Cast Iron Cookware - What do you use?

[pipoman]

My study of cast iron cookware began around 15 years ago. I have been an antique nut for many years. I used to set up at shows and keep some booths in antique malls. Around 15 years ago I went to an estate auction. This particular auction was that of a deceased person who had no family. The bank was selling the possessions and the auctioneer or the banker had not been in this residence until the morning of the sale. When the door of the house was opened the smell was indescribable. Many people came to the sale, took 1 smell and left. The quality of the items was unbelievable, box after box of beautiful tin toys, depression glass, oak furniture, etc. At one point they sold a very large cast iron skillet with a lid. It was a Griswold which I knew was a good quality so I bought it for $35. I spent every dime I had that day and called my mom who loaned me some more.

A few days later I put the skillet in my antique mall booth for $100 (again this was a very large skillet in very good condition). That night I was talking to another antiquer friend of mine on the phone and told him about the sale. I told him about the Griswold #13 skillet and lid I bought. He asked what I did with the skillet, I told him, he said you need to be at their door when they open in the morning and get that out of there then call back tomorrow (remember this was before eBay). I called him back and he gave me a couple of phone numbers of collectors. I called them and both were dumbfounded. It turned out that the Griswold #13 skillet is the key skillet in the Griswold line up and the lid was completely unheard of. The bidding began and ended at $1,300. I sold it to Chuck Wafford who is well known in the cast iron circles, he later wrote a book/price guide for cast iron cookware.

Around this time I was regularly writing articles for The Maine Antique Digest. I heard about a large cast iron auction in Kansas City so I wrote an article about it. It was a complete eye opener, thousands of dollars changed hands that day in the gallery and in the parking lot. I learned about Griswold, Wagner, G.F. Filley and other early makers. There are several things that set these early brands apart from most modern iron.

1) most important, these early brands, especially Wagner and Griswold, are thinner than Lodge etc. It took these companies years to perfect their casting technique to keep their pans from warping or cracking and make them as thin as possible.

2) the smoothness of the cast, it is incredible the difference when compared to modern cast iron.

3) the uniformity of heat distribution, again no comparison

If you do a search on eBay, you will find that certain pan numbers (p/n) of Griswold in particular, and Wagner to a degree sell for big money while others sell for less than new Lodge cookware. If anyone here is considering some new cast iron cookware I would like to suggest at least considering buying old Griswold or Wagner in good shape, clean it up in a self cleaning oven, sand it a little if needed, then re-season it...it's worth the trouble IMHO. There are a variety of pan styles available. Dutch ovens (be sure and buy one with the trivet), skillets with or without lids, muffin pans of all shapes. The old stuff is very decorative, maybe you will get the cast iron illness and someday find yourself spending big bucks on rare pans.

Just my little story, and my New Years post.

Happy 2008 All!!

[knitter4democracy]

1. I just use what I found cheap at a tool sale.

I need to re-do the seasoning, since I think I did it wrong (bit sticky), but I like the pieces I have. Thinner and lighter sound really nice, though.

[pipoman]

6. Yep, if it is working for you thats it

and I didn't mean for this to sound elitist. A lot of the common pan numbers in these brands are very cheap. No need to spend big money buying rare pan numbers just to cook with. Garage sales, thrift stores, and eBay have nice pans cheap in common pan numbers. Number 8 and #10 skillets and dutch ovens are not really collectible (with a few exceptions) but are great users and they are definitely lighter than most of the newer stuff. BTW I have a couple of Lodge pieces given me as gifts and they are functional too.

[yy4me]

2. Have you done a little search here in the old posts?

There are tons of users and collectors of cast iron who have posted "what I use", "how I season" etc. threads here. We are a group within a group. Cast iron is the best there is! Ask here and someone will know the answer. Search and you will probably find it too.

My favorite piece? Could not do without my 10 inch deep fryer skillet. I use it for everything. I'm sure you know about the Wagner-Griswold Society, http://www.wag-society.org/
Great source of info. Happy Hunting.What is your most unusual piece?

[pipoman]

7. I did a search in C&B

for "cast iron" in the title and didn't see a duplicate or similar thread but I didn't search beyond that, I'll do that now.

I am not a cast iron collector though I do have a couple of collectible pieces. I think my favorite semi collectible pieces would be an unbranded harvest pan (a muffin pan shaped like different vegetables), a G.F. Filley muffin pan, and a #3 scotch bowl with the mark "Griswold's Erie p/n 781". I have considered collecting pieces marked "Griswold's Erie" they are sort of hard to find.

