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Author
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Topic: Let's talk CAST IRON!
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 17, 2020 02:55 PM
I have spent the better part of the last two days looking at video and doing some reading about cast iron, primarily skillets.
I know we must have a few experts out there that know a thing or two because they have done a thing or two; as that State Farm commercial says....no wait, is it Farmers, or State Farm. Why the hell don't those two merge?
Tell me about cleaning and conditioning, getting rust off baking in the oven, etc.
Also, here's the deal. Karen, bless her heart before she passed away, gave me a frying pan that belonged to her GRANDMOTHER! It's a Crescent Forge Ozark 10" chicken skillet, with deep sides. I'm sure it's an antique and is probably worth at least a hundred bucks? Yes, it has a ring on the bottom. I use the hell out of it, like it a lot.
Nancy was strictly a teflon coated aluminum frying pans fan. She went through them like hot cakes because she never had non scratching utensils. So, after she scratched the hell out of one, she would let me have it for camping and I tried to never bring them back home because I had an inexhaustible supply. and why clean it, ya know? Makes good targets, too!
So, who knows a thing or two?
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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earthwalker
Cultural Editor & middleweight arm wrestling champion/Intermountain Region
Member # 4177
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posted January 17, 2020 07:06 PM
I know just enough to know nothing.
I know wager is a collector item and I just found one in my collection I don't know where it came from.
Also my mom had one she had outside to feed the local wildlife with and it was the only thing they couldn't pack off. I couldn't stand it any longer after she passed so I grabbed it. It turned out to be a Wager.
I've used peanut old to season them and it works good. Olive oil doesn't work as well. I've went to Camp Chef and their cast iron seasoning. Which works okay. They have a cleaner and a conditioner.
So I have a bunch of Lodge pans and a couple of dutch ovens both Lodge. One is for oven use and one is for camp fires.
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another long hot smoky summer coming
Posts: 1105 | From: Intermountain region | Registered: Jul 2012
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 17, 2020 08:02 PM
I am pretty sure Lodge is a modern maker. The Griswald and Wagner, I was doing a little reading yesterday and I think it said those two closed their doors in 1990, something like that? But they go way back and they were, and are still, well respected. I watched some videos and they don’t all agree on care and other details. Before my recent inquiries, I used to think they preferred to just use and not try to keep them “spotless” for lack of a better word. I do know that Chinese cooks consider a well used Wok to be a source of pride. I thought it applied to American cast iron, as well? But based on all the cleaning advice and conditioning techniques, I do not now have that same idea. But, my Wok is carbon steel, not cast. My mother in law gave it to me for a birthday many years ago and I have done my best to make it look well used, and it does!
Getting back to my Crescent Forge skillet, just for curiosity sake, I’d like to know what it would be worth to a collector? With that in mind, I attempted to register on the Griswald and Wagner society webpage but gave up after 5 attempts. Fuk ‘em!
Must be somebody out there that is expert in cast iron frying pans?
Good hunting. El Bee 🐝
[ January 17, 2020, 08:06 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Kokopelli
SENIOR DISCOUNT & Dispenser of Sage Advice
Member # 633
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posted January 18, 2020 12:35 AM
Go to eBay; ......Type in 'cast iron skillet'
You'll likely get about 6,000 hits. Ignore the ultra high $$ ones and the sounds too good to be true ones and you should have an idea what yours is worth.
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And lo, the Light of the Trump shown upon the Darkness and the Darkness could not comprehend it.
Posts: 7583 | From: Under a wandering star | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 18, 2020 01:21 AM
Wow! I think you are telling me to sign in or something? I won’t register on Facebook or eBay. Don’t have a logical reason, but I won’t do it. But thanks. Maybe I can get my daughter to do it?
Good hunting. El Bee 🐝
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Paul Melching
Radical Operator Forum "You won't get past the front gate"
Member # 885
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posted January 18, 2020 05:12 AM
I used to have a lot of cast iron sold most of it got the most money for lodge still have a Dutch and like four skillets from small to large if I have one that's rusty I use oil and steel wool to get off the major rust Then oil and bake them , Olive oil makes smoke. People get snobby about the brands but cast iron is cast iron! Your antique pan is probably worth a few hundred bucks to one of those snobs.
Happy cooking , these days I use a plastic spatula and one of the new and awesome non stick pans. My cast iron sits on a shelf in my storage container !
Edit to say your pan is an heirloom and therefore priceless it has more value than any !
[ January 18, 2020, 06:22 AM: Message edited by: Paul Melching ]
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Those who value security over liberty soon will have neither !
Posts: 4188 | From: The forest ! north of the dez. | Registered: Jul 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 18, 2020 09:46 AM
I did a little research on Crescent Forge with whatever clues I could find and I'm pretty sure this skillet is at, over, or around a hundred years old. And, yeah, probab. the eBay snobs would give me a hundred bucks without too much trouble.
I'm not in the mood to sell it though, just curious because it is a little bit unique because of the high sides which somebody said makes it a "chicken frying pan". Sounds reasonable?
