Cast iron pan handed down.

[Bionic]

I have been wanting a cast iron pan off, and on, for a few months now.  I was visiting, and talking to my dad about it, and he said "you want a pan? I have a few inside from the farm"... before I could answer, he said come here, and he handed me this pan.  Its old, it was used by my great Grandparents, and my Grandpa, and great Uncle in the old family farm that was in PA.  Well this pan is a special pan obviously,  and my dad said use it, they would be thrilled, and would love to here you are using it.  So I am quite excited for it.  It had a bit of surface rust on it, so I took some kosher salt, and a half of a potato, and cleaned it up best I could.  I do not want it super clean, especially on the outsides, for obvious reasons, do not want to erase the history.   My dad is going to help me properly season the pan.  

Pics are precleaned photos. 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Bionic

[turkeyfeathers]

Cast iron is the bomb. Congrats. It’ll be your new favorite cooking utensil. Even heat   Enjoy. 

[Robhuntandfish]

Very cool to use that, a family tradition.  My assistant at work collects and reconditions cast iron.  He has an electrolysis tub he uses. They come out great.  

[Dinsdale]

I have a little tiny cast iron pan only about 4 1/2" with Cryillic lettering that came over on the boat with my grandmother. Was small enough to carry and cook for 2, her and her sister on the road in Eastern Europe.

Cast cooks great, have fun.

[grampy]

Imagine all the great stuff cooked up in that pan!

Keep adding to it! And post some pic's when you do!

[Bionic]

12 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Cast iron is the bomb. Congrats. It’ll be your new favorite cooking utensil. Even heat   Enjoy. 

Looking forward to it for sure. I think its obviously I like cooking, and trying to things.  Thanks!

[Bionic]

13 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

Very cool to use that, a family tradition.  My assistant at work collects and reconditions cast iron.  He has an electrolysis tub he uses. They come out great.  

Yes, a tradition,  was a nice surprise for sure! Interesting about the reconditioning process, I want to keep the outter patina,  to keep the history though on this particular pan.

[Bionic]

9 minutes ago, Dinsdale said:

I have a little tiny cast iron pan only about 4 1/2" with Cryillic lettering that came over on the boat with my grandmother. Was small enough to carry and cook for 2, her and her sister on the road in Eastern Europe.

Cast cooks great, have fun.

That is a great story, sometimes the little things mean the most.

[turkeyfeathers]

Cast iron is the way to cook steaks.  Pan sear in a smidge of butter or oil. Finish by throwing whole pan in oven at 400 for maybe 10 minutes for medium.  

Edited May 15, 2018 by turkeyfeathers

[Bionic]

9 minutes ago, grampy said:

Imagine all the great stuff cooked up in that pan!

Keep adding to it! And post some pic's when you do!

They use to make scrapple, and have pigs, etc, make, and smoke sausage, cure meats, pickle, and jar...can only imagine! My dad had sausage in the smoker when I mentioned a cast pan, its how I was given this pan tonight.  My great grandma used to eat 1 pound of bacon each day, this pan has probably cooked many of it!

[Jeremy K]

I considered myself average in kitchen until I started cooking in cast iron , I suck at it . I'd love to hear some tips from people who cook in cast iron ,especially eggs . I can never flip an egg in cast iron without destroying the yolk. Seems everything chemically bonds to cast iron.

[Bionic]

4 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Cast iron is the way to cook steaks.  Pan sear in a smidge of butter or oil. Finish by throwing whole pan in oven at 400 for maybe 10 minutes for medium.  

I have 2 small steaks in a nice olive oil, and dry rub marinade as we speak coincidentally!  Throwing a dozen shrimp in a marinade tonight as well.  I dont want to use this pan on my kitchen stove since its electric glass top, afraid of scratching it to death.  I do have electric coil stand alone burner i can use though.

[Bionic]

11 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

I considered myself average in kitchen until I started cooking in cast iron , I suck at it . I'd love to hear some tips from people who cook in cast iron ,especially eggs . I can never flip an egg in cast iron without destroying the yolk. Seems everything chemically bonds to cast iron.

If its like stainless pans, I had that issue myself with everything welding to the pan.  Turns out in stainless, you preheat the pan, then add an oil, or butter, allow that to warm as well then add food...IF cast is like stainless pans....

[Otto]

I have two pans from my Grandmother, at least 100years old..... maybe even older than that.  One of them has that same ERIE mark on the bottom.  I also have a newer Lodge pan with grill ridges on it.   The difference in the casting is noticeable.  That and probably over 100years of use.

Read up some on cleaning, seasoning and using cast iron.  It’s not hard if you follow a few simple rules.  Rule #1: NO SOAP. EVER.

The rest is easy.

20 minutes ago, Jeremy K said:

I considered myself average in kitchen until I started cooking in cast iron , I suck at it . I'd love to hear some tips from people who cook in cast iron ,especially eggs . I can never flip an egg in cast iron without destroying the yolk. Seems everything chemically bonds to cast iron.

I can’t either. I just use a Teflon pan.  I’ll use the cast iron to cook the bacon though,

Edited May 15, 2018 by Otto

[Bionic]

1 hour ago, Otto said:

I have two pans from my Grandmother, at least 100years old..... maybe even older than that.  One of them has that same ERIE mark on the bottom.  I also have a newer Lodge pan with grill ridges on it.   The difference in the casting is noticeable.  That and probably over 100years of use.