Yes, I have been to a couple of events sponsored by WAGS, it is a really active club with a lot of good info and helpful members.

[grasswire]

3. you ought to visit our antiques/eBay/collectibles topic area

...here on DU. Your expertise would be most welcome over there. I'm going to post a link there to this thread, but I urge you to visit us.

[pipoman]

8. Thanks for the invite, I'll swing by! And thanks for the X post.

[Warpy]

4. I have a 10 inch Griswold and an 8 inch Wagner

both bought new at Woolworth's in the 1970s, washed, oiled, and left in the oven for weeks while I baked bread. Both pans have never tasted soap since their first cleaning when I cleaned the "preseasoning" goo off them when I got them home (didn't know what it was, knew it was full of dust and worse, didn't trust it). If they've gotten nasty, they've been scrubbed with Kosher salt, run under the tap, and dried on the stove. Both are coal black and completely nonstick.

The only frypan I ever liked as much was a chipped Le Creuset I found in a junk shop and used for years until the chipping progressed beyond usefulness. The cast iron was well seasoned by then, so I never looked back. I also have a Calphalon 10 incher a friend gave me for Xmas 20 years ago, now also seasoned and nonstick. I find myself using that more often now because it's lighter than the cast iron and my wrists can take it better. I mostly use the cast iron, one on top of the other, as a poor man's panini press. The Wagner is especially good for flattening the rare boneless chicken breast to wrap around a filling or cook sous vide or even make a delicate piccata.

So even cheap and non antique cast iron is a great tool for the home cook. One need not cruise Ebay and yard sales looking for antiques. The ordinary stuff off the shelf will work just as well when seasoned correctly.

[pipoman]

9. I have not used any of the

non-US cast iron. I am sure there are some good brands though. Again I hope my original post didn't sound elitist..the point I meant to make (though not very well upon rereading my OP) was that the non-collectible pan numbers are really great users for less money than most of the brand new stuff, in fact the common numbers are often very cheap and found at garage sales.

[NMDemDist2]

5. mine are all Wagners

inherited from my Grandmother

I have a 14" skillet a 10" skillet and a #8 Dutch Oven

I had to reseason the 14 incher but the other two are smooth as black glass

[pipoman]

10. Wagner stuff is great

I really don't know why the Griswold seems to be more collectible, but as users Wagner is really great. I like the drip ring design on my Wagner dutch oven lid better than my Griswold, I think it does a better job basting.

I like using the trivets which came with the old dutch ovens inside the pans when cooking on the stove top, they keep the contents from burning/sticking.

[NMDemDist2]

11. i don't have the trivets but they sound like a good idea

is there a pic of them somewhere online?

edit to add, I found them at amazon

[pipoman]

12. yep thats it

they sell fairly cheaply on ebay, etc. If you get the right one they fit perfectly into the bottom of the oven. I like making soups on the stove top and they keep noodles, potatoes, etc. from sticking to the bottom. Of coarse they are good for use as a table top trivet too.. :D

[eleny]

13. Mine were my mom's or what I found at the thrift shop

Some Griswold, some Wagner and one no name. All silky and all know how to cook. I love them all.

There are a bunch of us here that like cooking with cast iron. And there are some great threads on various ways to clean and bring them back.

[pipoman]

16. Thrift shops are (or used to be) great places to find

good cast iron. And food cooked in mom's always tastes better to me too..

[NashVegas]

14. I Have a Griswold "Good Health" #8

That's been with me since 1981, when my Dad died. No idea how long he had it. Wonderful pan.

[pipoman]

17. I forgot the story on the "Good Health" Griswold pans

I have seen them before and read the story at one time. What I like the best about the old cast iron is the smoothness of the cooking surface. The cooking surface on my Lodge pieces are a little grainy/rough.

[NashVegas]

21. I Think It's Just

Their no-name line, more or less.

I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. The surface isn't perfectly non-stick (I challenge anyone to make a cheeseburger that doesn't leave anything on the surface), but all I have to do to get a smooth surface after making something that does stick is whip up chicken dijon or what have you, and let the various fats deglaze the pan.

[spinbaby]

15. Mine don't have brand names

My favorite chicken-frying pan, though, is a huge cast-iron frying pan bought for $3 at a flea market more than 30 years ago.

