Any idea on this one?

Shawn R

Member
Any idea what I've got here? I was thinking combo cooker but this would be the center section and has a skillet type handle.
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A chicken fryer with a lid holder that would make a terrible mess on the stove?

The texture of the CI looks like Lodge; but I'd prefer to hope they never produced this design.

Hilditch
 
A combo cooker middle section is correct.
I don't understand. Do you mean this was a three-piece unit, designed to cook two things at one time? This was the middle section that separated them?

I agree that it looks like modern day Lodge sand casting.
 
Why would you say that? It's obviously part of a combo cooker, not a chicken fryer.
 
I don't understand. Do you mean this was a three-piece unit, designed to cook two things at one time? This was the middle section that separated them?

Yes it's a three piece cookware. The bottom being a dutch oven type of pot, the middle section being a deep skillet, the lid serving as a lid or a shallow skillet like on the double skillets you see. The idea being is to cook two courses of your meal with one burner, like a chicken in the pot and potatoes in the pan above. The middle section is for cooking, not a separating piece. :-?

But I think the pictures are just out of focus enough that you can't see the smooth insides. According to the link Doug provided, this was patented in the late 30s and I can't see them produced in the 60s when steel was all the rage but I'm guessing here.
 
First that already is a good chicken fryer. I feel like it would be easier to find a lid as a chicken fryer. I don't love the idea of having to clean CI that has been steamed by using it in the combo fashion. If one found the other two matching pieces this 20+ lb. stack would become more of an irritant than an asset to me. Copper double boilers faired better than CI for good reasons.

On the practical side I could not see myself or anyone using all three pieces together more than once. Pasta in the bottom, sauce in the middle and a lid. Now stir the pasta and fry the meatballs. Right! The concept was an idea, but I don't think it was a good one.

Hilditch
 
Thanks for all the help. I thought it was a Blankenship when I got it, then for some reason I started to second guess my identification.

The picture of the cooking surface is out of focus. The cooking surface is very smooth. The rest of it is a bit rough in texture but not as rough as new Lodge stuff.

I agree with Hilditch in not being very practical for me to cook with as a 3 piece combo. Sure it would make a great chicken fryer.

I got this on my 240 mile cast iron hunt last weekend. I saw a lid, which I thought looked like a Blankenship, but that was 2 hours before I found and bought the deep skillet. Its an hour from home, I'm thinking about going back to get it. Anyone have an idea on value of the set? I dont want to have more in 2 pieces than what the complete combo is worth.
 
I see it as more of a complete set of cast iron that conveniently fits together in one stack and therefore takes up much less space that a deep kettle a chicken fryer, a lid and a skillet would. I have the John C. Johnson lid. I see a lot of people that find the top two pieces but I have yet to see the bottom piece. I know you are not suppose to store CI with the lid on so I make little lifters out of cut up, clear suction tubing from work.
 
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I see it as more of a complete set of cast iron that conveniently fits together in one stack and therefore takes up much less space that a deep kettle a chicken fryer, a lid and a skillet would. I have the John C. Johnson lid. I see a lot of people that find the top two pieces but I have yet to see the bottom piece. I know you are not suppose to store CI with the lid on so I make little lifters out of cut up, clear suction tubing from work.
That is what modern Lodge is calling a "combo cooker"... a deep skillet and a shallow skillet that also works as a lid for the deep pan.
 
PS: If there is a bottom out there it should be easy to spot at 9" +/- high.

Although the material was changed, I think Blankenship's patent was used to design The Big Green Egg.

Hilditch
 
For anyone interested, I saw a 3 piece set of these in Marion, IL yesterday. It had BSR style handles. Large pot, smaller pot that fit inside, and a skillet lid. They were asking $95 for the set.
 
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