Anyone collect cast iron cookware?

gman · #1 01/23/14, 04:55 PM

Just got my first piece of cast iron at an estate sale. It's a 1940-1960 Lodge #3 skillet. It has only a "3" on the bottom and is in good condition. Can anyone tell me the book value on it? I know it's not valuable, but I am curious...

logbuilder · #2 01/23/14, 05:07 PM

There is one on ebay listed at starting bid of $9.97 that has received no bids.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Lodg...-/171222490327

Fire-Man · #3 01/23/14, 08:15 PM

A #3 and #5 sold for about $13, they tried to sell it earlier with a $18 starting big and no one bid on it. According to all this----guess that would value yours at this Time around $5. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Vintage-Lo...item27dcffce91

Keeping in mind the value is really what someone will pay for it.

Rustaholic · #4 01/23/14, 08:44 PM

I have 8 to 10 frying pans and 4 or more pots or dutch ovens.
We do not use any of the4m but I am planning to get them back in good shape and start using them. One to three dollars each.

Raymond James · #5 01/23/14, 08:48 PM

I have cast iron skillets that are priceless having belong to my great-grandmother, grandmother and mother. Other pieces that are worth hopefully what I paid for them .

Unfortunately I couldn't find any used campfire Dutch ovens this past year so they cost new $75 if I recall correctly. Seems like a lot but then hopefully it will be priceless when my great grand kids are using it.

I have a large deep skillet with lid , a large shallow skillet with lid, a griddle, 3 small skillets, a medium skillet, 5 quart oven dutch oven , a 8 quart camp fire ( it has three legs) dutch oven, a deep 8 quart campfire dutch oven. The only ones I bought were the campfire dutch ovens . I use one of the skillets almost every day and the camp fire dutch ovens for baking in the summer. The other pieces it depends some only a couple times a year.

My opinion you should never pay more than what a new piece would cost you to buy, You can often find a very good piece for $5 at garage/ yard sale that would cost $90.00 new that just needs to be cleaned and reseasoned

arnie · #6 01/23/14, 09:03 PM

I am quite a fan of cast iron cook ware thiugh I cannot say i'm a collector I havea set of 6 antque frying pans small to large because the quality is so much better than any thing else and I use them regularly

Fire-Man · #7 01/23/14, 10:02 PM

I have Many Cast Iron frying pans, dutch ovens, fish fry pans, Griswold, Wagner etc, BUT I am not a collecter. We cook out of alot of them. Fry things in the deep frying pan, cook flat cornbread in the flat one, etc, etc.

KMA1 · #8 01/24/14, 12:07 AM

Not a collector but have a lot of cast iron which we use. Cast Iron has decreased in value since 2008, and Lodge is not a particularly sought after brand. Though I believe Lodge is the only current US cast iron manufacturer still producing.

7thswan · #9 01/24/14, 06:19 AM

I have quite a bit ,but no lodge. I'm not a collector tho. One day I got most of it together to hang some on the wall near the woodstove, so I took a picture.

Fire-Man · #10 01/24/14, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7thswan

I have quite a bit ,but no lodge. I'm not a collector tho. One day I got most of it together to hang some on the wall near the woodstove, so I took a picture.

You are a collector, you just do not realize it----LOL.

ceresone · #11 01/24/14, 07:15 AM

large collection here too--as well as some Cusinart

7thswan · #12 01/24/14, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceresone

large collection here too--as well as some Cusinart

ya, I have a mess of enamled CI also,and copper. I can say I DO collect antique kitchen stuff,that must be it.

Smitty0560 · #13 01/24/14, 07:22 AM

What he said! Hahaha

Old John · #14 01/24/14, 07:36 AM

We have several cast-iron skillets, biggest is 12" and the rest are 8" to 10". We have 3 or 4 cast iron griddles, mostly round ones . But, we do have one 10" square griddle. They're great for pancakes or corn bread griddle cakes. I always bake corn bread in a 10" skillet.
We only have a couple of Dutch ovens. And we seldom use them. E-T-A.......(.We don't collect Cast iron cooking ware. We've both inherited Some and picked up pieces when we found them cheap.)

homstdr74 · #15 01/24/14, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gman

Just got my first piece of cast iron at an estate sale. It's a 1940-1960 Lodge #3 skillet. It has only a "3" on the bottom and is in good condition. Can anyone tell me the book value on it? I know it's not valuable, but I am curious...

I don't go by "book value", but by what someone is willing to pay for an item or what its going price may be. Here's a link to an eBay site where the vendor wants about 25 bucks for a Lodge skillet with the number 3 on it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Unma...item417beb65e5

I have a couple of Lodge skillets, but I've always shied away from them because of their rougher texture. The cooking surfaces of the old Griswolds and the Wagners that I own have a much smoother texture. My favorite old 10" Wagner skillet has a frying surface so smooth that I rarely have to use much oil to cook things to perfection....I usually have to just spray a little olive oil on the warming surface just prior to cooking.

There's a reason why some of the older cast iron ware is better, and that's one of them. Another is that the iron has been tested and isn't cracked due to poor manufacture.

amylou62 · #16 01/24/14, 07:48 AM

Not to drift, but, I saw a nice size Dutch oven at an antique store that was covered in VERY thick rust. Is it salvageable?

homstdr74 · #17 01/24/14, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amylou62

Not to drift, but, I saw a nice size Dutch oven at an antique store that was covered in VERY thick rust. Is it salvageable?

If you do buy it, be sure to clean the rust off, rub a thin coating of vegetable oil on it and put it in a 350-400 degree oven for about an hour. That should re-season the ware for you. Otherwise, there's really no problem with a rusty piece of cookware unless you see a crack on it somewhere----if you do, don't buy it.

7thswan · #18 01/24/14, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amylou62

Not to drift, but, I saw a nice size Dutch oven at an antique store that was covered in VERY thick rust. Is it salvageable?

Yes, soak it in a container of some kind, in vinegar , that will remove the rust, maybe take some steel wool to it to help it off. Then season.

MichaelK! · #19 01/24/14, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amylou62

Not to drift, but, I saw a nice size Dutch oven at an antique store that was covered in VERY thick rust. Is it salvageable?

I've also used vinegar, but the method I have gravitated to is scouring with a citric acid paste. Citric acid is the main ingredient (only ingredient) in a lot of those "sparkling dishwasher" products. If you're pouring in white crystals, it's citric acid.

Anyway, pour some of the citric acid in the pot and add just enough water to make it a wet paste. Then use a scrubbing pad to scoure just like you were using Comet or some other powdered cleaner.

Once the rust is gone and I'm seasoning, I don't just follow the method given by homestrd74. I coat with oil and bake for an hour at 450F five to six times, over the course of a week. By the end of the week the iron has a THICK coating of seasoning that is presentation grade.

homstdr74 · #20 01/24/14, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7thswan

Yes, soak it in a container of some kind, in vinegar , that will remove the rust, maybe take some steel wool to it to help it off. Then season.

Although I like the vinegar method (and keep a couple of gallons of it on hand just for rust removal) a Native American woman once told me that the best method she had used for cleaning caked or rusty cast iron ware was to put it into a good fire for awhile; that way she said it gets cleaned fairly well. Make it or break it, I guess, since I never tried that (leery of too hot a fire).