Why I love cast iron!

[woowoo2]

How do you grill bacon?

I put one of these on the outdoor grill.
Lodge Pro Grid Cast-Iron Griddle : Target

 

[JetGirl]

No, it was me.

I thought so. Then I wasn't so sure...

I'm surprised anyone remembers. Impressive.

Awesome. Usually, my impressiveness is due to doing something impressively stupid.

Derek just hates giving credit to someone whom he can't stand

What is this I dont even

 

[Slawburger]

How do you grill bacon?

I put one of these on the outdoor grill.
Lodge Pro Grid Cast-Iron Griddle : Target

I use a similar but not identical griddle for cooking bacon on the grill.
It keeps the smoke, heat and mess outside when cooking several pounds of bacon at a time.
The grill method is also faster when cooking large quantities.

 

[Thor]

I put one of these on the outdoor grill.
Lodge Pro Grid Cast-Iron Griddle : Target

I have a couple similar griddles that I used on my old grill. Don't need them with the Holland though.

 

[Thor]

I use a similar but not identical griddle for cooking bacon on the grill.
It keeps the smoke, heat and mess outside when cooking several pounds of bacon at a time.
The grill method is also faster when cooking large quantities.

And in the summer months it keeps the heat outside where it belongs...

 

[Ryninger]

I've been keeping an eye out on Craigslist and Flea Markets for a nice old cast iron griddle... Have found a lot of great pieces for my collection, but no griddle...yet.

 

[Bunnykid68]

I like cast iron because when you hit someone in the head with it, it does not fold up like those cheap
aluminum pans

 

[Slawburger]

I like cast iron because when you hit someone in the head with it, it does not fold up like those cheap
aluminum pans

I am somewhat suspicious of Mrs. Slawburger's affinity for cast iron for just that reason.

 

[PistolBob]

I've been keeping an eye out on Craigslist and Flea Markets for a nice old cast iron griddle... Have found a lot of great pieces for my collection, but no griddle...yet.

I have had luck finding a lot of cast iron at Goodwill over the years. They usually have a lot of chinese crap, but once in awhile you'll find a Lodge, Wagner or something made in the USA.

 

[chezuki]

I have had luck finding a lot of cast iron at Goodwill over the years. They usually have a lot of chinese crap, but once in awhile you'll find a Lodge, Wagner or something made in the USA.

Traderbaker's in Martinsville is a great place to find good old cast iron.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Downside is that it is very heavy. Women of a certain age sometimes have trouble picking it up due to the weight of the skillet or arthritis in their wrists.

That is my one complaint about my Griswold skillets. I now only have 1 Griswold skillet in my collection because its the only one that hasn't been replaced by something better. My absolute favorite piece? "The Favorite" 12" because it is super light weight. It's the largest CI skillet I've ever seen that you can still pick up with 1 hand relatively easily. Special care was taken to only make the cast thick in placed that needed the added thickness. Everything else is relativley thin which means it heats up faster, isn't so heavy, doesn't warp as easily etc... My 2nd favorite piece is a Wapak 8" (or maybe 9") that I love for the same reason. It's my go-to skillet for anything that doesn't require a lot of real-estate.

BTW, learned something new today: my "The Favorite" skillet was made in an Ohio pententiary something from 1882 to 1902. Over 100 years old, made by prison inmates, and still cooking with class.

Columbus Hollow Ware Co.​

Location: Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio
Founders: Jesse F. Hatcher, E.B Hatcher
Period of Production: 1882 - 1902
Products Manufactured: Full Line
Brand Names: The Favorite
The Columbus Hollow Ware Co. foundry was located in the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus, and contracted with the state to use inmate labor for its production.
Pieces marked "The Favorite" are often confused with Favorite Piqua Ware.​

Of course, that's just skillets... I do have 1 Griswold Dutch oven that my dad found in the attic of my great aunt after she passed. She was born in 1900 and made it to 1995 (almost a full century). That one has significant meaning to me; dad has been letting me use it for several years because he didn't use it enough, I hope he lets me keep it...

Highly relevant links that literally no one on the planet except for myself seems to understand or take seriously:

I understand and take it seriously. I've used it many times...

 

[CathyInBlue]

Just got done using my new welder's brush to scrub the little bit of rust scale and metric butt-ton of dust and crap off of my small collection of 6 skillets.

One of them, a #8 with a raised ridge around the flame-side of the bottom and just a raised "H" near the handle and an impressed "8" opposite the handle, both inside that ridge, smooth sides, turned out to be nothing more than a decoration. Seems it's developed a hairline crack more than half-way around the circumference, centered opposite the handle, along the curvature where the sides meet the bottom. I'm gonna take it in to MIG 1 class tomorrow night to get my professor's opinion of the weldability of the cracked cast iron, but I also wanted to post this here with all of the identification marks as mentioned above to see if anyone could identify how rare/common this is so I could know whether it's worth it trying to repair it.

