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UER Forum > UE Main > Cast iron pots, pans and kettles? (Viewed 6193 times)
CaryW 


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Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< on 6/6/2014 8:17 PM >
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I love and collect old cast iron cookware. Who has pics of cool old cookware or big kettles, pots left in kitchens.

Yes it is geeky as hell but like other old stuff, the craftsmanship is off the charts on the old stuff.

Any pics?





HipsterKitty 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 1 on 6/6/2014 10:37 PM >
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I wouldn't say that's geeky. We all have something weird that we just love to find. For me, it's just large groups of small things: buttons, keys, even a drawer full of screws or whatever.

But I don't have any pictures of pots, unfortunately.



[last edit 6/6/2014 10:37 PM by HipsterKitty - edited 1 times]

Otaku 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 2 on 6/8/2014 9:15 AM >
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If it's mine and in my kitchen, does it still count?

/me is a small-time cast iron cookware enthusiast.




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heinrick 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 3 on 6/8/2014 12:24 PM >
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No pictures, but I've definitely lugged home a few. My favorite skillet was rescued from a ruined mountain cabin.

If only the wood stoves and cast iron tubs were easier. Even with permission, they're cumbersome.




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Abby Normal 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 4 on 6/9/2014 3:24 AM >
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Yep,

I'm a cast-iron addict myself. Always take a load when I head out camping. I also run the premier cast iron cooking site on the web. www.camp-cook.com

I've added a few pieces since these photos were taken.







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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 5 on 6/11/2014 10:13 PM >
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Abby, that's a REALLY impressive collection of iron cookware, girl!
*
I have a question about "reclaimed" cast iron. If you get a piece and it's rusted, and you sandblast it or otherwise clean it up really nice, do you use a heat-proof cast-iron paint to blacken it back to new condition or is that color from seasoning it properly with the correct oil blends? I currently have no cast iron cookware but I've recently had some fish and chops cooked on it and it looks like I've found a new religion! I really enjoy blackened fish and I can't get the proper results from my cheap-ass Farberware Teflon crapware from Big Lots. I do all of the cooking in my house and I'd like to branch out into iron. If you could help with any tips or advice, I'd be forever in your debt.
Thanks in advance!




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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 6 on 6/11/2014 10:16 PM >
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I'd like to venture into the world of cast iron, as well. Throw out those suggestions and advice, please!




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bigkahunasix 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 7 on 6/11/2014 11:08 PM >
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Posted by Radical_Ed
Abby, that's a REALLY impressive collection of iron cookware, girl!
*
I have a question about "reclaimed" cast iron. If you get a piece and it's rusted, and you sandblast it or otherwise clean it up really nice, do you use a heat-proof cast-iron paint to blacken it back to new condition or is that color from seasoning it properly with the correct oil blends? I currently have no cast iron cookware but I've recently had some fish and chops cooked on it and it looks like I've found a new religion! I really enjoy blackened fish and I can't get the proper results from my cheap-ass Farberware Teflon crapware from Big Lots. I do all of the cooking in my house and I'd like to branch out into iron. If you could help with any tips or advice, I'd be forever in your debt.
Thanks in advance!


Ed, just go to Abby's forum- it has great info. There are also several FB pages dedicated to cast iron cooking.

Beware though, it can become an expensive hobby/obsession.




Radical_Ed 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 8 on 6/11/2014 11:19 PM >
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I poked around on the forum for a bit but I'm planning on using my natural-gas flame stove and not a campfire. I didn't see a thread that directly discusses refurbishing used cast iron pans but if someone has a link, that'd be awesome. Of course a direct copy/paste to the thread here would help out greatly! I'm not looking to gather a kitchen-sized collection, just a nice, all-purpose pan with a really smooth cooking surface that I can use for breakfasts as well as seafood and various meats.




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Abby Normal 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 9 on 6/12/2014 3:17 AM >
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Posted by Radical_Ed
I poked around on the forum for a bit but I'm planning on using my natural-gas flame stove and not a campfire. I didn't see a thread that directly discusses refurbishing used cast iron pans but if someone has a link, that'd be awesome. Of course a direct copy/paste to the thread here would help out greatly! I'm not looking to gather a kitchen-sized collection, just a nice, all-purpose pan with a really smooth cooking surface that I can use for breakfasts as well as seafood and various meats.


Hey Ed,

If you can't guess, I love to talk about the cast iron. So long as the forum cops don't shut is down for being soooo far off UER topic...

Cast iron works equally well over the stove as it does in the outdoors. I have CI skillets on my stove that I use practically every day. Yeah, my forum is mainly for outdoor cooking but any of the discussions about the care and maintenance of your iron is exactly the same.