Read up some on cleaning, seasoning and using cast iron.  It’s not hard if you follow a few simple rules.  Rule #1: NO SOAP. EVER.

The rest is easy.

I can’t either. I just use a Teflon pan.  I’ll use the cast iron to cook the bacon though,

Thanks for sharing!

Check this out Otto, I think my pan is from 1905-1907.  Its an Earie 10A.

Hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Oh, and I was most likely going to buy a Lodge brand pan, if I hadn't have mentioned this to my dad.  

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

[Moho81]

I love cooking with cast iron. I have a cast iron pizza pan as well. It makes the best crust ever. Fluffy, crispy and the toppings are always cooked perfectly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bionic]

1 hour ago, Moho81 said:

I love cooking with cast iron. I have a cast iron pizza pan as well. It makes the best crust ever. Fluffy, crispy and the toppings are always cooked perfectly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You know. I was looking at cast pizza pans the night before last! I had no idea they existed, I always use a cookie sheet, not a double walled sheet....if I make the pizza too thick I can't get the bottom towards the center to crisp, even with a pinch of olive oil underneath.   Really considering buying one, I love making homemade pizza. 

[MPHunter]

15 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

I considered myself average in kitchen until I started cooking in cast iron , I suck at it . I'd love to hear some tips from people who cook in cast iron ,especially eggs . I can never flip an egg in cast iron without destroying the yolk. Seems everything chemically bonds to cast iron.

Cast iron needs to be pretty well seasoned before thinking about cooking eggs in it. Cooking bacon and shallow frying (think country fried steak) are great ways to build up that seasoning. Also, the old pans a far superior to the cast iron you can buy today. The old pans were machined to remove the sand casting marks. Today's cast iron pans are not machined. That is why they have that rough surface. I have a a couple Griswolds and a Wagner that were my great grandmothers that are over a 100 years old and are smooth as glass and pretty much non-stick.

[MPHunter]

13 hours ago, Bionic said:

Thanks for sharing!

Check this out Otto, I think my pan is from 1905-1907.  Its an Earie 10A.

Hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Oh, and I was most likely going to buy a Lodge brand pan, if I hadn't have mentioned this to my dad.  

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

Great find on the Erie. Over a hundred years old and far superior in quality than anything you could buy today. Clean it up, season it and use it a lot! You'll be passing it on to your grand kids!

 

Check out this cast iron forum. A lot of the site requires a paid membership but there is a general information page and lots of very knowledgeable cast iron nuts.

http://www.griswoldandwagner.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=irongeneral

[MPHunter]

2 hours ago, Moho81 said:

I love cooking with cast iron. I have a cast iron pizza pan as well. It makes the best crust ever. Fluffy, crispy and the toppings are always cooked perfectly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have one of those Lodge cast iron pizza pans too but have never used it for pizza. Do you preheat it and slide the pizza onto it off a pizza peel or do you make the pizza on it and then put it in the oven?

[philoshop]

I have three of my Grandmother's CI skillets in 2 different sizes. I simply can't imagine the number of meals she cooked with them for the kids on the farm. They're grungy-looking on the outside but completely non-stick on the inside. She would wipe them out while still hot, and grease them with a cow or pig tail (a** fat) she had hanging next to the stove before the next use. She died almost thirty years ago at the age of 90, and I believe at least one of those pans was given to her by her mother. Take care of that pan, treat it right, and whoever gets it next will thank you for it.

 

[Moho81]

57 minutes ago, Bionic said:

You know. I was looking at cast pizza pans the night before last! I had no idea they existed, I always use a cookie sheet, not a double walled sheet....if I make the pizza too thick I can't get the bottom towards the center to crisp, even with a pinch of olive oil underneath.   Really considering buying one, I love making homemade pizza. 

Buy one you wont regret it! 

[Bionic]

5 minutes ago, Moho81 said:

Buy one you wont regret it! 

Do you preheat the pan, then slide the pie onto it?

[Bionic]

9 minutes ago, philoshop said:

I have three of my Grandmother's CI skillets in 2 different sizes. I simply can't imagine the number of meals she cooked with them for the kids on the farm. They're grungy-looking on the outside but completely non-stick on the inside. She would wipe them out while still hot, and grease them with a cow or pig tail (a** fat) she had hanging next to the stove before the next use. She died almost thirty years ago at the age of 90, and I believe at least one of those pans was given to her by her mother. Take care of that pan, treat it right, and whoever gets it next will thank you for it.

 

Trust me, its not going anywhere,  I am super anal, I am ecstatic to have it.  Thanks for sharing. 

[Moho81]

12 minutes ago, MPHunter said:

I have one of those Lodge cast iron pizza pans too but have never used it for pizza. Do you preheat it and slide the pizza onto it off a pizza peel or do you make the pizza on it and then put it in the oven?

I never preheated the pan. I use a dusting of flour on the inside of the pan them make the pizza right in the pan. I usually cook it at 425 and it takes about 25 min to get a golden brown crust. The flour just helps make sure the crust does not stick which it never does. Better than using an oil or butter in my opinion and you don't taste it.