dwhee87
GON Political Forum Scientific Studies Poster
We're a weird bunch. Getting' all excited about cast iron. 
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Old school cast iron.
- Thread starter Longhorn 16
- Start date
Batjack
Cap`n Jack 1313
Ya'll don't get me started on quilts, I sat in on many a"bee" and learned to stitch before I could walk. I'll add my collection of them to the pix of the iron if I can.
chobrown
Senior Member
Ole Willie Wirehand. I worked at Ocmulgee EMC for 5 years before moving to Progressive Rural Telephone. Nice collection!
twtabb
Senior Member
I use one of my pans for blacken fish fillets. Should I try to season it or will it just burn off? I get it pretty hot to blacken with. I heat on my fish cooker getting it really hot. After cooking I scrape it out and put a little olive oil in it to keep from rusting.
Batjack
Cap`n Jack 1313
Sounds like you know what you're doing. As long as it's hot when you wipe in the oil, all's well.
ryork
Senior Member
Great story Hillbilly!
Dub
Senior Member
I am blessed to have a good bit of vintage cast iron. Y'all have seen many, many pics of most of it in use on this forum over the years.
I have one 10 1/2" pan that is over 100 years old. No markings. It belonged to my great-grandmother, my grandpa, and mom before me. My mom gave it to me as a wedding present when I was 18 and moved out. It is one of my most prized possessions.
I have a 12" pan (also unmarked,) that is 50's vintage. It is another one of my most prized possessions. It's named "Rooster" because of the story behind it.
My dad ran a store in a town near here back in the mid-fifties. There was an old guy who hung around named "Rooster" Bartlett. He was a highly decorated WWII vet, but was shellshocked, as they called PTSD back in the day. He was quite well-off financially, but was also homeless, by choice. The only thing that actually made him happy was fishing.
One weekend, my dad and his brother were planning a week-long trip to camp and trout fish back in the mountains. Rooster happened by and said that he sure would like to go on a trip like that sometime. So they invited him to go. Rooster was ecstatic, and said that he would bring all the food and do all the cooking if they would take him.
He showed up with a big bunch of groceries and a brand new cast-iron frying pan. They camped and fished, and Rooster cooked. When they were getting ready to come home at the end of the week, Rooster cleaned the pan to a shine, and sat it gently on a stump at the campsite. Dad said, "Rooster, don't forget your pan."
Rooster said, "George, I don't have anywhere to keep it at. I'll leave it here for someone who can use it and enjoy it."
Dad said, "If you don't want it, can I have it?"
Rooster said, "Sure!" I didn't think you'd want it!"
Dad brought it home, and I grew up eating meals cooked out of it. About ten years ago, mom got so she wasn't able to pick it up any more, and gave it to me. I use it almost every day.
I have a 10" and an 8" pan that came from my great-aunt's house when she went to a nursing home. Both are very old. The 8" is my dedicated cornbread pan.
I have a big oval cast-iron griddle that my grandpa used to cook bacon and fish on while he was camping. I grew up eating out of it. I wouldn't take a million dollars for it.
I also have a cast-iron Dutch oven that belonged to another great grandma. She used it to cook on the fireplace. When my grandma inherited it, she wanted to use it with her wood-burning cookstove, so my grandpa cut the legs off of it with a cold chisel so it could be used on the stove. It makes good cornbread.
I also have a huge cast-iron "witch pot" cauldron that has been in the family for about three or four generations. It was the one that used to be used for making soap, washing clothes, rendering lard, cooking stew, and other such family duties over a fire in the yard.
I love my old cast iron.
Nic, along with great-grandma's pan, my mom also gave me a quilt handmade by the same lady when I first got married and moved out. That I still have. Old southern ladies weren't that different from the mountains to the lowlands, were they?
Man.....I'm grinning from ear to ear reading this 'un.
Excellent post.
Thank you.
That's gotta be gratifying as all get-out to use something daily that was handed down to you.
It's what I'm hoping to start with my meager collection.....some gear that my son will remember and use.....and think back to his old man that loved him so much.
Good thread.
Thank you, @NCHillbilly for making it a GREAT thread !!!!
Batjack
Cap`n Jack 1313
Start him early, then He'll understand and care more. I've tried my best to install a idea of what family history and artifacts mean to my Nephew and Niece to no avail. If it's not on their "dumb" phone, it doesn't count.
