One Month Ago...

B

Bob P.

Member
About a month ago I didn't own any cast iron. Well, we had one modern Lodge skillet in with our camping gear. But we rarely if ever used it.

Then I discovered some Griswold pans at a flea market. I hemmed and hawed over them, but didn't buy them. I probably should have, oh well!

Now a few weeks later my kitchen is full of cast iron. :)

Here's what I've picked up:

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https://i.imgur.com/6649F29.jpg


Clockwise from the bottom right:

A Wagner Square Skillet. Six dollars at a flea market. The first find that I brought home. I think I paid six dollars for it, and it was in very nice condition. Nice enough that I didn't have to learn anything about lye...all this needed was some re-seasoning. I love the shape and the lightness of this pan. And it's super slick. A keeper!
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https://i.imgur.com/REBat1y.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xtjeoKd.jpg


An unmarked Volrath #8 Skillet. Five dollars at a flea market. The square skillet is great, but this Volrath is my new favorite pan. Picked it up at a flea market for five dollars. It was so crudded over that you couldn't read anything on it. But the shape of the handle gave me enough information to guess it was a Volrath. This pan ended up absolutely beautiful. It's as slick and smooth as glass, and there's something about the design of the pan that just makes it feel 'classic'. Are the walls steeper? Maybe it's the outside heat ring that makes it look taller. It looks like the corner radius is smaller too. It just feels great.
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https://i.imgur.com/ipLboue.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/WBh8b6W.jpg

A BSR #8 Skillet. Five dollars at a flea market. Cleaned up pretty well, but it took a week and a half in the lye tank and a lot of scrubbing. It still has a couple of spots that I missed, and the surface isn't as nice as the Volrath. But it's still a nice pan. Likely will find it a new home.
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https://i.imgur.com/I5li3FT.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/qV7LhQn.jpg
 
(multi-part post due to image restrictions)

Continued...

A BSR #3 Skillet. Four dollars at a flea market. Easy clean up, all though there's a 'shiny' area in the center of the cooking surface. Around the edges of the cooking surface things are a bit more pitted. It looks like a well worn piece of shiny leather in the center, it's that kind of wear. Kind of odd, I'm not sure if it just needs more cleaning or if it's just the way the pan is now. Likely will find it a new home.
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https://i.imgur.com/ZRhHmRD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nlEziGZ.jpg

A three-notch Lodge #5 Skillet. Four dollars at a flea market. Looks very nice. I do notice that the two Lodges I have both seem to have a circular graininess to them on the cooking surface. Almost like a spiral, woodgrain-ish pattern. Maybe it's how Lodge did the final polishing? I don't have any others to compare to (yet). Likely will find it a new home.
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https://i.imgur.com/D43vShG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/aSiv35r.jpg
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https://i.imgur.com/QVItJMwl.jpg

A Wagner Pie-Logo #3 Skillet. Seven dollars at a flea market. It's a beauty. Perfect cooking surface, very nice condition overall. It's a neat little pan! Keeper!
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https://i.imgur.com/qrASar0.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/xV4on1G.jpg

And if that's not enough, I picked up two more pans just in the last couple of days.

A three-notch Lodge #3 Skillet. One dollar at a flea market. I didn't really need it, but it was only a dollar!
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https://i.imgur.com/nlnGgeA.jpg
 
And finally...an Aebelskiver pan.

It's a Wagner 1314 A with the two-part handle (identified via this thread: http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1136144435). I picked it up just the other morning at a flea market for two dollars.

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https://i.imgur.com/F2ORa7r.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/eY8BMjD.jpg

It cleaned up pretty well, just a couple of rough spots left, very small and not an issue. It was very cruddy and rusted up when I found it.

This morning I tried my hand at making Aebelskivers. They turned out great! I made some homemade applesauce to go in some of them (with cinnamon sugar) and lemon curd in the others (with powdered sugar). What a neat thing to discover! I'd never heard of these before. :)

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We packed up a bunch and left them on our friends' porch this morning. Then texted them that they'd been 'Aebelskiver'd'. They were very happy. :D
 
Absolutely GREAT finds, especially those prices. The Pie Logo is probably the best of the bunch.

8 pans for under $35

The bug had bitten lol
 
Wow! You’re in a better picking area than I. Nice stuff!

I’ve been looking for that Vollrath. Is it a deep skillet?
 
Thanks guys. Yep, the bug definitely bit!

On that Vollrath, nope, it doesn't seem to be particularly deep, but it sure looks like it is. Sitting side by side with the BSR #8 they're both the same exact height. It must be an optical illusion from the design of the side wall and the outside heat ring. I do love it, it's a pretty pan.

I've been lucky in finding things, and I've seen a few Griswold pieces this past month too. Unfortunately the sellers always knew what they had and priced it accordingly. I'd rather pay five dollars for a Vollrath that $50-$60 for a Griswold. I know I'll find that $5 Griswold somewhere down the road, and in the meantime I can enjoy the cheap iron that I already have. :)
 
I would too! I have the well marked Vollrath chicken fryer lid.but so far have not even laid eyes on another Vollrath piece let alone the match for my lid.



Also I think the elder 3 notches are excellent, the ones you are referring to with the spiral grind before the USA/SK marks . They take on seasoning very easily and hold it, makes a great cooking surface.



I’m trying to get a set of them together. I’ve located a #10 and 12 but they’re both priced over $100.. even if they go 50% of someday I’m still not biting. I hope :)
 
That is a pretty lid. Your stuff is shined up very nicely. :)

And that lid is rather well marked, isn't it. Can't miss that marking. Lol.
 
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