I am new

Kevin Tunnell

New member
Thanks for having me. I love my cast iron and how it cooks. I have a few old pieces but want those that I can use. I love how my Griswold skillet cooks and we can't forget Wagner.
I am sure I will learn a lot.
Kevin from West Texas.
 
Welcome Kevin. I am from Texas also. Kemah, just south of Houston. Where are you located?

You are correct that you can learn a LOT here. I certainly have.

Jack
 
Thank you Jack

I am in a small town near Lubbock Texas.

It is nice to be part of a group that enjoys cooking and sees the true value of cast iron cooking ware.

I have been trying to learn what I can about the unmaked skillets that Griswold and Wanger and Lodge put out there. I am slowly getting it.
It seems that the older "Antique" cast iron has a pretty stiff price tag on it.
I see the real value in owining a piece of history that after a 100 years is still being used. To have a family piece of of cast iron passed down and know it will be given to another generation one day.

Lodge has got some really nice cast iron cooking ware out there and I am thinking about my next piece to be the Pizza Pan, I think it is a 14 inch.
I like the handles that will make it easier to get in and out of the oven.

Thanks for having me in the group.

Kevin
 
You can find some great deals on vintage CI if you hunt at flea markets, thrift stores, and the like. Especially if you are willing to restore what appear to be hopelessly rusted and gunked up pieces. Look through some of the before and after shots that folks have posted under the Show & Tell forum to get an idea. These pieces can often be found at half the price of a comparable new piece from Lodge.
 
John is right. Resale shops and flea markets are the best places to find real bargains on 'as is' cast iron. Read this sites post on Cleaning, Restoration and Seasoning. Then buy some $2-4 pans and practice a little. It is actually pretty easy to restore these old pan to almost new condition.

The new pans do not have the smooth machines surfaces that the stuff made prior to 1960 does. Compare the cooking surface to some of your inherited CI to the surface on a new Lodge pan. One is silk and the other is sandpaper.

Jack
 
Thank you Gentlemen

You have some very good advice. I have been looking over the site and there is some really good information here.
Thanks again for having me.
Oh I will have questions that is for sure.

For instance: I was at a garage sale and noticed a man walking out with a couple of very rusty cast iron skillets. While looking around at the sale, I noticed that there were many lead products that has been made.
I can’t help but think that those skillets were used to melt lead, and the question that came to me at that time was, are those pans contaminated, and can they ever be safe to use?

I am very careful when buying second hand skillets, because I want it to use.

Kevin
 
While lead (or other hazardous material) is always a possibility, most or the time you have to rely on your best judgement to tell you to be suspicious. Corn and bread stick pans are the most likely candidates for lead forms, although any piece could be used. If the piece has a burnt look or a metallic residue, it might be best to just forget it. If other observations arouse suspicion, but you are still interested in the piece, there are lead test kits which can be rather easily obtained and used. Whether a dealer will be open to such testing as a condition of sale is another matter.
 
Thank you Doug

That is a very good suggestion dealing with testing for lead.

I go too a lot of garage sales, and now I am starting to notice cast iron cooking ware. I guess what got me hooked was how that #8 Griswold cooked on my stove and I got hooked. In cooking with a Lodge skillet that was 12 inches it was to heavy for the glass top of the range. So I will keep it for outside use. But the light weight of the older antique and vintage is perfect for my needs.
I know it is buyer beware and knowledge is power. I am sure it will not be to long before I get a few books on the subject.

Thanks again Doug
I don't mind taking a step back form a deal if I think it is to good to be true.

Kevin
 
Kevin, on the sizing of cast iron skillets the numbers on the older pans from before c.1960 are almost always "trade numbers" that relate to the size of stove lid and have no bearing on the diameter in inches. In time you will get to know what a No.4 or a No.11 looks like without even thinking about how many inches it might happen to measure. Many newer pans are sized in inches if they say on the bottom. Buy The Book of Griswold and Wagner and The Book of Wagner and Griswold, study them then go about collecting. There are a lot of pieces made by other or unnamed companies that are very worthy of collecting and using.
 
Thank you Steve
I was looking into reference books this past weekend. Thank you for the suggestions. Knowledge is power!

I was looking into my storage area to where I have some cast iron skillets and other stuff. I wasn't able to get to them "yet" but I will.

I am finding a renewed interest in cooking with my cast iron and love how the heat is distributed evenly . You sure can't beat fresh corn bread coming out of the oven. You sure can't beat fried potatoes with some beans cooked slow with a smoked ham hock.

I did go to Barns and Nobel and I was checking out one of those reference books that you suggested, Steve. I am sure I will get it on line much cheaper, it did have a lot of information which I need at this time.

Kevin
 
Yes, online will be cheaper and do buy both the blue and red books; blue book if you only get one but both are well worth the cost for all the information they will provide.
 
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