Thanks. I'll work on these. You are right about the names!

Sanding newer Lodge ok though right? All of them are rough even after the easy off method.

Yea, I must've misunderstood, old cast iron that is already finished smooth do NOT sand I.E. Wagner, Griswold, etc. New lodges or newer cast iron that has the rougher finish you 100 % can sand.

Any info about these 2 Dutch ovens?
TIA
1. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/w2M0Cc

2. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/0058bQ

https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/6tvJ6f

Cast iron is great!!!

Here is my cast iron storage solution. I am not a great handy man, but a couple of fittings and black pipe from Home Depot did the trick.

Note: wall studs are a must for this setup = LoL

Gate marked griddle with circular pattern interior and too much oil seasoning. No idea on who made it.

A little bit of Googling shows an eBay auction for one that looks the same and the seller thinks it's an Excelsior. Not a brand I've ever come across, but if use the heck out of it.

bullitt said:

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Any info about these 2 Dutch ovens?
TIA
1. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/w2M0Cc

2. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/0058bQ

https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/6tvJ6f

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I'm almost sure #2 is Lodge, and winning to bet #1 is as well. Need to see a picture of the lid handle and top side of both for the spots, wire handle, etc.

Dang I need to hang out on the outdoor board more. Never knew there was a thread just on cast iron!

I've only got 2, one I've used for seafood the other for pretty much any meat but use it mostly for smoking side dishes….got recipes for smoked beans, smoked potatoes, and smoked Mac and cheese that I cook in a 12-inch.

Guess I know what thread I'll be reading through for the next several days.

Most people on the cast iron face book pages will tell you that it is almost impossible to identify a manufacturer for those gate marked cast iron pieces.

Bellards Boys said:

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Cast iron is great!!!

Here is my cast iron storage solution. I am not a great handy man, but a couple of fittings and black pipe from Home Depot did the trick.

Note: wall studs are a must for this setup = LoL

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I like that but don't have that kind of wall space in my kitchen. I have a wall a little wider than a door that I could do something with. I know someone who put up a nice (painted and finished) pegboard to hang all of their cast iron. It actually looks pretty good.

saysomethin said:

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Sanding newer Lodge ok though right? All of them are rough even after the easy off method.

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Sand away on newer stuff. I have found that 180 grit is about as fine as you need to go, and when you do sand don't put a lot of pressure on the sander. Sand until you have a smooth surface on 90% or so of the cooking surface and you are good to start re-seasoning. I don't worry about the sides unless there is something obvious like a casting seam or similar that needs to be knocked down.

The difference between older and newer is that older cast iron was typically a bit lighter because it was hand formed in molds versus the batch mechanized processes used now, and once it cooled it was stone polished that left a much smoother surface. They also didn't season them at all, so it wasn't uncommon to have to hit them with a brillo pad or brush to knock the surface rust off before granny used them to start cooking with. Seasoning developed over time and made them that much better. A hand formed and polished skillet would take about 3 days to complete, Lodge knocks them out today in about 90 minutes from pouring the iron to running it through the oven with the seasoning process.

The reason why newer stuff has the rougher surface is for 2 reasons - it's cheaper and faster to produce, and the pre-seasoning adheres better due to surface profile.

Log gets all wound up over old stuff because he's a chem-e and a bit crazy to begin with. Even on older stuff, if you are going to actually use it and want to smooth the surface out (odds are you don't need to anyway - I've never seen an older one that required anything other than seasoning), nothing wrong with it. Sure, it will make some dork collector somewhere scoff at you, but if you are actually using it then it really doesn't matter. If you want to clean it and flip it, it will matter a small amount of people that do nothing but collect and get way into the weeds on things.

If you want to hit something with a wire wheel to strip it, use a crimped wire wheel with brass wire. A knotted wire wheel or cup usually is hard enough that you may be able to leave a swirl mark on the surface if you put too much pressure, really can't do that with a brass crimped wire. Stripping seasoning is not grinding or sanding - if you are stripping with a wire wheel and leaving marks, you probably don't need to be around power tools to begin with.

Picked up a new pan from Fredericksburg Cast Iron so I decided to get rid of this old Emeril pan that never was all that great. Found out my in laws who are moving to Amarillo are interested in getting some cast iron since they'll have a gas stove so I figured I'd send it their way but wanted to fix it up for them.

Stripped the old seasoning with a wire wheel, sanded with 40, 80, & 120 grit sandpaper, seasoned with 5 coats of Crisco, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's now way smoother than the original rough finish it had. I think they'll have a much better cooking experience on it than we did.

agfan2013: Howdy, interested and glad to read your Crisco comment. Recently purchase a Blackstone Griddle and used their seasoning product. What a disaster, it left a huge amount of thick, nasty grease on the surface. Have spent several days using what OB recommended to get this muck off the surface. I wish I had used Crisco instead of the Blackstone crap!

