View Full Version : Cast iron makeover
We had several skillets that were heavily encrusted with burned on oil. One was a hand-me-down from my wife's grandmother and I thought that the other was from my great-grandmother via my grandmother. Cleaning it reviled a different history.
The first photo is my wife's and you can see that it was horribly encrusted. After baking it in the gas grill at a little over 700° and brushing it off, I found that it was probably a pre-1920s Wagner which fit with the date that her grandmother was married.
My hand-me-down (the middle sized one in the photo) said "Made in Korea" which would make it pre-1950s which is when my mother was married. Turns out that she still has my great-grandmother's skillet and gave me hers. But, the one she gave me is the one she used to knock the snot out of my father back in the '50s. He was laid up for several days. :D She obviously watched too many violent cartoons when she was young.
Pat
Team Sergeant
09-25-2015, 21:05
entire post
Pat
Very cool indeed!!!!! They will last forever!
mark46th
09-25-2015, 21:26
Way cool- My sister has my mother's, they must have made thousands of Salisbury Steaks...
Very nice work!
It would be interesting to know the amount of cast iron skillets and pots that have been passed down from generation to generation...
Everyone wants grandma's cast iron pots...I know I did.
Badger52
09-26-2015, 10:55
Way cool- My sister has my mother's, they must have made thousands of Salisbury Steaks...Same with my Mom's; hers was the benchmark by which that dish is still judged.
Good cast iron is up on the periodic table near bacon.
Nice job Pat! :cool:
Peregrino
09-26-2015, 15:44
Don't forget the easy over eggs and corn pone fried in a cast iron skillet full of bacon grease. 'Bout the only part of (camp) breakfast that doesn't depend on cast iron and bacon is the boiled coffee and it wants only the egg shells to settle the grounds.
CDRODA396
09-26-2015, 16:51
Love me some cast iron! The older the better, simply cant destroy them and once seasoned properly just about anything tastes better cooked in one!
I recently stripped and re-seasoned my non-historical, boring, bought-by-me Wagner cast iron skillet. Filled a 5 gal bucket with water, added 1/2 lb of lye (100% lye drain cleaner from Home Depot) and stuck the skillet in the water. Let it sit 24 hours, then pulled it out, scoured it with steel wool to remove a couple remaining spots and soaked it another 24 hours. Pulled it out, rinsed it with clear water and it was bare iron ready for seasoning.
Team Sergeant
09-26-2015, 21:20
I recently stripped and re-seasoned my non-historical, boring, bought-by-me Wagner cast iron skillet. Filled a 5 gal bucket with water, added 1/2 lb of lye (100% lye drain cleaner from Home Depot) and stuck the skillet in the water. Let it sit 24 hours, then pulled it out, scoured it with steel wool to remove a couple remaining spots and soaked it another 24 hours. Pulled it out, rinsed it with clear water and it was bare iron ready for seasoning.
Holy Green Pad Batman! And easier way to clean it would have been to toss it into a bonfire, sand blast it or the ole steel wool. That was a lot of work!!! ;)
If nothing else, I am thorough. :D
Divemaster
10-16-2015, 22:55
I've seen a lot of old cast iron skillets in antique stores are reasonable prices. Are they worth putting back into service?
Oldrotorhead
10-17-2015, 08:34
I've seen a lot of old cast iron skillets in antique stores are reasonable prices. Are they worth putting back into service?
Do some on line research. Griswold, Wagner and others are very collectible. Try and check to make sure the the bottom is flat if you intend to use them. A pan that does not have a flat bottom works fine on gas or over a fire but sucks on an electric stove top.
tazaygul
10-17-2015, 10:47
I bought a cast iron skillet a while back and have followed online instructions for seasoning it. I'm under the impression that when I cook things in it, they shouldn't stick to the pan. At least 50% of my eggs stayed in the pan this morning, and that's typical. Can someone give me advice on how to make my pan not suck? I wanted to throw it out the kitchen window this morning. Thanks!
I found with my cast iron that as well as the seasoning, I need to let the pan get hot enough before I put the eggs in. When I do this they hardly ever stick. I used to put them in to soon and have the sticking problem.
I bought a cast iron skillet a while back and have followed online instructions for seasoning it. I'm under the impression that when I cook things in it, they shouldn't stick to the pan. At least 50% of my eggs stayed in the pan this morning, and that's typical. Can someone give me advice on how to make my pan not suck? I wanted to throw it out the kitchen window this morning. Thanks!
What oil/fat are you cooking in? I found that if I used just bacon fat they would stick a little if I didn't add a little vegetable oil or clarified butter (for higher temperature) and scrape the pan with a spatula to loosen the bacon fond. (Also, when my wife uses them, she can't resist washing them with detergent. :mad: I can usually just rinse them out with hot water. If anything does stick, I use course salt with a little hot water to scrub it.)
Pat
ETA: Family portrait
Team Sergeant
10-17-2015, 16:18
I bought a cast iron skillet a while back and have followed online instructions for seasoning it. I'm under the impression that when I cook things in it, they shouldn't stick to the pan. At least 50% of my eggs stayed in the pan this morning, and that's typical. Can someone give me advice on how to make my pan not suck? I wanted to throw it out the kitchen window this morning. Thanks!
Biggest reason things stick in any pan is lack of oils and not hot enough. Not even teflon is "stickless" without a bit of oil. Keep using your cast iron but allow it to become hot and place a tablespoon of oil in it each time. When you take out your eggs most of the oil will stay in the pan. To clean simply wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
tazaygul
10-20-2015, 08:53
Thanks for the responses...