The smooth black coating that you are looking for is the result of the cast iron being 'seasoned'. We have various techniques to achieve that initial seasoning, which just gets better with time and regular usage. I realize that your iron is clean and ready to season, but I'll go over stripping a skillet in case someone has one that is nasty cruddy and needs to be cleaned. Then I'll walk thought the basic method to do the initial seasoning. Last, a few tips on maintaining your iron.


Cleaning and Stripping Your Iron

So your aunt Mildred left you her crusty old skillet or maybe you found one at a yard sale. Unless it's in decent condition and you want to keep the existing seasoning, you'll probably want to strip the oven down to bare iron and reseason.

First you want to scrape off all of the crusty nasties. You can use pretty much any scraper you want. The next step will be easier if you get the big chunks off first. I will suggest that you do not use power tools to clean with unless you are certain that the piece has no value. Some of the old iron has become very collectable and you don't want to ruin the potential value.

You have a decision to make once you have the crusty stuff scraped off. Kitchen oven or gas grill? I do all of my cast iron stripping and seasoning in the gas grill outside. It keeps the smoke and nasty smells out of the house. Your house oven will work but you might set off the smoke alarm along the way.

Now put the piece in the grill, fire it up on full blast, then close the lid. You'll probably get some smoke as the crud burns off. Open the grill and take a look at about the 30 minute mark. You are looking for a piece that is no longer black, but rather a dull grey. I've never had a piece take over an hour to reach that point. Shut off the grill once you reach that color and let the piece cool. Sometimes there will be a few ashes or spotty places on the skillet. You can run it through another heat cycle if you want, but I'd just move on to seasoning.


Seasoning Your Iron

Seasoning is not rocket science. I think some folks get way too concerned about that oil they use, what temperature, opening up or opening down, yadda, yadda.

I just warm my piece of iron up until it will cause Crisco to melt as you rub it on the pan. Not hot enough to burn you, but warm to the touch. You can take a cotton rag, a blob of Crisco, and start rubbing in all over the inside and outside of the pan. It'd doesn't take a heavy coating and you don't want any puddles of liquid Crisco in the bottom of the oven. Those puddles create sticky spots that peel off leaving a spot of raw iron again.

You want to heat your grill or oven to about 500 degrees. If you let the oven / grill get too hot you will end up burning off all of the oil you just put on. (Basically you just restripped your oven.) Put the skillet in the oven or grill and let it go for about an hour. There will be smoke as the oil starts to burn and carbonize on the iron. You are looking for a nice black color. If the skillet is more of a dark brown, it has not gotten hot enough or not been seasoned long enough. Once you have the color you like, shut off the oven and let the skillet cool. At this point you can just start using your skillet or oven. As you use the skillet it will naturally gain more seasoning over time.

Of course some people aren't satisfied with just one round of seasoning so they will repeat the seasoning process to try to improve the seasoning. Personally I don't unless the first seasoning didn't come out very well.


Maintaining Your Iron

There's really not much to keeping your skillet in good condition. The best way to achieve that is to use it as often as possible. I will put a little oil in the pan and wipe it around the oven before I start cooking. That way the heat of cooking helps to carbonize the oil into the pores of the cast iron each time I use it.

The best way to clean the oven is to scrub it gently with really hot water, followed by a thorough drying, followed by a minute or two on the stove to evaporate any remaining moisture. Now if the pan has cooked on gunk, put an inch of hot water in the pan and set it on the stove. Bring it to a gentle simmer and scrape with a wooden utensil.

It is often stated that you can NEVER, EVER, EVER use soap to clean your cast iron. Everyone knows that will immediately strip off all of the seasoning and ruin the skillet. I don't drink that Cool Aid. Although it's rare, I will occasionally use soap on my oven if I can't get it clean any other way. If the soap truly stripped off the seasoning, the oven would come out dull grey and I would have to fully reseason it. It doesn't come out dull grey and completely stripped. It just takes off the surface coating of oil. A tablespoon of oil and a quick wipe with a paper towel will take care of it.

Storing your iron incorrectly can adversely effect the seasoning. Some people like to wipe their iron with oil before they put it away. That works fine if you are going to use it again in the very near future. If not, that oil can turn rancid and make the skillet smell (and obviously taste) horrible. I wipe my ovens before I start cooking and leave them dry when I put them away. Also, if you skillet has a lid, store the lid separate or roll up a paper towel and put it between the skillet and the lid. You don't want stagnant air trapping odors in the oven.

