cast iron fry pan myths

Here's some good reading and pics
Griswold cast iron skillet. Identify, date your skillet using logos.

 

I think it's kinda like art/painting. It's not worth anything till the artist is dead. Lol

 

Check out " The Pan Handler " web site.
Lots of information there on how to ID pans and dates they were produced.

 

I have a cast by calphalon that I got from Target in 2008. Since then I have used that pan for almost ever meal I have eaten at home. It still is not as smooth as the Wagners. I have re-seasoned it maybe 3 times. I don't care for the pre-seasoned pans and will strip that seasoning off first thing and re-do it.

 

Wire wheel on an angle grinder is great for that. Definitely agree that the pre-seasoned is nothing great.

I'll admit that I use cooking sprayingor butter in my pans when I cook with them. I don't have any pan that is non-stick from multiple seasonings. Doesn't bother me any. I just like the way cast iron pans cook. I also don't like teflon or other finish on a pan.

 

Another good reference:

Unmarked Cast Iron Cookware Identification - The Cast Iron Collector: Information for The Vintage Cookware Enthusiast

I believe TurboDiesel or WeldrDave found it and passed it along here.

 

I had a 90s or early 2000s Lodge my mother in law gave me a while back, nothing special but it had been used so much that the seasoning was pretty great on it. Well then I accidentally lit it on fire on my grill and all those years of seasoning just burned right off. That bummed me out. Now I hardly even use it lol

 

I have re-seasoned my pan a few times. I use easy off oven cleaner (basically spray lye) and then soak it in a trash bag for a few days till everything comes off. Then rinse it out with some vinegar to nutrilize the spray, clean it up with steel wool, rinse, and re-season it.

I am sure there is a way with electricity but I have never used that method.

 

Yes it is. My mother had one that was her mom's, but after she passed my brother got it and sold it in a tag sale.

 

I’ve used this method and it works pretty well.

 

I know what you mean about having more of something finding more and it being like a sickness. Its kind of like firewood, hoarding more, finding more and.....OH.......Sorry.......you know about that already!

 

I find this kind of "collection" obsene.
Yes they have the right to buy and collect anything and any amount, but...

This is not much different than all these bazillionaires buying up millions of acres of ground.
Then again, at least the acreage will get used for farming.

 

Only way I've stripped pans besides my accidental burning of the Lodge is plastic media blasting them at work. I showed the process a bunch of pages back. Plastic media is unique in that it's only purpose is stripping, not profiling or etching metal, so it's ideal for stripping off built up carbon and other grime on a cast iron pan while still leaving the black cast iron patina. It does not change the substrate at all.

 

Dave, no real "residue" per say since it doesn't actually etch the metal there's nothing that's really working itself into the surface, if that makes sense. BUT I absolutely do clean these out very thoroughly before use with hot water, soap, etc....Even though there's no clear evidence of any embedded material into the iron from blasting it's still a food surface that I figure should be cleaned at that point.

Then after soap and hot water, I heat and dry thoroughly, then lightly coat in oil. I have done the baking method in the oven but my last pans I just went straight to cooking with them and I feel like they did just as well if not maybe even better than the oven cured method.