cast iron fry pan myths

Nice indeed. I like my Wagner pans best of all.

This thing really is too big. Needs to be on a range with a center burner. The 'cakes in the middle are precooking. Have to slide them over to finish.

 

That's a Griswold. My MIL found it at a garage sale for $30! She called to ask if I wanted it
'Ummmm, yes'

I have a round Wagner at home that gets used about every day.

 

been gone for a couple days for work out of town, but almost got a few done tonight.... hopefully after tomorrow we'll have some of the old gals back in the saddle again. that huge dutch oven I've been working on is slowly coming back around. it was in rough shape. there's one or two hiding in there that y'all haven't seen yet...





The little square unmarked wagner D bottom left, as well as the top right National Wagner Sydney O, and the newer wagner 1891 6 1/2" in the top center were all my uncles.. The left top is the what I think is the mystery skillet with a crack in the side. It's nothing like my BSR. the crack turned out ok, tried some smoked 7pepper sausage in it tonight with water and she didn't leak a bit. Awesome cook surface on this one. the big unmarked wagner square C on the lower right was scored from a local scrap yard about a month ago and was in pretty rough shape as well. I didn't post pics of it, because I didn't think it would clean up, it was warped badly, like cut a soccer ball in half bad.... so far its down to 1/32 of an inch wobble now...

tonights dinner in the cracked (pre-lodge, lodge, BSR/mystery #7) and my newest piece, a new lodge mini 2qt dutch oven purchased with a gift card while in NY the last couple of days. I see myself using this a ton. I crisco'd it and cooked it an hour before using it to give it another seasoning, neither the onions or the kraut stuck at all. Might be the best kraut I've made yet... might have to submit this recipe for FHC cookbook.





I think the Sydney O wagner turned out pretty good, as well as the mystery pan.

 

mystery pan, Its not a blacklock, but I'm not sure what it is..could be a BSR, but the #7 on the handle doesn't match BSR's other skillets







I think the dutch oven I picked up from the scrap yard that was extremely rough is a lodge 1940's. has breaks in the insert heat ring at 3,9 and 12 o'clock, as well as raised "pointy" basters on the lid.

 

This was another I picked up awhile back. Wasn't sure what it was until this thread and the interest rised to dig it out and clean it up.

Birmingham, 1960's #8 10 5/8" Century series. the #8 dutch oven lid fits it, but this one has pour spouts on it. I think I have 8 bucks in this one.

 

All my cast has come from estate sales. In all the years I've been going I've never come across a deep-dish frying pan like the one on the right.

Do you still want it?

 

No sir... Not getting rid of this one, as I've looked for years for one. that was the 15 dollar rusted scrap yard find.. its was rusted and pitted bad, and has taken a long time to get it back to usable condition. I think its a 1940's era lodge.

 

never added the after picture of the wagner national bottom,,,

 

She's later than expected this afternoon, so I made them and took some pics.

These things are pure evil. Let them crisp up enough to flip them, finish getting crispy, then take it off and hold it until it is cool enough to hold shape. The biggest thing I found was to use the thinnest tool you have to flip and take them off the pan.

 

I had to try this, very good, my son wanted me to make some for his lunch tomorrow.

 

What type of cheese? Ever try queso blanco, Taste like grilled cheese when fried up.

 

Provolone. Not much of a cheese man but this was good.

 

Now Im really regretting buying swiss cheese at the grocery store about an hour ago.

 

I have a big store bought lodge pan, probably 16", that is always seasoned very well. Don't have to do much to it, probably because we use it for a roasting pan in the oven more than a frying pan on the stove.

I have another lodge 8" pan that I've never been able to get to season well. After cooking in it last weekend I had enough and took it out to the shop and used my oscillating tool and took the bottom down to bare metal with several different grits of paper.

I rubbed it up real good with some bacon grease and ran it through about 4-5 2 hour cycles in the oven (just left it in there when we baked stuff) regreasing every time. I think I finally got it. Sometimes they can be a little fickle to season, but if you stick with it it will pay off.

Stang,

I was always taught to season pans upside down to avoid puddles. Surprised to see yours right side up.

 

From what I am gathering, if they drip there is too much grease/fat in them.

 

So WeldrDave, do you know anything about this one? From what I gather from castironcollector.com, it's a Chicago Hardware Foundry chicken fryer.

This one required a lye bath. Those dimples were filled with decades-old crud that oven cleaner barely touched, so off to the hardware I went. Been a long time, forgot how well it works. Very little scrubbing with steel wool today, and it all came off.

Normally I don't worry about the outside, but there's a little history. The pan came from my wife's grandfather's house. He died shortly after we started dating, so I never met him, but apparently he was a mean, nasty, abusive man. It was her grandmother's, and my wife wanted it, but we never cooked in it because it smelled like cigar smoke. Really. Get it a little wet or warm, and it stunk. So it got tucked away in the garage until I rediscovered it recently. It don't stink no more In the oven right now with a coat of bacon grease.

 

It's more of a deep skillet than a dutch oven. Hence 'chicken fryer', I guess.

I've never sold anything cast iron, except a couple of small skillets I had no use for.

This pretty much describes it, down to the wobble. And mine has a D instead of a B. I think $250 is a bit optimistic.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/381117822848