I hope that I haven't put you completely to sleep. I couldn't find a single post that I had written in the past so I had to write from scratch. Let me know if anything doesn't make sense or if I glossed over anything. As always, feel free to ask any questions you might have. I can't guarantee that I'll have the answer, but I should be able to point you in the right direction.

Abby Normal




[last edit 6/12/2014 12:26 PM by Abby Normal - edited 1 times]

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Radical_Ed 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 10 on 6/12/2014 10:23 AM >
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This is awesome, informative and quite excellent. You covered ALL of my questions and now I'll have my eyes peeled all summer-long for a decent pan.
You ROCK, Abby! Thank you ever so much!




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"Will you compromise and then realize the price is too much to pay?" "Winners and losers... which one will you be today?"
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CaryW 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 11 on 6/12/2014 6:59 PM >
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Great writeup and I agree! Thats rare.





Otaku 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 12 on 6/12/2014 10:59 PM >
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You season at a much higher temp than I do. Then again, I have 3 pieces, all 8" skillets.

I use my cast iron skillets as primary cookware. If it's something that needs to go into a skillet, it goes in one of my cast iron skillets. Electric resistive range, so nothing fancy there. I've even heard that cast iron works well with the glass induction cooktops, but I have not experience there, just relaying info from another daily cast iron user.

BTW Abby, you rock. Keeping cast in good condition is something no one bothers with because they toss out that "old crap" and drop some serious coin on the "best" cookware of the today. They completely ignore that cast iron is still one of the best non-stick surfaces I've found, and damn does it take some abuse, you know, it being a huge hunk of iron and all.

-Otaku




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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 13 on 6/13/2014 3:02 AM >
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Thanks guys for all the kind words! It's fun to share the passion.

Otaku, I do use the "high temp" seasoning method. You do have to be careful not to get too hot and burn everything off. But when done correctly it makes for a good seasoning.

Like you, I use my cast iron pretty much every time I use the stove. Great for fried potatoes. I use a little one for caramelized onions. Love them. A friend gave me one of the "Nu Wave" inductive burners and the cast iron works great on it. None of my other cookware works nearly as well on it.

Here's one of my skillets in action when I was up camping a couple of months ago.







I found out that being a good camp cook gets me invited on trips that I might not normally get to go on. Hey, I'm good with that!

Abby Normal




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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 14 on 6/14/2014 12:15 AM >
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Damn abby, impressive collection!

Ever since I moved out on my own, I only cook in my 12" cast iron skillet. MSP explorers know me for bringing it to most camping trips I go on. I really want to find a good 12" lid for it, and maybe a small 8" side skillet.


Abby, since I doubt I'll ever find anyone with more cast iron experience, I've got a few questions:



1. Can I boil water in a skillet / dutch oven? I've looked online and never got a definitive answer, but I've been afraid to try it and kill my seasoning.


2. Cast iron pans in the store are all rough on the inside; my sister bought one, and I couldn't use it, meanwhile my pan that is probably from the 1950's is nice and smooth inside. Are modern pans just shitty casts or designed poorly, or does it take years for that rough cast-iron surface to disappear inside? I don't have much knowledge outside of 2 or 3 pans my had had growing up, some dating back to the 1800's.


3. Do you ever strip and re season? I tend to keep my pan in the oven because of lack of cabinet storage, and a few times roommates have baked in the oven with the pan in it and nothing in it, and destroyed my seasoning, and I need to fix it. Would I ever need to do this myself regularly?


4. Do you personally have a favorite seasoning oil? I tend to use lard for a total season, and then try to fry bacon in the pan for my first meal after seasoning, just to double protect the inside of the pan. Seems to keep way longer than any cooking oils I ever used (peanut, soybean, etc.)




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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 15 on 6/14/2014 3:29 AM >
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I once met a mountain man in the woods of Oregon who collected this stuff. He claimed a pair of cast iron pans in his collection were from the Spanish Conquistadors. This is the first I've seen anything similar since.




Abby Normal 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 16 on 6/14/2014 4:00 PM >
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Damn abby, impressive collection!

Thanks! I've added a few more pieces since then. Stupid castironitis...

1. Can I boil water in a skillet / dutch oven? I've looked online and never got a definitive answer, but I've been afraid to try it and kill my seasoning.

I have to give a qualified answer on this. Yes, you can boil water in a piece of iron without ruining the seasoning. That said, it's certainly not good for seasoning if you regularly boil water in it. You would be better off with a sauce pan or coffee pot to boil water in.


