cast iron cookware questions

beaglebiz · #1 02/20/11, 10:55 AM

I was recently gifted with some beautiful cast iron pieces. DH cleaned them up in the woodstove, and they are really nice. there is a 10 1/2 skillet with just a number 8 on the handle (says 10 1/2" skillet on bottom)
a "colonial breakfast skillet griswold, 9", (from what I read , this is probably from the 1940's)
a large square skillet, griswold
a small (5 1/2") skillet...only marking is 83 B...but the outside of the pan is patterned with hammer marks. The lady that owned them would have been 100 in 2005.
does anyone know anything about the pieces not marked griswold??
Also, Id like to display and use them...any suggestions??

tinknal · #2 02/20/11, 11:23 AM

If you are asking about value, the unmarked ones are usually not very valuable.
As far as use, they are usually as functional as the others. After the fire treatment you need to re-season them. First clean them with steel wool, then rub them with oil and put them in a hot oven for an hour. After that wash and use as you normally would. Right after seasoning they are more subject to surface rust so don't let them soak. Wash them and dry them right away.

beaglebiz · #3 02/20/11, 01:05 PM

Truthfully, I dont care what they are worth...Im more interested in dating them (I am keeping them) the hammered one really has me stumped....because of the hammering, my mind is telling me it might be older??
Any tips on displaying them?? Anyone have a pan rack or anything they made I can show to dh??

cab · #4 02/20/11, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaglebiz

Truthfully, I dont care what they are worth...Im more interested in dating them (I am keeping them) the hammered one really has me stumped....because of the hammering, my mind is telling me it might be older??
Any tips on displaying them?? Anyone have a pan rack or anything they made I can show to dh??

You can not hammer cast iron.....at least without breaking it....

Rockytopsis · #5 02/20/11, 01:40 PM

Can you post a picture of the "hammered one"?

tinknal · #6 02/20/11, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cab

You can not hammer cast iron.....at least without breaking it....

Nope, but it can be cast in a mold with hammer marks.

Rockytopsis · #7 02/20/11, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinknal

Nope, but it can be cast in a mold with hammer marks.

That's why I was wondering if you could post a picture. It might help to identify it.

tinknal · #8 02/20/11, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockytopsis

That's why I was wondering if you could post a picture. It might help to identify it.

Seems to me in the back of my mind that I have seen similar pans.

tinknal · #9 02/20/11, 04:01 PM

Here is a hammered skillet lid offered on EBay.

http://compare.ebay.com/like/1206856...=263602_309572

Rockytopsis · #10 02/20/11, 04:09 PM

Every search I did came up with that same link or Paula Deans stuff which looked nothing like it.

Rusty'sDog · #11 02/20/11, 04:21 PM

As far as using them, IF you wash them after use, be certain to set them on a warm/hot stove after washing in order to completely dry them before storing. Even a cured one may begin to rust if there is ANY moisture on them.

beaglebiz · #12 02/20/11, 04:23 PM

DH promised to take some pics for me...
Definately not Paula Deen...I dont believe its possible any one piece could be less than 50 or more years old.

tinknal · #13 02/20/11, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaglebiz

DH promised to take some pics for me...
Definately not Paula Deen...I dont believe its possible any one piece could be less than 50 or more years old.

The link I posted was not for a Paula Dean pan. It is an old, apparently unmarked lid for sale on EBay.

beaglebiz · #14 02/20/11, 04:40 PM

skillet looks exactly like this, but it measures about 5 1/2", and is marked 83 B
http://cgi.ebay.com/hammered-8-cast-...item2a0e397f7b

tinknal · #15 02/20/11, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beaglebiz

skillet looks exactly like this, but it measures about 5 1/2", and is marked 83 B
http://cgi.ebay.com/hammered-8-cast-...item2a0e397f7b

Well then, with the similar numbering I would say you have a Lodge.

beaglebiz · #16 02/20/11, 05:29 PM

the ebay post had a question mark...I took it to mean they were not sure if it was a lodge. But lodge has been in business for over 100 years, according to the website, so I suppose thats probably it. the iron is smooth as glass...not like the modern lodge I have experience with. I never saw the hammering before either.

BTW..Its the perfect size for making a grilled cheese :P

lovinthislife · #17 02/20/11, 07:49 PM

My kitchen has a big island in the middle of it and there is a beam with a post beside the island. My skillets are all on that post. When hubby remodeled, he hung up my pans along the beam and I put the cast iron on the post.

silverbackMP · #18 02/25/11, 07:38 PM

Been off line for almost a month and am just now reading this.

The hammered pattern was made in the late 1930s early 1940s. All the primary manufacturers made them--Griswold, Wagner, Burlington Stove and Range, Chicago Hadware Foundary, Favorite Pique, Vollrath, Lodge ect.

I would have to see the pan to be able to identify who made it. Note that Griswold and, more so, Wagner did make some unmarked--they had paper labels. Lodges, BSR, and CHF were almost all unmarked.

Generally the older they are the better they are casted and ground--thinner ans smoother.

On another note--Please Please do not clean your pans via immersion into fire. They can crack or develop a fired patina that looks a little like rust--the poors open and you can never get a good season to stick.

Use a lye soak, easy off (lye in a can) with the pan in bag, electrolysis, or (have to be careful with this) an oven on a self clean cycle. Note that bailed handles (you can take them off) should never be cleaned in a self clean cycle as the temper will come right out of them.

vicker · #19 02/26/11, 12:19 AM

Horseshoe nails make great hangers.