Good cast iron cook ware

[WILCO]

The smooth stuff would be Griswold and Wagner which where made for a very long time but no longer. Now I have cast iron by both as well as Lodge. To be perfectly honest with you they cook the same and the smoothness or lack of have no effect on sticking or difference in seasoning.

Ditto for me. I'd leave it be and run with it Ithaca. Haven't had trouble with my new Lodge items.

[gbrown]

I have Griswold and Wagner, as well as Lodge and an old Martin Stove & Range pot. Some are well pitted because of age and neglect. What I find is that the more you use them and clean properly, the roughness goes out. However, properly seasoned and with enough use, they are fine. My older cookware cooks like the modern no-stick pans. I'd just season it, use it, clean correctly and keep with it. It'll smooth out after a while. BTW, I found 2 Lodges on the curb about 6 years ago, one #10 skillet and one of those with the ridges on the bottom. Took the skillet to the camp, seasoned it and have been using it. Cooks like the Teflon pans. The other one I use as a pan to hold wood chips in for my smoker. I also got a Wagner griddle years ago for 50 cents at a garage sale that was rusty--lady said it couldn't be seasoned at all.(?????) Guess what we use for pancakes and grilled cheeses? Gave an old 4 quart Wagner (resurrected/reconditioned) to my son-in-law who wanted to cook roasts in it. He can't stop raving about it.

[eka]

Just bought two Lodge cast iron skillets when visiting the Lodge outlet store. They came pre-seasoned. I was skeptical about the seasoning that was on it. I thought I would test the seasoning with fried eggs. I sprayed with cooking spray and to my surprise they came out as slick as a teflon pan. I'm impressed and they should just get better with continued use. As far as how pretty they are compared to others or older ones, I can't say. But they cook good. The literature that came with them said they were made in the USA.

[Rick N Bama]

Just bought two Lodge cast iron skillets when visiting the Lodge outlet store.

Mind if I ask what size skillets & what you paid for them? The area stores used to have coupons from Lodge offering 10" skillets for a little under $5.00. I guess we've bought 10 or so at that price keeping only one & giving the rest as gifts.

Rick

[eka]

I actually bought the grill grate and when I went to check out they said hey we have these two skillets on special you can add to your purchase for $10. They were an 8 inch and a 10 inch. So, I took them up on it. I actually will probably be ordering from Amazon in the future. Prime shipping and no tax. Good prices too. The 15 1/2 inch skillet is next.

[Junior1942]

If you see a castiron pot in a store, put the lid on it and see if it rocks, i.e., doesn't fit perfectly. Chinese pot lids rock and wobble. Lodge lids don't. A tight fitting lid on a pot acts like a pressure cooker.

[Fishman]

Wal mart actually has good prices on Lodge cookware. The last big skillet I bought was marked made in the USA. Used it last night to make cornbread to go with the lentil and ham soup my wife made in the crock pot. Delicious!

[Petrol & Powder]

I have Griswold and Wagner, as well as Lodge and an old Martin Stove & Range pot. Some are well pitted because of age and neglect. What I find is that the more you use them and clean properly, the roughness goes out. However, properly seasoned and with enough use, they are fine. My older cookware cooks like the modern no-stick pans. I'd just season it, use it, clean correctly and keep with it. It'll smooth out after a while. BTW, I found 2 Lodges on the curb about 6 years ago, one #10 skillet and one of those with the ridges on the bottom. Took the skillet to the camp, seasoned it and have been using it. Cooks like the Teflon pans. The other one I use as a pan to hold wood chips in for my smoker. I also got a Wagner griddle years ago for 50 cents at a garage sale that was rusty--lady said it couldn't be seasoned at all.(?????) Guess what we use for pancakes and grilled cheeses? Gave an old 4 quart Wagner (resurrected/reconditioned) to my son-in-law who wanted to cook roasts in it. He can't stop raving about it.

+1 on that well seasoned iron cooking like Teflon. When you get it right nothing can touch cast iron when it comes to cooking.

[762 shooter]

There was a time when a lot of cast iron skillets looked like the cooking surfaces were "turned". I have my grandmothers Wagner that definitely has turn marks on the cooking surface. I have an unmarked #8 that is turned. Then it seemed like more and more had as "cast" surfaces. My newer Lodges have an as cast surface.

The older ones are slicker that the newer ones IMHO.

My square #8 LOVES cornbread.

762

[gbrown]

Are these older brands clearly labeled or do you need to recognize emblems/logos etc???

Go to Ebay or some other place on the web and look at the products with a search. There will be some photos that show the logos. Become familiar with these if you are interested. Then, when you see an old pot/pan, you will recognize the logo/design and be able to pick up on it. The one that got me was the old Martin--never saw it before, and had to do some research on the web. Interesting piece, is all I can say.

[Dale in Louisiana]

Garage and estate sales are a good place to look for old cast iron. A lot of eBay'ers and antique shops don't know the difference between cast iron and cast gold and they price their stuff like the latter.

Some thrift shops still have good prices, too, but even a lot of them are beginning to see a Griswold cross and re-interpret that as a '$$$'.

dale in Louisiana

[tommag]

I have a Griswold skillet from my grandmother, circa 1900 or so. I love it and use it frequently.
Until I started casting I never thought about using old cast iron, but now wonder... What if that old dutch oven was used for smelting? Newer cast iron is rough, but I can live with it until I get it smoothed out, rather than take a chance.
Maybe lead wouldn't be a problem, but not sure.

[WilliamDahl]

I always thought that you *wanted* cast iron cookware to be heavy. That's what allows it to act as a heat reservoir when you are blackening a steak. The heavier the better.

Personally, I would not use a used piece of cast iron cookware for food unless I know beyond any doubt that it was not used for melting lead in its past. I have bought used cast iron pots before, but they were very rusted and I planned on cleaning them up and using them as smelting or casting pots.