Picked up a Lodge cornbread skillet

D

D George

Member
Unmarked, but deduced it is a Lodge from the 70's or 80's? Got it for $26 I think I did ok? It is being cleaned right now, will post more pics tomorrow.
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Well no one chimed in, so anyway here is the pan after a cleaning and re seasoning. Cooked in it once so far, love it!
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More likely late 1960s-1970s. On the one hand you could have paid less for a brand new but slightly different Lodge, but even absent the ability for this type of pan to be polish ground, this one has a smoother casting.
 
I saw the new Lodge pans, the double handle is ok, but I can't stand how rough the finish is on them. I had someone give me a Lodge 12" pan, but it is quite smooth both inside and out. After using old Wagner pans I will never buy anything new made.
 
New Lodge skillets and DO are easily sanded to a smoother finish from factory issue. I don't know that it really helps beyond thinking it does. Of course 50 to 100 years from now, someone will think it was ruined by sanding. :ROFLMAO:
 
I have a modern Lodge griddle that is used often. Seems that anything like bacon or sausage patties processed with sugar sticks in it more than a smooth Wagnor pan. My thought is the roughness of the Lodge allows for a lot more surface for food to stick to. About to take the angle grinder with extra fine flap disc and see what I can mess up.
 
I'd use an orbital sander. Start with something like 60 or 80 grit. You'd be a lot less likely to mess up than with an angle grinder and flap disc. It will take a bit more time than the flap disc but you'll be happier in the end.
 
You are probably right. Have the sander and the disc so might give that a try one of these days. Have a BSR lid that has a crack in it I want to try to repair first. Don't go to anything I have at the time so good time to work on it.
 
Before you go to getting out the sanders, you should know that the reason for the roughness is to get the pre-seasoning to stick to the pan. I read that when Lodge perfected the pre-seasoning process ca. 2002, they had to make the surface a little rougher in order to get the pre-seasoning to stick to the pan. You can save yourself a lot of work by just cooking with them. They will eventually smooth out.
 
That may have been with the method they were after as in mass production but out in the real world the seasoning seems to stick to the smooth Wagners, etc. just fine. This lodge griddle has had a lot of use in the last 6 months, and it still wants to have nearly everything stick to it some place, and not always the same place. I know one thing; I will not be investing in any more modern Lodge CI in the future. I think I will take your advice and not bother with the sanders. Clean it up and put it in the display rack and wait for an older smooth flat griddle to show up.
 
This is the older Lodge pan I was given by a co worker. It was not seasoned and had light surface rust is spots. The surface was not sanded and not nearly as rough as new Lodge.
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This is a Lodge a friend bought around 2017, or so. He wanted a smooth cooking surface so he sanded the inside to get rid of most of the bumps but not so much that it was perfectly smooth. There are a few minor pits. I helped with the initial re-seasoning. He has since passed on. I got the skillet from his widow. It cooks fine.
 

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I have a big lodge, a 14 I guess. It was very rough at first, but I try to use it a LOT. Its as smooth as an old pan now, after 8 years of cooking!
 
SeanD said:
I have a big lodge, a 14 I guess. It was very rough at first, but I try to use it a LOT. Its as smooth as an old pan now, after 8 years of cooking!
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I just hope I can lift a fry pan 8 years from now. Not willing to wait for 8 years of use to see if it smooths out. Still undecided which way to go.
 
I guess it would be rough under the seasoning, but why would you ever need to if you dont mess it up. Im really not sure, but mine is smooth!
 
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