Anyone collect cast iron cookware?

I agree the newer cast iron products aren't as finely made as the older ones. We broke our brand new cast iron Lodge table top grill and was told by a welder that he may or may not be able to fix it. He said the Lodge's quality is so bad (made in Vietnam) that it's an iffy exercise. My grandmother's cast iron is silky smooth yet my Lodge is very pebbly. Not buying any more new stuff!

This is my cracked pan. It is not a new cast pan. I too use all my cast. The only stuff I do not use often is the large kettle pots. I have an extreamly large one, I keep kindling,paper and firestarters in. I do have 4 woodburning stoves and 3 wood cookstoves. Cast iorn cracks, if you don't want to belive me, tell it to the firebox guards in my cookstove. All of our cast is old, I do have a newer cast pot I use for transporting coals from the woodburner to the cookstove to start her up, but that's all it's good for. ps. the pan in the photo is the ONLY time I had ever tried to clean a pan in fire, so I guess I just have pretty bad luck, and I won't risk it again.

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I have a 10",round, rolled wrought steel griddle.The griddle is the same griddle that my late grandmother used,to fix me buckwheat pancakes,60 years ago.I know that it is much older than that.It says"NEVER BREAK" on the handle.I love that griddle.I was fortunate to get it at the two day estate sale,in 2004,as well as the sharpening iron that my grandfather routinely used.I've also got a few cast iron pieces,that are used daily.

I have two left out of six. My dutch oven is long gone. The two left were from my great grandma as a gift for my first place about 22 years ago. She raised me

The pans came from her mother. My great grandma was born in 1914 so my pans are over 100 years old and still fry a mean ham steak for breakfast.

I am not going to argue about putting cast iron in a fire. A hot fire and a cool fire are too different things. Cast iron is not indestructible.

At glowing temperatures the molecular structure changes. The iron becomes more brittle and fragile. It will get a red hue, which is not rust. Even some oven cleaning cycles can be too hot. Here is a small dutch that was put in a hot fire for a short period and besides warping, the red hue is flaky and the pan is ruined. Its impossible to hold a season.




I certainly wouldnt risk this on any of my beautiful Griswold or Wagners.

http://www.castironcollector.com/damage.php

I agree with everything Farmgal says, especially about the molecular changes. The instructions that come with cast iron says to NEVER heat the pan on high heat with nothing in it. You need something in it to temper the hot spots. Putting it in a fire is the same thing. When I was young and dumb, I did that and the pan split in half.

Then how do you bake bread in a dutch oven. I realize there are only coals but the dutch oven goes right in the fire. So does my lidded skillet for cornbread. I too have put cast iron I have found, some buried for years, in coals to clean up, then reseason. Yes it is all old cast. Never had a problem. Looks like those examples were in a very hot fire. Also I heat the cast slowly, not cold right into the coals. I wouldn't bank a fire with it inside the pile....James

I thought I had a lot of cast iron until i saw this thread.

I started tinkering with cast iron with the guidance of people here on homesteadingtoday about ten or twelve years ago. And then I became obsessed with getting it to sing for me. After years of all sorts of wacky experiments, I came up with some .... odd conclusions. Eventually, I made a video that showed restoring an old pan and putting the initial seasoning on it - in my very odd way:

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Sally, that half pan is/has 2 sides and it is for making omlets. Well, I thought it was. I've used it for that. I have a few other things, one is a thing for making a type of bisket , works just like the waffle maker. I do see quite a few Griz 2 burners, have always passed them up. I hope to build a outdoor kitchen this summer out of my arbor. So I'll need a 2 burner now. But sinse I am peeling apples, today-I'll post one of my favorite cast pieces-the apple peeler!

This is cast iorn. It has a blade that makes the first cut around the bottom, then the razor comes around and peels the apple then a kicker kicks it off. I grew up using one almost like this when my Mom canned,she gave it to my sister whom I'm sure "lost" it somewhere. So I looked and finaly found another. She sure is handy. Ps, sorry about the apple guts, I really am using it right now, just needed a break!

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I buy any I find for a good price at estate and garage sales. Once got 7 skillets for $10. I usually build a fire in the big grill and put the cast iron in as the fire is building up. I keep an eye on it and when it has changed to a fresh iron gray, if the fire is still goin strong, i remove it and put it in a warm place to cool down, if the fire is going out, I just leave it in. After it has a chance to cool down completely, I shake, dust, wipe, or rinse it to get the ash off and then give it a good scrubbing with soap and hot water and dry it well on the stove, before putting lard on it and putting it in the oven at 350 for an hour, then turn off the oven and let it cool down to room temp in the oven. I then use it for cornbread or such, or even do another oven run on it depending on how the seasoning looks.

I have had one with a crack in sidewall of skillet, and I'm not sure it wasn't there when I got it, it was so crusty at the time. Well got to feed the dog in something.

I don't buy anything that isn't older U.S, made stuff either, If I accidentally find some that says taiwan or whatever on it, it goes outside to use for the animals feed or water.

I don't know how many pieces i have at this time, there are two stacks in one cabinet and two stacks two other cabinets, dutch ovens by fireplace, a bunch of dutch ovens under one bed, comals and cornstick pans under the stove in that drawer, seven or eight pieces have been given to son and son in law,others as graduation presents, as wedding gifts to folks I know, etc.

The last 4 I got the skillets all had lids, a big plus to me, as lids cost as much or more than skillets, and i got these, lid and skillet pairs for $10 or less.

When someone comments on how much I have, I say I'm investing in heavy metals.

Ed

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I seen a set of Griswold never been used 0 to 22 inch 1300$ it would be nice to have but would take the rest of my life seasoning them

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I have a hard time passing by nice old Griswold when I see it for a few dollars. For a while I bought up things like muffin, corn stick and apelskiver pans. Like a lot of collections, no place to display, a lot of work to maintain, and "book values" are exactly that. What someone who liked the stuff priced it at, quite removed from what one can get if selling. I use a few pieces routinely.

Not myself a collector but people around here pay big money for peices that were made here in a factory that closed down. I don't know if they are nationally collectible but they say Piqua, OH on the bottom. I saw a small one egg skillet in the antique store all rusted up for $60.

Yep, those are collectable too!

The coals are okay to cook on/under or to clean a rusty pan but not a hot blazing fire. That is the difference between wrecking a pan and recovering one.

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A wise person speaks when they have something to say but a fool speaks just to say something

I'm also a collector and user of cast iron, using my big dutch ovens outside over coals or in my clay oven, and using 1 or 2 skillets every day inside.
Some pieces I have are wagoners but most are probably the newer taiwan pieces, because there are no identifing marks. It doesnt matter who makes it as long as it's seasoned properly and cared for the right way.

For all the FBers a really great page is called "Cast Iron Cooking" It's a fairly new site growing like crazy every day, and every week has a different theme for using the CI. Also has everything you need to know about cast iron(buying, cleaning, recovering, seasoning etc) and a recipe file too.

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A wise person speaks when they have something to say but a fool speaks just to say something

All lodge cast iron is made here, their enameled pans however are not. The plant in in TN.

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I beg to differ. All the Lodge pans that I have seen are very high quality.

We have a nice variety of cast iron cookware, from skillets to dutch ovens, and we use most of it. I have plenty for our uses, but didn't collect it for any other reason.

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