On the one hand, yeah it's a family heirloom, but not my family. Karen grew up in Brawley, CA and COULD NOT WAIT TO GET AWAY! So, she married some jerk when she was 20/21 or so, and got the hell out. Anyway, it's not "my" heirloom and shit, I don't even remember her maiden name! So, I have thought about offering it to her daughter or sister. I know where they are; but for now I will keep it and treasure it.
One man's trash is another man's treasure. Like, Nancy wouldn't have time for an heirloom cast iron skillet. Funny how that works, she really just cooked to keep from starving, and yet, did a very decent job, not a bad cook, at all. However, her only daughter, Shelley is boring everybody on facebook with photos of stuff, dishes she made, like that. Both her and Corey have a very high status as Yelp reviewers, usually the restaurants "comp" their meals when they post reviews. So, that's just how it shakes out.
I't's like, my son. He's only a "reloader" when completely necessary. I tell him, big hunt and you are short on ammo,. He says: how many? And I say, umm, 12 rounds....he says; "That's enough." Myself, I wouldn't be caught dead leaving the house without 50 rounds and my life's ambition is to run out of ammo! Never happened. (speaking of predator's or maybe rock chucks) So, generations. It's a crapshoot.
So, if I were to ask Karen's daughter or sister, they might be totally uninterested but would take the skillet just to be polite. Well, fuck that! So, unless I thought they would really treasure it, I'm just keeping it, ya know? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
So, who else has this stuff? What I hear is that Lodge has a kind of rough pebbly texture, not really as good as 100 year old pieces, for the perfectionist. I also have one that says Taiwan on the bottom. Not much "Cachet" huh?
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Paul Melching
Radical Operator Forum "You won't get past the front gate"
Member # 885
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posted January 19, 2020 05:27 AM
Lodge is the only cast iron foundry still operating in the U.S. My lodge is a smooth as a baby's bottom ! Cant beat the new coatings though ! I cant eat but still love to cook and am a fair hand in the kitchen.
People rave about my food ! Just the smells make me feel good !
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Those who value security over liberty soon will have neither !
Posts: 4188 | From: The forest ! north of the dez. | Registered: Jul 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 19, 2020 07:15 AM
One definition of The Odd Couple: A Liberal with cast iron. What? No batteries?
Down the nostalgia trail; yesterday I took in my Model 1883 Marlin, has broken firing pin. Actually, I think I broke it, dry firing? This is the MGM movie prop. Has no chambering ID stamped on it but I think it's in 44-40? I want this guy to evaluate it, is it safe to fire, etc. The Marlin collector's website told me, based on the serial number, that it was made in 1913. Apparently, there was a big fire and most of the Marlin records were destroyed, so it's just these Marlin collectors for any information, kind of lucky to have them. I've also been thinking of writing to the antique guy at Guns and Ammo and asking him for an opinion about my movie prop rifle. The guy I bought it from said it was a gift from John Wayne to his father who worked in one of the crews. I gave him a hundred bucks for it. It's a beater, but that's the charm. This thing has been a safe queen for a long time, I just got a bug up my ass because I found out there is a gunsmith about a mile and a half down the road. And, he's paranoid, no signs whatsoever, and the door is locked, sure looks like nobody home. Just as I was getting in my car, the door opened, young woman with an apron, same with the old fart that I talked to. definitely old school.
I also gave him my Combat Commander. The front sight is loose, and doesn't seem to be getting any better, the more I shoot it.
If that works out, I have been thinking of having my AR Cericoated. I also have a Browning 22 Auto that I lost the detent ballbearing, when you break it down. In other words, been looking for a local gunsmith for quite a while, ever since the old guy in Pomona retired, must have been 20 years ago? I rarely drive past that place, but it's now a beauty shop. And, that pretty well describes the situation in The People's Republik.
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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Paul Melching
Radical Operator Forum "You won't get past the front gate"
Member # 885
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posted January 19, 2020 08:55 AM
I lost a great smith he passed away about ten years ago I still miss him !
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Those who value security over liberty soon will have neither !
Posts: 4188 | From: The forest ! north of the dez. | Registered: Jul 2006
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted January 19, 2020 10:48 AM
I sure fucked up as a kid. I had no idea about a lifelong occupation and couldn't relate it to the things that interested me. SCUBA, guns, pussy; stuff that a red blooded American kid would be interested in, I never thought of it as a legitimate occupation. My dad was a salesman, something that wouldn't interest me even if I had any talent for it? Which I didn't.
But, I have always tinkered with guns. Taking the Army qualification tests, my highest score was in mechanical reasoning, and the AFQT, (Armed Forces Qualification Test) what everybody takes, all branches; my score was 96/100, I never talked to anybody with a score even close to that. But I'm sure there was, I just didn't know any of them that wasn't already at West Point.
But anyway, that was my first, and biggest fuckup, enlistment. Where do I start? Anyway, gunsmithing, that's a good, honest (and dying) occupation. I would have been content, and it probably pays nearly as much a part time Giggalo? I bet Paul would know more about that?
It ain't too late!
Good hunting. El Bee
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 31465 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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