Highplainsdrifter
Member
Anyone else restore and collect/sell vintage cast iron cookware? I've been doing it for quite a few years. Curious if anyone else here does it. I clean my pieces with an electrolysis tank and season with Crisco for 3 hours.
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Cast iron restoration
- Thread starter Highplainsdrifter
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mrskinner82
Senior Member
I don't have any pics but my mother gave me what she called a chicken fryer. Deep cast iron skillet with a lid. Been in the family a long time. She said its well over 100 years old. I stripped it down and re seasoned it. It is awesome. Since then I've been keeping an eye out for other pieces.
Highplainsdrifter
Member
Yep,that's a chicken fryer....some early ones were called deep skillets.
gawildlife
Banned
I buy to use.
kayaksteve
Senior Member
Never done it yet. I’ve got a couple I’m going to do soon. I really enjoy doing these types of projects. I may seek a little advice when I start mine. One is to far gone to ever be useable I think but It has some sentimental value. I have another Dutch oven I’ve been meaning to restore on the to-do list
Highplainsdrifter
Member
Unless it has holes in it or cracks its usable. Some people use cracked skillets to bake with. I have a #10 skillet that was left outside for years...looks like the surface of the moon but cooks great.
NE GA Pappy
Mr. Pappy
I like using pure lard to season with. Nothing puts a slick finish on those pans like lard will. And fast too.
kayaksteve
Senior Member
Anyone on here know anything about a skillet like this? It was my great grandmothers as far as I know. My papa said it was around as long as he can remember. Only markings are a gate mark across the bottom. From what I read it’s very hard to identify or age some of these(not that that affects the value of it to me) it’s pretty deeply pitted from a few years in a collapsing barn
Highplainsdrifter
Member
That handle is very old style....my guess would be late 1700s to early 1800s. Someone cut the legs off of it. It's what's known as a spider.
kayaksteve
Senior Member
That’s what I thought after some research. We have some pretty old heirlooms in the family but this may be the oldest one if that’s true. I have a newborn son and he is 5th generation on the farm and in the same house that my dad and grandmother live in now
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kayaksteve
Senior Member
The Dutch oven is also a family piece but I do not believe it is nearly as old and is definitely in good enough shape to restore and use
Lukikus2
Senior Member
I have a few pieces burning off did not work. I'd be interested in the electrolysis tub hookup though. Is it low voltage? Could I possibly use a battery tender?
John Cooper
?Now I Got One A Them Banner Things
Same here, I am always on the lookout for cast iron, also I buy quite a bit from the Lodge cast iron store in South Pittsburgh, TN. 15 miles from my house.
I have lots for personal use and used to buy to restore and put together sets for wedding presents for folks I really liked a lot.
I've been picking up pieces here and there over the last 10-12 years and have a pretty good collection of different styles. I've got 4-5 pieces that are used weekly. I've always stripped mine with a 50/50 vinegar and water solution. I have used a number of seasoning processes but I think the best thing after an initial seasoning is to just fry a couple good loads of cheap bacon. There is nothing better than a mirror black finish of a cast iron pan.
gawildlife
Banned
I'm partial to a bucket of lye for cleaning with nothing harsher than a wire brush from the really crusty spots.
I've had good luck with flax oil for the initial three coats of seasoning.
I've had good luck with flax oil for the initial three coats of seasoning.
The Original Rooster
Mayor of Spring Hill
It sure seems that animal fats soak in better than vegetable oils. That higher melting point makes a difference.
Nothing better than old cast iron. I have one pan I use almost daily that was my great-grandmother's, another daily user that has been in the family since the early 50s, two from my great-aunt's house, one of which is my official cornbread pan, and an old cast iron griddle that was my grandpa's. I have and use newer stuff too, but there's just something about the old family heirloom cast iron that makes it more satisfying to cook in.
Yep, I have a good bit of family stuff too.
fireman32
"Useless Billy" Fire Chief.
I keep a few around, restored a few but I don’t have much time to do them now. Top right was my grandmas flat pan that she made the best hoe cake in the world in. The one in the middle with the shiny spot got placed on a oven mitt fresh out of the oven. Took some scrubbing to get it useable again. Good friend of mine gave me a 5 pot/pan and Dutch oven set for a wedding gift, they’ve been well used.