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chobrown
Senior Member
I have a few pieces of Lodge I use, but I have 3 pieces that belonged to my grandma I will always cherish. That woman cooked eggs in that small pan that was outstanding, I can nail them every now and then. I sure miss that cookin. I’m with dub, thanks for this thread. I’ve sat here and reminisced on some fond memories.
twtabb
Senior Member
twtabb
Senior Member
VANCE
Senior Member
imma eat my Wheaties and break it all out tommorrow
Water will not harm your seasoning unless you allow the water to boil in the pan for a long time. Detergent (not soap) on the other hand is death to seasoning. I never use detergentn or soap. I don't think soap will hurt seasoning but I never need it.
Once your pans are seasoned properly they should not need to be re-seasoned unless something happens to the old seasoning. Something like allowing the pan to get too hot on the stove or fire and burning it off or cooking something very acidic for a long time like tomatoes. Boiling water for a long time in a pot will harm the seasoning also. I start every cook in cast iron by wiping the pan down with oil, usually bacon drippings. The more "fatty" stuff you prepare in your iron pans the better you seasoning will become.
When you have stuff stuck to your iron after cooking it provides a place for dampness to accumulate and damage to occur. the stuck stuff should be cleaned out then the iron should be lightly oiled with as much of the oil wiped out as possible. The pan should shine but your finger should still be clean if you rub it n the pan.
The stuck on stuff is easiest to remove as soon as you have finished cooking. It is accomplished by deglazing the pan. While the pan is still cooking hot pour a little water in and scrape the bottom of the pan with the end of a spatula after just a few seconds the stuck stuff will come loose and dissolve in the water. Continue with the spatula till the entire bottom of the pan feels smooth. Pour out the water, rinse with clean water, and oil the pan for storage as noted above while it is still warm. Let it dry completely on top of the stove before putting it wherever you keep it.
The product from the deglazing can be used for making sauces or gravies if you like and you can experiment with using wines instead of water if you want to get fancy.
One of my "friends" ran off with my quilt ! Good thing I don't know who . Still got the cast iron tho
GLS
Classic Southern Gentleman
I blacken fish in my great grandmother's old "no name" skillet. It's the largest one in my photo of skillets. I turn all three burners on high on my gas grill. I place the pan on top of a flat cast iron pan like the one depicted in my photo. It's heavily rusted, but I use it to protect the skillet. The inside temp of the grill gets up over 450 F. and the skillet is smoking. I have burned off the seasoning on the outside more times than I can remember. It's easy to correct. The cooking surface has occasionally gummed up from blackening fish as the residual oil from cooking sometimes burns onto the surface. The way I blacken fish is to coat with olive oil, add seasoning and add a small amount of olive oil in the pan and with a spatula, wipe the oil across the surface with a paper towel. Not much oil remains. It only takes a minute and a half per side to cook the fish. If it becomes gummy, I use Easy Off on it when the pan cools. It doesn't take much to re-season a pan for my purposes.
My G-Grandmother made four quilts for each of her sons when they set up housekeeping. I have one that she made for my Grandfather who was born in 1889. My Grandmother did the same for each of her sons and I have one that was made for my Father who was born in 1912. Sadly, my mother didn't continue the tradition but she did instill in me an appreciation for cast iron cookware. I am fortunate in having many family pieces belonging to several generations and have supplemented these with lots more through the years.
The quilting done at my Grandmother's house was a neighbor hood affair. MamMa had eye screws in the ceiling of the kitchen above the kitchen table. When the ladies were quilting, a frame was suspended from them at about table height and the ladies would sit at the table stitching and visiting (gossiping mostly). Frequently one of the grandkids would be churning butter in a corner of the room at the same time.
The quilting done at my Grandmother's house was a neighbor hood affair. MamMa had eye screws in the ceiling of the kitchen above the kitchen table. When the ladies were quilting, a frame was suspended from them at about table height and the ladies would sit at the table stitching and visiting (gossiping mostly). Frequently one of the grandkids would be churning butter in a corner of the room at the same time.
MOTS
Senior Member
Patriot44
Banned
You worship da debil with that thang or whut? What is it?
That looks a lot like mine. And yep, mine has rendered a ton of lard, washed a ton of clothes, and who knows what else.
