New Lodge Skillet.

[Shiloh]

15% off so it was $16.95 plus tax out the door at Fleet Farm.
Washed it really well with a scrubby and a stiff brush with soapy water after bringing is home.

This is after baking for an hour at 400˚ twice. I heated it up on the stovetop on low to open the pores and let the bacon grease soak in before wiping it out. I did 1 1/2 lb. of thick sliced jalapeño bacon this morning on the Coleman stove outside on the deck. Wiped it out and put it on the stove til it smoked. Cooled and wiped it again with bacon grease. Doesn't take long to cool at 12˚ outside.

190374

Shiloh

[jonp]

I just bought 2 cheap ones from sportsmans guide. A 5qt chicken fryer with lid and a square one with ridges in thr bottom. Came "pre seasoned" and both were rougher than my Lodges so i was a little hesitant. Washed one with soapy water and cooked up some apple smoked bacon. Seemed to work fine. Nothing like cast iron

[jcwit]

Bought my wife a couple of the "Copper Chef" as seen on TV. Loves them and Nothing, I mean NOTHING sticks to them.

With arthrist she can not use the cast iron anymore.

[308Jeff]

Didn't own a single piece of cast iron until a couple of months ago. Now I have a bunch. Love it.

[44man]

Supper nice but the "copper" stuff looks good. Carol can't handle the big cast either.

[Char-Gar]

Over the years, when church members found out I like cast iron, they brought me scores of pieces rusting in their garage because they became too heavy to use. I cleaned them up, seasoned them and put them in my office on a table.

When folks came in and saw the cast iron, they asked me why I had cast iron cooking stuff in my office. I replied I was the cast iron fairy and was giving it away to a good home. It didn't take long for it to go out the door.

I guess someday I will have to go to lighter stuff, but until them it is cast iron for me. Nothing cooks like cast iron. It isn't the non-stick quality I like, it is how it holds and radiates the heat.

[Shiloh]

It is heavy Char-Gar. It lasts forever.Now that I ave another, my long lost skillet will show up. That's not a bad thing though.
Good for you giving these skillets a good home.

Shiloh

[jcwit]

I've always preferred cast iron, not only for it's cooking but for the fact it gives the body the iron it needs.

Back in the 60's I bought Lodge wear by the ton from the factory as I worked in procurement for the largest RV company at the time. I worked in the accessory division, not bragging at all just telling the story. The fellow who owned Lodge was a great fellow BTW, was good to know him.

My wife "Carol also" just got so she couldn't handle the weight.

[bullet maker 57]

I have a square cast iron frying pan that has been in the family for more years than anybody remembers. Makes a perfectly sized egg for sandwiches.I have never washed it. I wipe it out and put it away. Always let it get really hot before I make an egg in it. Nothing sticks to it ever.

[Shiloh]

They weigh a LOT!!

Shiloh

[MaryB]

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...

[DougGuy]

I LOVE it when I clean up two griddles and two skillets with one half of a paper towel!! GF loves it when I cook on cast iron cause she knows she won't have to do any of the cleaning!! ;)

[jcwit]

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...

Carol's been using her first Copper Chef Skillet now for over 6 months now, no sticking yet and she does use it daily for my breakfast.

Forget the Teflon tho!

[MaryB]

Pass on those, way to many bad reviews...

[jcwit]

Pass on those, way to many bad reviews...

Likely they didn't bother to season them.

That is in the instructions!

[marlin39a]

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.

[Mk42gunner]

I like cast iron, and use it often. The easiest way I have found to season it is with flax seed oil from pills, as recommended by Kent Rollins. I don't have any Lodge, all of mine is Griswold or Wagner, most of which has been handed down through the family.

My mom bought me one of the copper coated skillets, it is a bit small at about eight inches in diameter at the rim, but as stated above, nothing sticks to it.

Robert

[Shiloh]

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.

Except you need a Sherpa or gun bearer to move it for you. Couldn't believe how heavy the big ones are. Do they make a lid for it??

Shiloh

[dragon813gt]

They are definitely heavy. It's why my wife won't use them. It's easier for her to pull the nonsticks out of the lazy susan instead of pulling the cast iron off the wall. I've been exposed to so many chemicals at work that a little teflon in my food is the least of my worries. I have some nice copper bottom pans but they require seasoning like cast iron. That's apparently to much work for the wife as well :laugh:

[54bore]

I started collecting old Cast iron skillets over a year ago, i have a bunch of REALLY nice old Griswold and Wagner pans. I recently made myself stop, i cant live long enuf to wear out 1 of them, little lone 20! Love cooking in Cast iton! Favorite pan is a Griswold 10" made in 1906-1912, i am stil a sucker for a really nice old pan at garage sales! The old Griswolds are lightweight and silky smooooth! Awesome pans!!

[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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

[Shiloh]

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.

On the Coleman stove, the longer strips of bacon brown in the middle first. I cuth them in half for more even cooking. I wonder if the 10 degree weather had anything to do with that?? Shouldn't have. That was the secong thing I fryied. First was sausage patties on the stovetop after the first seasoning.

Shiloh

[richhodg66]

I have a big Lodge frying pan like that, most useful piece of kitchen gear we own. Also have a little one like restaraunts use for orders of fajitas and such and it's nice too, just not the quality of that Lodge.

[Shiloh]

As stated by one of my Latin/Hispanic friends, great for home made tortillas, papusa, quesidillas. Big enough for them.

SHiloh

[oldblinddog]

On the Coleman stove, the longer strips of bacon brown in the middle first. I cuth them in half for more even cooking. I wonder if the 10 degree weather had anything to do with that?? Shouldn't have. That was the secong thing I fryied. First was sausage patties on the stovetop after the first seasoning.

Shiloh

Turn the heat down (3 out of 10) and let the skillet heat up before you put the bacon in. Then let it take it's time to cook. Don't be in a hurry. Same as at home.

[Squint]

This is a rather old thread but I have something that may be of interest to some of you that love your cast iron but cannot tolerate the weight.

Lately, I have been using a black steel skillet that seems to have all the benefits of cast iron (except the heat retention) at maybe half the weight. It is a French made "Matfer" of about 9in. I am not much of a cook and certainly no expert on cookware but this pan is just right for my bacon, eggs, and toast ( I like skillet toast).

I don't remember what it cost, but it wasn't very expensive.

[DougGuy]

I got a new Lodge skillet too! Well, new to ME, and a griddle not a skillet. 1930s era, this old girl is feather light, and I love those beautiful swirl marks from the factory polishing that all the good iron makers turned out back then. It is well seasoned by use, this is the way I prefer to buy them, this one's perfect in every way and it has already earned a permanent spot on the stovetop.

Tonite's dinner was Ethiopian Blackened Grouper, (grouper caught at Hatteras with Ethiopian berbere spice, blackening spice, and cayenne pepper) made on this griddle, wish I would have gotten a pic! Rinsed it off with water, wiped with a paper towel, all it took to clean it up..

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb374/DougGuy/Cast%20Iron/LodgeNo8griddleFront-640_zpsyqynbb5c.jpg (http://s1202.photobucket.com/user/DougGuy/media/Cast%20Iron/LodgeNo8griddleFront-640_zpsyqynbb5c.jpg.html)

[Shiloh]

Nice Doug Guy!!

Shiloh