[pipoman]

18. There were some great pans without brand names.

One of my favorite skillets was my great grand mothers, then my mom used it for years, then she gave it to me last year when she got her glass top stove. It doesn't have a brand name just a mold line on the bottom with a heat ring.

[supernova]

19. No brand name on mine

just says 10 1/2 inch skillet on the bottom.

I'm guessing it's about 80 years old. I know my grandparents had it. edit to add that I just love it! B-)

[midnight armadillo]

20. Lodge.

Affordable, made in USA, what's not to like?

[pipoman]

24. There isn't anything wrong with Lodge

it is little thicker/heavier and the surface is a little rougher, sort of grainy as opposed to mirror smooth. I have a couple pieces of Lodge and it cooks well. I do think that if someone is thinking of buying some cast iron they can buy old for the same price and often less.

[kestrel91316]

22. I have four pieces of cast iron. The little skillet I got for 10c at a garage sale.

It does GREAT fried eggs and is virtually nonstick. The big skillet I have had for so long I no longer remember where I got it. It's seasoned so well it's like Teflon without the toxic crap. The griddle I got at a discount store 10 years ago and use for making the occasional batch of pancakes. It's not so well-seasoned and has a couple of funky patches that NEVER season up. The Dutch oven as I call it is actually a "chicken fryer" with both iron and glass lids. I need to pull it out for a pot of beef bourguignon soon.

I love all my cast iron. Who needs that expensive porcelain-coated French cast iron, lol?

[Arkansas Granny]

23. Your selection sounds a lot like mine. I have purchased a couple

of Dutch ovens and use them mainly for camping, although I do occasionally drag them out at home and cook a meal in the back yard. Some of my skillets have been given to me and a couple have even come out of someone else's trash (brand new and never seasoned). My daughter calls my cast iron "Mom's teflon".

[Warpy]

25. That expensive porcelain covered cast iron comes in very handy

for those of us who do soups and stews a lot.

I've never been able to get a cast iron Dutch oven properly seasoned. I could always taste the iron in my food when I tried to cook the more delicate soups in it, especially soups that had acidic ingredients.

Non reactive surfaces really are best for acidic soups and sauces. That's when I haul out either of my two Le Creuset Dutch ovens. I could just never justify the expense of replacing the thrift store frypan since the cast iron worked so well for frying and sauteeing.

I suppose a cast iron Dutch oven would have worked better if I'd spent the first five years of its life using it as a deep fryer and bread pan. Unfortunately, I didn't think of that back in the 70s, and the oven ended up with a friend, half seasoned, and I hope she enjoyed it. I used a spatterware soup pot until I could afford my Ebay Le Creuset from Canada.

[pipoman]

27. I have noticed that too

that my Lodge dutch oven does make tomato based soups taste like iron. My Wagner does not nor does my small Griswold.

[kestrel91316]

29. I love Le Creuset. I go to Williams-Sonoma to drool over it.

If I win the lottery I'll buy some, lol.

[Warpy]

30. They have a competitor that's much cheaper

http://caplanduval2000.com/lecuistot/index.html

I've gotten my Le Creuset from Caplan Duval. They're a good company to work with.

[NMDemDist2]

31. watch on eBay for cookware by DescoWare

they were a Belgium company that made excellent quality porcelian cookware and were bought out by LaCresuet in the 70's

I still have several of those and they are great!

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=11&from=R10&_trksid=m37&satitle=descoware&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&sabfmts=1&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=11%26fsoo%3D1

[pipoman]

26. Yep,

old, high quality, indestructible, multi generational cookware can often be bought for less than new inferior quality...a little cleaning and a friend is born which will give unconditionally with minimal care.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. All of mine is either unmarked or marked "USA". But all of it is machined inside

The inside surfaces of all of all four of the cast iron skillets I have are machined on the inside, making the cast iron nice and smooth. They're as slick as teflon. I bought each one separately, all new, but maybe like 20 - 30 years ago. I seasoned them myself and had to re season one of them when a certain young person used it to boil some concoction or another and literally boiled the seasoning away. No harm no foul, however, as it re seasoned easily.

[Retrograde]

32. The best dollar I ever spent

I found a large cash iron Dutch oven at a flea market once for $1. Complete with trivet and a lid that also fits my large skillet, which originally belonged to my late mother-in-law. That one - over 60 years old - gets used just about every day. I also have 2 smaller cast iron skillets, both Lodge, that I bought, and a cornbread mold that's a pain to clean.