New Lodge Skillet.

[Char-Gar]

I have quite a few pieces of cast iron, but mostly use just three.

1. I have one of the deep chicken fryers with a lid. I bought it at Alpine Hardwear in Alpine Texas. I bought it the day JFK was shot. They had the radio on and that was when I first heard about the shooting.

I use this deep skillet for roasts and a wide variety of other dishes I put in the over.

2. I have an old Wagner Fat Free Fryer that is used for bacon, sausages and other things on top of the stove. It is a very shall skillet with a slight dome in the middle that causes the grease to run to a trough on the sides.

3. I have an old Wager square skillets that goes on top of the stove and also inside the over with bisquits in it.

I have others including some pretty good sized kettles.

[dragon813gt]

I just looked up that fat free fryer. That's a slick idea. It looks like the forerunner to the George Foreman Grill

On a serious note, prices are all over for one. Many are asking close to $200 for one. Wish I could find old cast iron locally. I'd like to find lightweight ones. Cost would be irrelevant to a point. I'd pay a premium for light ones.

[44man]

Don't get me wrong, Carol loves to cook with cast but I am the gun bearer. Even the lid for the big one. We have expensive stainless stuff, maybe Emeril's but everything sticks. Copper bottoms on stainless for even heat but stuck food irritates us.
When we make a roast or stew, we get the cast Dutch ovens out. I keep them in the basement on strong shelves. So lovely to sear meat and add everything to simmer.
Who was the nut case that put plastic handles on skillets? The thing should go in the oven. Or buried on coals in the ground.

[jonp]

I don't use my cast iron as much anymore, arthritis in the hands and shoulders is making lifting it a pain(literally). But I really get tired of the teflon stuff that wears off into your food, and the ceramic pans that are the rage suck after 3-4 months when it gets sticky...

Teflon is very bad for you, stay away from it

[jonp]

I've got an old lodge 17" fry pan. It's very heavy. Makes great bacon and eggs. I just bought the glass cover for fried chicken.

We had an old cast iron frying pan that was most of 2ft across. We used to use it to fry up fish during a cookout at camp when a bunch of us went out and caught brook trout out of beaver ponds. That thing weighed a ton.

[gwpercle]

My mother loved her cast iron and had a pretty good collection , some from her mother (1930's era).
My wife hated cast iron, Magnalite was her thing. I had bought several old dutch ovens to melt lead in , I couldn't bear to ruin them so they were in my shop.
My daughter loves cast iron and was delighted to take the dutch ovens and cook with them.
After my mother passed , my daughter was thrilled to inherit all of Mom's cast iron , my wife was thrilled because she knew I wasn't going to sell or give them away.

Daughter says the best and easiest way to season cast iron is fill with oil and deep fry whatever you like fried. Fish , shrimp , oysters , potatoes , hushpuppies all come to mind. She say's after several deep frying's the pan will be seasoned.
Gary

[adcoch1]

Any new cast iron i just cook about 5 lbs of cheap bacon in, and that seasons it up good. Wipe it out and coat it with corn or canola oil for storage. I do this for my camping set of lodge skillet and deep pan that fit together. But my pride and joy is the 11 3/4" skillet my grandparents bought in 1944 for there first kitchen. My Grandpa taught me to cook fish in that skillet when I was a kid, and when he died my Grandma gave it to me. I use it almost every day. Just wipe it out after a rinse, it is my favorite item in the kitchen. I also have my great grandma's cornbread pan that may be pre 1900. Don't use it often, but it looks good hanging on the wall next to the stove. The greatest thing about cast iron is the heat holding characteristics...

[hutch18414]

I ahve quite a bit of cast iron stuff. I have one pot that is almost 8" in diameter and about 5" deep. I can remember my mother and grandmother making oatmeal in it when I was young. And 5 different skillets from 6" to 14" that I also inherited. My sister and brother thought that old fashioned stuff was just stupid. The year before my sister died she was trying to get me to part with it and I wouldn't budge. And for about 10 years I was on a cast buying spree. I even have 10 of those cornbread molds that look like ears of corn. My wife was looking over my shoulder and saw some lead ingots made in those and tried to get me to use some for that. Just can't bring myself to "defile" good cast iron. Got 2 Dutch ovens made for camping and piling coals on them. I still like to use them, just have to get the grandson to tote it for me. But promise him some venison roast slow cooked in it and you had better not get in his way, LOL. I guess I am just an anachronistic old curmudgeon who loves the old ways.

[MaryB]

After all the toxins I was exposed to at the casino(insides of slot machines are a toxic soup of metal powders and bio hazards...) a little teflon is the least of my worries LOL

Teflon is very bad for you, stay away from it

[Lance Boyle]

i could not leadify a cast vessel either. My
first pot was a stainless revere ware Dutch oven that popped
its rivets holding the handles. Next was a RCBS ten pound pot. I chuckled when inopened
the box. Too small. Next was a propane tank. I didn't want a harbor
freight to let loose with a load of galena. Not even the Chinese texsport chicken fryer was going to be leaded by me

[44man]

I have an old cast iron plumbers pot and a big cast ladle for pouring ingots.
One day chuck hunting along RR tracks many, many years ago I found a propane plumbers furnace next to the tracks, cleaned it up and still use it. Why it was along the tracks was a mystery.
I don't remember where I got the pot and ladle, been about 63 years. Worth more then gold to me.

[Shiloh]

I just looked up that fat free fryer. That's a slick idea. It looks like the forerunner to the George Foreman Grill

On a serious note, prices are all over for one. Many are asking close to $200 for one. Wish I could find old cast iron locally. I'd like to find lightweight ones. Cost would be irrelevant to a point. I'd pay a premium for light ones.

If it is seasoned, it'd work fine. The thought of cleaning between the ridges could be daunting.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

We had an old cast iron frying pan that was most of 2ft across. We used to use it to fry up fish during a cookout at camp when a bunch of us went out and caught brook trout out of beaver ponds. That thing weighed a ton.

Saw one of those on YouTube, I can't imagine anything other than a campfire with a lagre grate being able to have an even heat source.

SHiloh

[prestonj12]

If you buy or have 100 year old cast iron it's not that heavy. Probably 1/2 the weight of the modern stuff.


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[jcwit]

If you buy or have 100 year old cast iron it's not that heavy. Probably 1/2 the weight of the modern stuff.


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Why do you suppose that would be, just wondering??????????????

[skeeter2]

I still cook on my great grandmother"s skillet. Its shiny smooth and black from all the years of use and care. Nothing sticks either.

[Ithaca Gunner]

A lot of the older cast iron skillets aren't quite as heavy as new Lodge skillets are, we've got Erie and Griswald skillets from mom, and they're about 2/3 the weight of a new Lodge. I appreciate that they make them to last, but ya have to be able to handle em too.

[modified5]

We use cast iron and every day. We have multiple pans and pots.
We have a couple of non iron pots that we use to boil noodles in because my wife doesn't like the color the iron gives the noodles.
My mother in law is the Dutch Diva here in Reno. That's her business name. When she goes on a demonstration or a cooking lesson, you almost have to load up the F350 because of the weight!!
Love her cooking though, I like being her guinea pig.
The best thing though, is my wife is even a better cook. Even my MIL admits that.

[44man]

Heavy cast will distribute heat better with no hot spots. Cast will fry at the sides as good as the center. I hate pans that are hot in one place.

[bob208]

they do make light weight cast iron pans now. check out paula dean. me all I ever use is cast iron I have Griswold and lodge. got a new lodge when I got married the first time kept the pan.

I have a Griswold dutch oven I am cleaning up and then season. when done I mit make some beer bread in it.