very good information.

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. I am a certifid appraiser with a specialty in iron cookware

I know more about iron cookware than any person on DU.

[trof]

14. So what are my two griddle skillets with gate marks worth?

[Dr Hobbitstein]

10. I have a 12inch 1920s WagnerWare Sidney 0 that I love.

I also have a modern 10” Lodge that is ok, but not nearly as nice as the Wagner.

[trof]

12. 'O' is for Ohio. Cast in Sydney, Ohio.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

15. Yeah, I knew that. I meant to type O, but my flu-addled mind typed 0. nt

[Hortensis]

18. Hope you're feeling better and will be up for the weekend.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

24. Much better, thanks!

[Hortensis]

25. Good. Flu stinks. :)

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

11. My oven doesn't have a "clean" setting, but I put my skillets in my fireplace coals

It burned off the stuff on two #8 and one #10 skillet. The #10 came out with a crack in it, don't know if it was already there or not.

[trof]

13. Cast iron needs to heat gradually.

Thermal shock will crack them almost every time.

[applegrove]

26. I could pinch myself for not taking my mom's cast iron Dutch oven from

the cottage when we sold the cottage. It was an family heirloom. I got some art. I made sure my sister got cast iron irons for her farmhouse that had been in the family for more than 5 generations. Wish I had been a little more ambitious for myself.

[dixiegrrrrl]

27. You may have saved one of our skillets for us. And a wok.

Mr. dixie and I both have 3 skillets and one dutch oven each, from our grandmothers. A lot of iron for 2 people to use, but we will pass them on.
One of his, teh smallest one, needs cleaning and seasoning, there is something on it that looks like clear glue in places on the inside, he has no idea what it is. The rest we keep well seasoned.
I will go look at the backs of them to see any identifying marks.

Plus..on the Youtube page of the above video, there is how to restore a wok!
A two-fer...yayy.

thanks, trof...

[trof]

31. I'm just here to serve, dixie.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

28. I have two cast iron skillets that were wedding presents

back when I got married in 1980. There was originally a very small pan in that set, which cracked and fell apart after maybe ten years.

I love cast iron, and ought to look for a dutch oven in cast iron.