Not high enough heat is probably the culprit. I was just cooking the eggs in the bacon grease. I thought that was enough but I might have to add a bit more. I'll give it a shot again later this week and see what happens.
If nothing else I'll let my neighbor use it as a boat anchor.
Team Sergeant
10-20-2015, 09:04
Thanks for the responses...
Not high enough heat is probably the culprit. I was just cooking the eggs in the bacon grease. I thought that was enough but I might have to add a bit more. I'll give it a shot again later this week and see what happens.
If nothing else I'll let my neighbor use it as a boat anchor.
Learning to cook with cast iron is a bit different than cooking with regular cookware. A bit more patience is required and more arm strength.
Ambush Master
10-20-2015, 18:33
Didn't see where anyone addressed "Seasoning".
I discovered that if you warm the piece up, apply your favorite Seasoning Compound and let it set for an hour or so. (Whenever I have one that needs touching up, I start on the evening before or the morning of a backyard Grill Session.) After the Weber has completed it's chores for the day, I put the piece on a clean grill upside down, lower the lid and let it smoke away until the coals die out!!
twistedsquid
10-20-2015, 18:46
I recently stripped and re-seasoned my non-historical, boring, bought-by-me Wagner cast iron skillet. Filled a 5 gal bucket with water, added 1/2 lb of lye (100% lye drain cleaner from Home Depot) and stuck the skillet in the water. Let it sit 24 hours, then pulled it out, scoured it with steel wool to remove a couple remaining spots and soaked it another 24 hours. Pulled it out, rinsed it with clear water and it was bare iron ready for seasoning.
Rattle can it with Easy Off oven cleaner, let it dwell 15, hit it with a scrubbie, rinse well. Dry. Season.
Team Sergeant
10-21-2015, 11:35
Rattle can it with Easy Off oven cleaner, let it dwell 15, hit it with a scrubbie, rinse well. Dry. Season.
You find that "gem" on the internet? :munchin
twistedsquid
10-21-2015, 18:03
You find that "gem" on the internet? :munchin
No. I have my Grandma's pan. It got really crusty and all I had was a can of Easy Off. I shot the pan and let it sit. Scrubbed it clean and seasoned it. Worked great. My DIY 2ct.
Team Sergeant
10-21-2015, 19:25
No. I have my Grandma's pan. It got really crusty and all I had was a can of Easy Off. I shot the pan and let it sit. Scrubbed it clean and seasoned it. Worked great. My DIY 2ct.
That crusty'ness was probably the best seasoned cast iron skillet on the planet.....;) (At least your grandma knew her cast iron!!!! ;))
Badger52
10-21-2015, 21:07
That crusty'ness was probably the best seasoned cast iron skillet on the planet.....;) (At least your grandma knew her cast iron!!!! ;))I have an ex-wife who once scrubbed my favorite skillet raw to the bone....
:rolleyes:
I have an ex-wife who once scrubbed my favorite skillet raw to the bone....
Sounds like she did all the hard work so you could get straight to re-seasoning it. ;)
TrapperFrank
10-22-2015, 09:02
One can also use salt to clean a cast iron skillet.
Team Sergeant
10-22-2015, 10:04
One can also use salt to clean a cast iron skillet.
You ever tried that? What a pain in the ass!!! ;)
x SF med
10-22-2015, 10:29
1. I want my mom's 90 y/o cast iron skillets... perfectly seasoned and black as Team Sergeant's heart.
2. my 20 y/o cast iron gets reseasoned annually (4", 6", 8", 10", 12")
3. my ex once scrubbed all my cast iron with brillo until it shined on the cooking surface... I had to leave the house for a few hours to calm down, it took 3 years to even have a hint of seasoning back on them... they are better now.
Cast iron is the only stuff that will allow one to make fried chicken or chicken fried chicken properly... and those are the best foods to solidify the seasoning.
A good method for seasoning cast iron:
heat oven to 400* with a cast iron skillet on the center rack
once it is heated, remove skillet and put a cup of solid shortening (crisco) into the cast iron and make sure it gets all the way up the sides. (400* is just barely below the smoke point for solid shortening)
put skillet into oven for 15 minutes
remove skillet, make sure sides are re-coated
repeat 4 times
the 4th time, after the 15 minutes, recoat sides and let the skillet stand in the cooling oven until the shortening re-solidifies.
remove pan from oven, wipe with tea towels or soft paper towels until it just barely looks oiled.
put skillet back into cold oven and re-heat to 350* for 20 minutes. (this takes about 1/2 an hour because the oven has to get up to temp)
remove pan from oven and wipe with a tea towel while hot. let cool and you should have a perfectly seasoned iron skillet. It's worth the work and time.
Does this meet with your approval TS?
Badger52
10-22-2015, 14:13
Sounds like she did all the hard work so you could get straight to re-seasoning it. ;)I took it as a mentoring opportunity (since it was gorgeous before she got frisky with the steel wool). Must've worked; she absolutely never touched it again. Maybe something in my demeanor she picked up on...
:cool:
TrapperFrank
10-22-2015, 14:14
TS, yes I have tried it and it works for me.
In post #15, the muffin iron was a virgin. We had just recently bought it at Cabela's in COS and this was the first use. Perfect!
I did re-season them when I did the older stuff because I don't really trust pre-seasoned cast iron.
ETA: Cabela's in Colorado Springs is AWASOME! The store is great but the view is even better.
Pat