Hello from Oklahoma

AForbes

New member
Hi all,

I have just started to delve into this cast iron stuff. :razz: I'm really starting to develop a love for it. I'm currently trying to talk myself out of acquiring every bit of CI I see.

I've had a cast iron skillet for most of my marriage (8 almost 9 years) that I found at an antique store with my MIL. She told me it was the best thing to fry chicken in which was what I was looking for. It's a Wagner dated between 1915-1920, although I didn't know that at the time. I really only used it to fry chicken and didn't give it any thought otherwise. That changed when I was given a skillet that was from a scrap yard that looked like it was beyond help. It was very rusty. I did some research into restoring it and came across this site. After cleaning it up and reseasoning it I couldn't believe how it came back to life. I was able to determine that the skillet I'd saved was an unmarked Wagner dated before 1960 thanks to the info here. That led me to dating the Wagner that I had previously. I have become addicted to that process and have even volunteered to clean and season CI for friends because I just wanted to get my hands on more of it.

I've added a few more pieces to my collection, but my favorite so far is a #8 Crescent skillet. It's so beautifully smooth and it seasoned so easily. I wish there was more info on that foundry. I'm planning to hit up a flea market hopefully this weekend and maybe I'll come away with a few more pieces. Thanks so much for all the great info on this site. It's been very helpful!
 
Welcome to the addiction. One day you will stand among us and say, "Hello, my name is AForbes and I'm a cast iron junkie." :icon_rofl: It gets kind of addicting, for sure. You are on the right track working with friends. You might be surprised what they have stuck back because they don't know how to use it properly. I've been given more than I bought. I think cast iron is like a love-hate thing--people either love it or hate it. I've had people hand me a nice piece and say, "Take this thing, I can't stand it--give me a Teflon skillet any day!" Oh, well. BTW, you close to Ponca? That's where my mom was from.
 
I'm finding that's the case with people. One person told me she'd soaked the pan to get the food out of it. I remained calm on the outside but I wasn't calm on the inside. :eek: I wanted to say just give it to me I'll take care of it.

There's definitely been a change in the order the pans in my cabinet. All the Teflon is pushed to the back. :grin: I can't believe I didn't realize it was so versatile before!

I'm from the Tulsa area, so Ponca is about 2 hrs away from me. I've been there before though. :-D
 
My dad just moved to the grand lake in Ok. On my way out there once I passed into Ok it was rural and all over there were little junk shops/thrift/garage sales. But I didn't have time to stop. These looked prime for cast iron. Real dusty old with 100 year old owner rocking on the front porch. Can't wait to go back down and hit them up. Oh yeah .... Welcome to the site. These people know their stuff.
 
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