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Post by Tom(2) on Jan 4, 2020 6:15:38 GMT -5
And now for something completely different (naked man on piano appears briefly)… I found some sort of vintage equipment, for the kitchen that is. Two caskets which look really old and from what I researched online could very well be one of the early Le Creuset sand form cast iron things. They even look like they had been used over an open fire stove, the outside bottom has some black residue. The inside have a nice patina, slight rust at the sides, but the inside of the lid is very rusty. It seems like they had some sort of coating, but this cracked and bubbled at larger areas in the lid and there's rust-like stuff, but blackish, not red. I tried the smaller one out of curiosity after a thorough cleaning with warm water and salt, freshly oiled, and burned some onions to see if there would be some unpleasant flavor or whatever… turned out quite nicely, so I proceeded and cooked a bolognese-like sauce with minced meat, which turned out very tasty - and I've never had a pan or else that was heated that easily and fast. Amzingly, nothing burned in or sticked at the bottom, this works better than any teflon coated pan I have. Now I'm wondering if the 'rust' inside the lid is something to worry about - when closed and cooking, water will collect there and then fall back into whatever is cooking, so maybe not very good. on the other hand, this seems to be very well sealed (no flaking or rubable dust residue)… I'm amazed that a 70-100 years old cook ware is still useable, and how good it works.  |
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Post by ScottB on Jan 4, 2020 7:05:28 GMT -5
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Post by Tom(2) on Jan 4, 2020 7:14:25 GMT -5
did you just rtfm-ed me? ;-D
Thanks, will have a look 🤓
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Post by Tom(2) on Jan 4, 2020 7:56:07 GMT -5
half an hour into the videos by that cowboy guy and I feel the urge to completely clean out and rebuild the seasoning in that pot  great stuff |
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GmanNJ
Wholenote
somewhere deep in the swamps of Joisey
Posts: 315
Formerly Known As: Your Friendly Neighborhood Gman
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Post by GmanNJ on Jan 4, 2020 9:24:55 GMT -5
having the lid collect the steam and condense it back into juices that baste the food is part of the design. I have a lodge dutch oven I use all the time. Yes the lid will get some rust but a quick water rinse and put it on the stove to heat it up to dry fixes it. Every once in a while take a paper napkin and dip in vegetable oil and apply to the hot iron to quickly re-season.
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Post by jonnyblooz on Jan 4, 2020 10:01:22 GMT -5
I was actually planning on starting a topic on cast iron. I'm a collector/user and it is all I cook in. I have over 150 pieces, which about 30 of those are set aside to restore and sell in my wife's antique booth. Those are duplicates and others that I don't have interest in. I've restored tons of iron. It is labor intensive, but once restored, they are brand new again and ready for the next 100 years.
If you're on facebook, there are tons of groups there, I belong to a few. If not, there are tons of youtube channels, but so much bad information it's tough to pick through. I do enjoy the "Cast Iron Cookware" channel. I really like Cowboy Kent Rollins, but I differ somewhat on some methods he uses. Either way, it's a great hobby, and the only antique collecting you actually IMPROVE the value by cleaning/restoring.
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ECS-3
Wholenote
Posts: 170
Formerly Known As: ECS-3
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Post by ECS-3 on Jan 4, 2020 10:25:33 GMT -5
I do all my stovetop cooking using an induction cooktop and it's worth pointing out that cast iron (plain or enameled) works perfectly on induction.
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Post by Tom(2) on Jan 4, 2020 10:43:27 GMT -5
I was actually planning on starting a topic on cast iron. I'm a collector/user and it is all I cook in. I have over 150 pieces, which about 30 of those are set aside to restore and sell in my wife's antique booth. Those are duplicates and others that I don't have interest in. I've restored tons of iron. It is labor intensive, but once restored, they are brand new again and ready for the next 100 years. If you're on facebook, there are tons of groups there, I belong to a few. If not, there are tons of youtube channels, but so much bad information it's tough to pick through. I do enjoy the "Cast Iron Cookware" channel. I really like Cowboy Kent Rollins, but I differ somewhat on some methods he uses. Either way, it's a great hobby, and the only antique collecting you actually IMPROVE the value by cleaning/restoring. Wow, that's cool! I quickly found the Cast Iron Cookware channel and liked it a lot, esp his take on NOT using harsh mechanical abresive stuff. Maybe if I can get hold and upload of some pictures of the pot (and the lid), I would be interested what you think of the find and its current condition? Anyway, what a great coincidence, I thought I posted this on a whim, not expecting much response |
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Post by NoSoapRadio on Jan 4, 2020 10:46:15 GMT -5
I've got about a dozen piece of Le Creuset and a half dozen pieces of antique cast iron. I love the stuff.