2. Cast iron pans in the store are all rough on the inside; my sister bought one, and I couldn't use it, meanwhile my pan that is probably from the 1950's is nice and smooth inside. Are modern pans just shitty casts or designed poorly, or does it take years for that rough cast-iron surface to disappear inside? I don't have much knowledge outside of 2 or 3 pans my had had growing up, some dating back to the 1800's.

You are right on all points. The modern pieces are not nearly as smooth as the older pieces. The modern skillets will eventually work pretty well once you get enough seasoning built up to smooth out the pores. Regardless, I don't think they will ever cook as good as an older Wagner or Griswold. I would recommend that anyone looking for a skillet to hit the yard sales and swap meets.


3. Do you ever strip and re season? I tend to keep my pan in the oven because of lack of cabinet storage, and a few times roommates have baked in the oven with the pan in it and nothing in it, and destroyed my seasoning, and I need to fix it. Would I ever need to do this myself regularly?

I don't strip and reseason my iron. The only exception would be if a piece went badly rancid and I couldn't get it cleaned up any other way. When we strip and reseason we are just putting a base seasoning on the pan. Continued use is what builds the great seasoning that we want. Stripping would put you back at ground zero.

In the example you gave about your roommates ruining the seasoning, you can reseason without stripping the pan first. Just build on top of what is already there.


4. Do you personally have a favorite seasoning oil? I tend to use lard for a total season, and then try to fry bacon in the pan for my first meal after seasoning, just to double protect the inside of the pan. Seems to keep way longer than any cooking oils I ever used (peanut, soybean, etc.)

There are huge discussions, debates, and arguments about favorite seasoning oils. I know one guy who uses bee's wax (he's a bee keeper). Some like food grade mineral oil. Others like natural fats like lard or bacon grease. And of course, all of the commercial oils and fats like Crisco or corn oil. Oh yeah, don't forget the seasoning oil that Camp Chef offers. I believe it's a blend of various oils. The Camp Chef rep gave me some once and it worked quite well.

Quite honestly I usually use Crisco because I always have some in the fridge. My personal philosophy is that the ongoing use of the pan is what creates the real seasoning, the initial seasoning is just to get a jump start on it. If you are happy using lard, then keep using it. I'm pretty sure lard has been used to season cast iron since the first pieces came out of the foundry hundreds of years ago.

Glad to hear that you are a cast iron fan. It's a fun hobby that is quite practical too. This is a 20 pound turkey in my big oven.




Abby

P.S. - We need to get you up to Vegas in the fall to do some mine exploring. I have a full extra set of gear so you won't have to spend $$ on equipment.




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Otaku 


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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 17 on 6/15/2014 12:11 AM >
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Abby, I want to have your babies. Well, as long as that grants me custody of some of your cast iron :p




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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 18 on 6/15/2014 7:14 AM >
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Oh man abby id love to, im actually flying into vegas for a few hours this morning and hooking up on the strategic beer command roadtrip. Vegas to LA and back are cheap enough, I would love to sometime!




If you want to protect the locations you love to explore, don't talk about them online in public!
If you want to make exploring friends, send people private messages! Meet up in real life! Get off the internet!
Don't try to have a UER e-penis! You won't impress anyone! This especially means you, Minneapolis MN newbies!
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Re: Cast iron pots, pans and kettles?
< Reply # 19 on 6/16/2014 4:30 AM >
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Posted by wannabeotaku
Abby, I want to have your babies. Well, as long as that grants me custody of some of your cast iron :p


That's funny! I think there are a few people in line with you wanting some of my pieces. Most of them are just modern, 'off the shelf' stuff, but I do have a number of older and unique pieces that I've picked up along the way. I have a spider skillet (a long handle, 3 feet to sit over the coals, and a lid with a rim for top coals) that has a "gate mark" on the bottom. That dates it to the middle 1800's. One is a pizza oven made by a friend in California. He is a pattern maker and had about 15 or 20 ovens cast. He wasn't happy with the quality so he never made any more. It probably isn't valuable, but it is rare and unique. The one piece that I would never part with is my Mom's Wagner chicken frier. It's two interlocking skillets where one acts as the skillet and the other as the lid. Take them apart and you have two skillets. Griswold made one almost identical. My roommate found the bottom as we wandered around an antique store. I found the matching skillet in another part of the store. Obviously they didn't know what they had. She bough one part and I bought the other so they didn't catch on that they were a pair.

Are you looking for any pieces to add to your cast iron family? Thrift stores, swap meets, and yard sales are good locations. I generally stay away from "antique stores" since they usually charge way too much for most everything. I've seen newer Lodge stuff that is priced higher than I can buy it new in the store.

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