Once I decide that one skillet's fate, they'll all be washed in hot soapy water, promptly dried, slathered in a Crisco-like substance, and then baked at 350°F for an hour to reseason them so that the ones that won't leak grease can be put back into service.

Cast iron fried thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon anyone?

Now to start monitoring the area estate sales and antique malls for more cast iron. There's a flea market in the old Hoosier Hand-Pak building at Plaza North in North Terre Haute. Went there last week and found a Griswold dutch oven, but they wanted way too much for it. Also found a pristine 70's era blender with a will-survive-a-nuclear-blast glass carafe for $15. If the blender's still there next time I go, I'm snagging it.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Cast anything is kinda hard to weld, but since it's a low stress part you may be able to do it without bad things happening. You pretty much just need to seal any leak. Do it from the inside, or you're liable to have germ issues. I do like my MIG.

 

[guns and groceries]

One of them, a #8 with a raised ridge around the flame-side of the bottom and just a raised "H" near the handle and an impressed "8" opposite the handle, both inside that ridge, smooth sides.

-- Any notch on the heat ring? Might be older Lodge if there is a single notch opposite of the handle or 3 notches at 12, 3, and 9. Early Lodge also made no notch pans. The raised H really points me to Lodge. Check out castironcollector.com and search the logo and trade mark section. The raised H is the makers mark and tells me it is older and the lack of "USA" or "Made in USA" is pre 1960. Doubt it is ancient and #8's are very common. Value is $5-$25 depending on condition. Welding it would be good practice and make it usable.

 

[Ryninger]

Castironcollector.com has a lot of information about cast iron. I've been able to date my name brand pieces from their info.

when reseasoning, you don't need much fat/oil. Too much, and you'll have to start over. There is a very informative restoring section as well.

 

[guns and groceries]

Ditto on the very little oil/Crisco. I warm the pans in a 200 oven for 10 mins, coat with Crisco and wipe as much off as possible, to the point it seems that I have wiped it all off. Then I go to 350 for 15 mins and wipe very hard again. The wipe at 350 has proven to be the most important step to me. It wipes the puddles and drips that form once the pan has taken all the oil it needs. Then I go to 450 or 500 for an hour and then turn off and cool in the oven.

 

[CathyInBlue]

One notch in the heat ring opposite the handle. Wouldn't have even known to look for that detail. And yeah, no "U.S.A." or "Made in U.S.A." or anything like that. I think it might have been leaky for a while, as there's a lot of carbon build up on both sides of the heat ring, like it'd been leaking down into the flame a lot. I'd assume this condition is on the lower end, and welding it will lower it still, but make it useable. Thinking I'll prolly go that route.

Edit: Just measured the number. It's 3/4", which jives with castironcollector.com/unmarked.php's description of 1930s Lodge. Wonder which molder uses an "H" mark.

 

[guns and groceries]

Single Notch Lodge from the 1930's. Mint, it is a $25 pan. Very nice user but not extremely collectible. If you need the practice welding or just want to see if you can do it, then go for it. I have several from that time period and use them all but none are collectible. They just fry some good bacon and eggs.

 

[CathyInBlue]

Mint, this is not.

 

[alabasterjar]

No, it was me. I'm surprised anyone remembers. Impressive. No, Derek just hates giving credit to someone whom he can't stand. Love you, too, Derek!

Highly relevant links that literally no one on the planet except for myself seems to understand or take seriously:

Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning: A Science-Based How-To

Wagner and Griswold Society

Don't worry, I'm sure everyone will continue to ignore science and the scientific method and will continue to post about using bacon grease as God's own cast-iron seasoning agent and how dare I utilize science to suggest that bacon isn't even the optimal method to season cast iron and how dare I, their great-great-great-grandmother (who was also the Duchess of Cornwall, don't you KNOW?!) used bacon grease to season cast iron since the Reconstruction and it works just fine, bla bla bla bla bla. No one listens or is willing to accept scientific advice as to the fact that there is an ideal seasoning agent for cast iron, one that they're not using and not ever going to utilize, so let me just say before the happening begins: IBTGDBF.

Our 12" skillet just came out of a 4 day flax seed oil treatment looking better than ever. We've only had the chance to cook one meal with it, but so far so good. We also have an enamel coated iron dutch oven after watching a few episodes of Cooks Country on PBS. We love the dutch oven & were considering a set of enamel iron cookware to replace our 15 year old "no stick" cookware. If the flaxseed treatment works as well as described in the link, we'll save the $$$ and buy the standard iron withoutworkout enamel...