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Post by Stratluvr on Jan 4, 2020 11:05:48 GMT -5
Cast iron is great for cooking steaks indoors and tons of other things. It is a little trickier with eggs though. I also use Lodge version of the Le Creuset which is fantastic for all sorts of meals. It's built like a tank and cost at least half of what the Le Creuset does.
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Post by Tom(2) on Jan 4, 2020 11:18:38 GMT -5
Maybe if I can get hold and upload of some pictures of the pot (and the lid), I would be interested what you think of the find and its current condition? ok, here are some pictures of the smaller of the two. the larger one is in a similar condition, but size "7" where this here is "4".   On the inside, it has a nice black patina on the bottom, but also some small dents and bumps ...  … on the side you can see some barely visible rust above the patina and the higher it gets on the wall, the more grainy and uneven it gets. But there's no flaking, those 'pickles' are fairly solid:
 This is the inside of the lid;
 … and a close-up of the lid's inside. Those patches, too, aren't flaky (but I haven't attacked them with anything worse than hot water, a brush and oil and salt yet)
 What do you think, how old may these be? They are from a friend's household and had been in the family for at least two generations, three are more likely. He wanted to trash them, so I intervened. I already cooked with the one pictured here, and this is the actual condition right now, after a thorough rinse and scrub with oil and salt, and then some oil applied and rubbed in (but no re-seasoning, b/c I'm not sure about those little rust specks) |
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Post by damuniz on Jan 4, 2020 13:53:30 GMT -5
I have a few cast iron pans that I use regularly which I really like. My Mother-in Law gave me a deep skillet that is like 4" deep (good for deep frying-which I don't do) and a dutch oven that have been in her family for a while. I always wanted a dutch oven just never got around to it.
The dutch over lid is unusual in that it has several rows of iron points that I'm not sure what they are for. My best guess is for meat tenderizing. It is also susceptible to rust due to condensation while cooking. The points makes it difficult to clean.
No we need a few good dutch oven recipes in the cooking thread.
Any suggestions there?
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Post by hushnel on Jan 4, 2020 14:03:52 GMT -5
I’d take a stiff wire brush to that and see if does anything. I have a wide assortment of cookware, and a lot of cast iron from fri pans to dutch ovens, and a few waffle irons grills that cove two burners on the gas stove.
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Post by Dr Bass MD on Jan 4, 2020 14:08:12 GMT -5
We use nothing but cast iron for skillet cooking. Love it.
The secret to eggs is the skillet has to be HOT before putting the eggs in. Some say heat then fat then eggs. I’ve found the first two in the sequence don’t really matter. I’ll throw a pad of butter down cold and heat the skillet and butter simultaneously. On our traditional electric stovetop, a setting of about 7 works well to get it hot enough without browning the butter too quickly.
A pretty good FB group on cast iron cooking is ‘Cast Iron Cooking’. About 300k members strong, and some really good info.
I’d link it here, but I believe it is against the rules. Just do a search on Facebook and type it in exactly as above.
I have three Lodge skillets. A 10” (gets used the most), a 15” (wonderful for stir fry), and a 12” deep skillet I use for deep frying. Nothing vintage, but great quality stuff.
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cweb
Quarternote
Posts: 2
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Post by cweb on Jan 4, 2020 14:59:02 GMT -5
I’ve fallen into the cast iron cookware YT wormhole a few times in the past. It’s thoroughly entertaining. |
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Post by Tom(2) on Jan 4, 2020 17:24:46 GMT -5
The dutch over lid is unusual in that it has several rows of iron points that I'm not sure what they are for. In my short but intensive dive into the u-tube loop of cast iron cooking, he has exactly one of these and demonstrates how to get rid of the rust etc. If I remember it correctly, he says something like "condensation dispensers" about those iron 'spikes' inside the lid. My guess is, the design helps to keep away or guide the moisture away from the lid's inner surface, so it drips down back into the pot at an even pattern
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Post by Seldom Seen on Jan 4, 2020 19:20:47 GMT -5
Cast Iron is great. We have several pieces, both vintage and modern. I'd say 80% of our cooking is with cast iron.
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Post by oldnjplayer on Jan 5, 2020 9:17:07 GMT -5
Well now I have to find my one cast iron fry pan; clean; re season and use.
