Proper Storage

DL_Harris

New member
Like most men, my wife is ruler of all things related to decoration in the house. She hates it, but I keep my go to skillet on the stove top and I have lovingly threatened to beat her with it if she moved it.

I like what I've seen on here with the wall display racks. I'm not naive enough to believe I can put one in the kitchen. How bad would it be for the CI if I were to build one in the garage? It gets a little humid in the summer here in VA.
 
DL,
I personally would say don't do it. Humidity will of course have a play in keeping it dry. You may also find yourself doing a small project out there and next thing you know there will be dust and debris clinging to it everywhere. I was the one who did the wall display a few days back. The maid now loves me since she doesn't have to move and pick up pieces to clean.
With a little thought and planning you can most likely build something small to perhaps put your daily/weekly users on and store the remaining in a nice dry and clean environment within your climate controlled house.
Good luck....
 
I'm with MD. Too much nasty stuff in the garage. Motor oil, gasoline, the trash can, fertilizer, pesticides, pollen, grass clipping dust, and bugs all competing to get on your iron and contribute their flavors to your food.
 
Agreed with Ty and MDF. If I wanted to display my CI, it wouldn't be in the garage. Too many downsides to having it there.
 
I guess it would depend on how much and what various types of CI you have. How much room you have to work with etc. I think you may be able to come up with something that would be useful to you and the missus, a joint collaboration. Say something like a cabinet with top and rack in the back and maybe a couple of side shelfs on each side. Then she's happy witch makes everyone happy.
 
Thanks for the input. Yeah I guess the garage isn't a good option. I have a hanging pot rack over the center island, but worry about the weight. I need to get a couple of more items worthy of display, then I'll battle the wife.
 
DL Harris
Figure out a way to make her think it was her idea to display them. Then you can put them anywhere :)

Jack
 
This is cast iron. They are not fragile. I say garage is fine as long as you understand their may be some upkeep. Season them and take a look at them every so often. You may need to clean and re-season. If the garage is where you have space its not gonna hurt the iron. Keep in mind alot of this stuff is 100+ years old and they sure as hell didnt baby them back in the day.
 
I busted a DO lid dropping it on the concrete floor in my basement. It couldn't have been dropped more than 2 feet, probably closer to 18 inches. The impact put a huge crack in it and separated one side of the handle from the lid. :covri:
 
Lol I think you took my "fragile" comment a bit literally. I meant the condition in the garage will not hurt the iron assuming proper upkeep. I dont think we are going to base our storage options on how hard the floor is :razz: It still fascinates me that we make drainage pipe out of the same brittle material.
 
I live in SoCal and storing unprotected cast iron in the garage does result in dirt accumulation and light power rust. Some of my misc. Griswold I hang from the rafters and walls for display as I like the look and don’t mind dusting off on occasion.

Some of my better Griswold is displayed in the house at various locations and that simply requires occasional dusting.

However, I have about four “sets” of Griswold Large Logo Skillets. There’re about 38-40 different ones and I store these differently. For each of the four “sets” I cleaned them in lye bath and then seasoned them twice in the oven. Next I placed my largest skillet in each of the sets on top of a large cloth bath towel. I then placed two paper towels in the bottom skillet and put the next smallest size skillet on top of the stack. I then continued the process until the smallest skillet was on top of the stack. The stack was then wrapped in the bath towel, closed with duct tape and placed on a shelf.

The result is you can’t see the skillets, but all four sets are clean, seasoned, protected from the elements and out of the house.
 
If my only option was a garage, I would look for a used hutch or any enclosed cabinet at the thrift store and install a 100watt incandescent light bulb inside, (the lower the better as heat rises) . The heat from the bulb would keep the moisture down. But I would keep an eye on it during crazy changing weather, I've seen condensation in areas you thought wouldn't be affected.
 
We have a set of cabinets over the oven. They wife has been keeping her collection of decorating magazines in there. I sweet talked her into me building her a bookcase in the garage and I got the kitchen cabinets. I don't have anything worth actually displaying yet anyway.
 
Russell S seems to have a pretty good idea. The only thing I would change is to use a 100W equivalent LED bulb. You'll still get plenty of heat from it, but it will use far less electricity.
 
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