We have several that we use a lot. But you're not from South Texas unless you have a cast iron comal.

One-Eyed Fat Man said:

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We have several that we use a lot. But you're not from South Texas unless you have a cast iron comal.

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We "lost" ours in a move 16 years ago. It had been in the family for a long time. I hope whichever mover I lost it to enjoys it. If anyone has a used, older, one that they would like to get rid of please let me know.

My mom gave me her Wagner they got for a wedding present in mid 50s. Too heavy for her to lift anymore. It cooked many a fried egg and bacon and pan sausage over the decades. Finish is slickern owl snot.

Anybody know anything about Phillipe Richard cast iron? The Wicked Witch of the West (former step mom) left 3 pans at the ranch when she bailed on my dad. They're all small cast iron pans (6-8 inch) and handy as heck. Teaspoon for scale

Some of my collection.

Made in China by a Frenchman.

Just bought a small (6.5, I think) Lodge pan. What is up with these edge imperfections I'm seeing on these things? I bought it a Cracker Barrel and didn't inspect it -- probably should have. Don't know if I'm going to return it or not, but I've already done the Easy Off treatment on the pan, so the "pre" seasoning has been stripped.

Here is what I'm talking about, but on my pan it isn't quite this bad:

At some friends this weekend and they have a Wagner chicken fryer the wife inherited from her grandmother and the only markings on the bottom being "8 A"- any ideas on vintage and value?

91AggieLawyer said:

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Just bought a small (6.5, I think) Lodge pan. What is up with these edge imperfections I'm seeing on these things? I bought it a Cracker Barrel and didn't inspect it -- probably should have. Don't know if I'm going to return it or not, but I've already done the Easy Off treatment on the pan, so the "pre" seasoning has been stripped.

Here is what I'm talking about, but on my pan it isn't quite this bad:

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Mass production. They don't take the time to do things the right way.

Your probably better off going to a few garage sales and buying sometime old and redoing it.

robbio said:

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Some of my collection.

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dude you have a cast iron hoarding problem

I cook primarily on cast iron and have several old family heirloom pieces that date to the late 19th century that are as good or better than some of the "craft" cookware available today at an exorbitant price point. However, it does have its limitations. The principal lesson I learned is to NEVER cook tomatoes or tomato based sauces in cast iron. It won't fall apart immediately, but the acidity affects the finish and destroys your seasoning. Creates a bitter taste that can permeate the porous iron as well.

And for God sake, never put one in a dishwasher.

Most of them come from the scrap yard at $0.20 per pound.

I decided to keep the piece I got even with the imperfection. I had to do the Easy Off routine twice -- I think my can of EO is getting old. Anyway, got the crap "seasoning" stripped and have already done one coat of Avocado Oil and the second coat is in the oven as we speak. I think I'll do 10 coats on it. I know that's overkill but with other pans I've done, I think I needed more than what I did before, which was 4-5.

Mine may not have the same cool history as some of ya'lls ...but, mIne has survived 2 divorces and been all over the United States.

I did this dish last week in the skillet. Super simple to do:

Layer 1-Sliced onions, spiced the way you like em. I did garlic salt, pepper etc

Layer 2: Sliced potatoes, spiced again.

Layer 3: Chicken Thighs: Spiced again.

In the Oven 425 degrees for 1hr, 5min.

Pan Shot!

I'll post pics later this week but I put 3 pans into the oven for the last round of "pre-seasoning." One was the new, small pan I got and the other 2 were pans I've had and used. I just wasn't happy with the seasoning that was on them. I think I did Crisco or some other oil the last time and neither pan came out like I had hoped.

These have been going through (an admittedly long) pre-seasoning process -- probably a dozen coatings -- but are starting to turn black. In my opinion, avocado oil is the only oil to use.

91AggieLawyer said:

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Just bought a small (6.5, I think) Lodge pan. What is up with these edge imperfections I'm seeing on these things? I bought it a Cracker Barrel and didn't inspect it -- probably should have. Don't know if I'm going to return it or not, but I've already done the Easy Off treatment on the pan, so the "pre" seasoning has been stripped.

Here is what I'm talking about, but on my pan it isn't quite this bad:

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Old post but that imperfection is where some dude in flip flops who makes like $2 a day runs an angle grinder around the edge to remove the rough stuff left over from the casting process

Exactly. It's a casting and that surface has no bearing on the utility of the product.

This is the small pan. I did the fried egg test in it the other day and it (mostly) slid around. A couple of small sticking points. I wouldn't recommend doing eggs right off the bat in these things, and frankly, not ever. I think they have too much heat. The non-stick aluminum are better IMO, but use what you want.

Here's the backside:



I put them through at least 10 and perhaps as many as 12-13 cycles in the oven. All at 450-475 (450 is fine). At around 11-12 (or the last 2), the pan when cold stopped "taking" the oil. It was sort of like when you put a good wax/sealant on your car and it gets wet. The oil sort of beaded on there.