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Post by Dr Bass MD on Jan 5, 2020 10:26:09 GMT -5
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Post by Mfitz804 on Jan 5, 2020 10:31:21 GMT -5
Links are fine here. All I ask is that if the content is not safe for work, that should be indicated so people know before they click.
I have to assume the cast iron skillet Facebook group is safe for work.
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Post by mojito on Jan 5, 2020 10:35:14 GMT -5
We pretty much use nothing but cast iron too, multiple skillets from previous hand me downs, Dutch ovens, and griddles. A whole assortment. My wife and put in a nice fire brick/stone fire pit at our house in the mountains and are going to do some open fire cooking this year.
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Post by Dr Bass MD on Jan 5, 2020 10:40:15 GMT -5
Links are fine here. All I ask is that if the content is not safe for work, that should be indicated so people know before they click. I have to assume the cast iron skillet Facebook group is safe for work. It definitely is. A very civil group, by all measures. |
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Post by hushnel on Jan 5, 2020 10:57:25 GMT -5
I’ve been using cast iron since I fist started cooking, back in the Boy Scouts. My first Dutch Oven was being used as a outdoor planter. It took some cleaning to get it cleaned and nice and leveled. I still have it. I’ve been given them and finding them for years. Well before they became popular again. I have one of the smallest ever made, maybe 2 1/2 cups. This picture is just the Dutch Ovens, I’ve given a few of these to friends. I have a bunch of frying pans, waffle irons, skillets, no caldrons though, be nice for demonstrating traditional soap making. My favorite saute pan is not cast iron rather sheet steel, made in France, the kind you see in breakfast dinners, I use it primarily for eggs, it’s very well seasoned, better than anything advertised as non-stick.  |
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Post by damuniz on Jan 5, 2020 13:51:31 GMT -5
Tom
“In my short but intensive dive into the u-tube loop of cast iron cooking, he has exactly one of these and demonstrates how to get rid of the rust etc.
If I remember it correctly, he says something like "condensation dispensers" about those iron 'spikes' inside the lid.
My guess is, the design helps to keep away or guide the moisture away from the lid's inner surface, so it drips down back into the pot at an even pattern.”
Thanks for that information, that’s great to know.
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Post by LTB on Jan 12, 2020 23:19:27 GMT -5
Remember grandparents and my mom using them when I was young in the 1950's and 60's. My wife has been using them for various special uses. She bought a really small one today at an antique shop to make a single fried egg for her own "egg mcmuffin" Style breakfast sandwich. In 67 years I had never seen one that small  |
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Jake
Wholenote
Posts: 573
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Post by Jake on Jan 13, 2020 8:40:32 GMT -5
I used the camp fire method to burn off old seasoning, seemed to work fine.
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Post by TonyM on Jan 13, 2020 12:09:48 GMT -5
I use almost exclusively cast iron. I have three modern lodge pieces, a grill, flat gridle and medium pan that I use fairly frequently, but mostly I have a range of Griswalds, and a couple of the older Eire, one of which is somewhere around 120 years old (back when Griswald was still Selden & Griswald I think).
I've been using cast iron for somethings for around 30 years, but about 10 years ago I decided to pretty much switch over completely and haven't looked back yet.
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Post by Stratluvr on Jan 13, 2020 14:28:32 GMT -5
I've also seen that they sell polished cast iron skillets that have a smooth texture. There are also people on youb-toob that demonstrate how to smooth finish your cast iron pans.
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hilltop87
Wholenote
My Strat is my friend
Posts: 885
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Post by hilltop87 on Jan 13, 2020 14:44:46 GMT -5
When I was in college one of my roommates was a Felix Unger type. While me and my other roomie were Oscar Madison's. He had a cast iron skillet that he used quite often,
Usually me and the other roomie would just walk to 7-11 for our meals. One day the other roomie showed up with some awesome pork chops he got from his job. Felix Unger roomie
was out of town.
We decided to fry up those pork chops in his cast iron skillet. They were delicious. On the way out to hit the bars I put it in the kitchen sink full of water. Out of sight out of mind right?
A couple of days later Felix Unger roomie shows up. He orders us into the kitchen. That iron skillet looked like a sunken WWII ship hull. We had to make restitution.
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Post by Stratluvr on Jan 14, 2020 11:25:35 GMT -5
A couple of days later Felix Unger roomie shows up. He orders us into the kitchen. That iron skillet looked like a sunken WWII ship hull. We had to make restitution.
Realistically it could have just been brushed out thoroughly and re-seasoned. Being young college kids, you just don't know better.
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