at one point i had a good number of skillets. from favorite piqua to a perfect erie spider, i had a gentleman from California offer me a ridiculous amount for the erie spider, so i sold it. The dutch ovens with lid and trivet are really nice.
the picture above is the skillet i cook with the most. it was my grandfathers favorite skillet.
a decade ago i spotted a gatemarked round griddle skillet about a #9 size at a barnsale in Ohio. They had it marked for $10, it didn’t appear cracked but was covered with grime and rust so i couldnt tell… well it sat perfectly with zero rocking. my father eventually asked for it and had his neighbor in South Carolina sand blast it. he cooks with it daily in the Phillipines over the wood stove. no photo of it, but it has a fancy handle. gate marked cast iron pieces are from the late 1800s. these pieces are all from the 1920s and older. and from what i understand, the iron had less impurities back then so they were able to pour lighter and thinner cast iron cookware.
ozark dutch oven
unknown scotch bowl
campfire skillet from Washington? i probably shouldn’t be putting it over coals, probably hard to find, but its practical lol
i bet you cant guess who made the
#3 skillet above. its not a lodge, and that is shepards pie lol.
thought id share, what is your favorite cast iron?
*O and Stainless Steel supremacy is not cool on vintage cast iron post. I know stainless steel is lighter and easier to clean… A Tesla is quieter and requires less maintenance than a Mercedes-Benz 
i understand people’s different perspectives and needs.
lol. stainless steel supremacy,
SS, coincidence? i think not… 
i crack myself up.
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I don’t cook much but when I do it’s mostly with cast iron. Best is Lodge for me, but then again I don’t get out much either.
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There seems to be a wave of people on line that are using disc sanders and sanding them down to a smooth silver shine. Then re seasoning them. Supposed to make them cook and clean better with a no stick surface. Anyone know if that’s true?
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sanding is great for new cast iron. sanding down the rough cooking surface increases its cooking performance. old cast iron already came smooth from the foundry so sanding old iron like mine is unnecessary. electrolysis is the best way to restore old iron. iron quality started to drop in the 1950s but even the cooking surfaces on lodge were relatively smooth even in the 1990s… nowdays they are rough and need sanded down. its better to buy old cast iron than new because the quality is so much better. you can still buy decent quality cast iron skillets today that are made new, but they are like $250 a pan. sanding a $25 lodge is the easiest, cheapest and quickest option though.
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If you’re going to spend 250 on a cast iron, just get stainless steel already. It does everything on the stovetop better other than high temp searing or high temp baking. And a lot easier to clean.
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I do yes and it’s true but be careful and keep the sander moving else you’ll sand out a divit. Re-curing is the easiest part, I did ours in the oven with lard and I mainly cook with tallow or lard. If I recall correctly the Lodge website has the howto directions for re-surfacing.
The key with cast iron though is to get the food out of the cast iron as quick as possible and scrub with a stainless chainmall pad under hot running water (no soap) while the cast iron is still warm. Lodge also sells the chainmall pad. It cleans right up with little effort this way. Put back on the burner low heat add a tad of lard if it needs it and heat until dry under low heat.
Sometimes I may also coat the outside with melted lard and a paper towel if it needs it. In my opinion properly maintained cast iron is the ultimate non-stick surface to cook with. I even cook eggs in melted butter over easy in our small lodge skillet.
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@HVmike Your response is kind of a straw man fallacy, so i dont have a direct response because i myself am not a fan of $250 iron cookware that is lower in quality than my old cast iron i paid reasonable prices for over the years.
i was simply saying the 250 pans are an option, that if you want a smooth surface with cast iron you can either get old iron, sand down a lodge or pay $200+ for a new aged high quality pan.
some people prefer cast iron for different foods, id never fry morels or steak in stainless, but i wont make rice or cook tomatoes in cast iron.
I personally like cast iron but I believe you are correct. Stainless is probably better all around and when it comes to acidic foods. Thats what cast iron does not preform well.
That being said… We had a couple stainless stock pots that rusted, which I found to be rather odd. I’m using one as a water pot on the wood stove to increase air humidity so its no biggie, it’ll never be used to cook food again, just warm water. I’m just saying… it would make sense to research stainless before purchasing.
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I have 3 lodge carbon steel skillets… 8 in, 10 in, 12 in.
We have a few cast iron skillets too.
I prefer the carbon steel myself. It cooks and cleans just like cast iron but is much lighter.
My old arthritus wrists really prefer the carbon steel.
TNHunter
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But these are the pans I like the most.
Yes, I have to many cast iron pans. Last I checked it was around 150 or so.
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Very cool. I like the lbl Griswold circular display. The #4 and #14 really make it shine.
ive seen some info about pure titanium skillets lately, anyone try one? What do you think of it? Supposed to be more anti stick than stainless…
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titanium is good. a pure titanium pan is just expensive and doesnt hold heat as well as steel. so over all stainless steel is hard to beat.
Stainless steel is still poor at spreading heat. Pans with an aluminum plate bonded on the bottom of a stainless steel pan do a much better job than either cast iron or stainless steel cookware. I have two sets of Towncraft cookware specifically because it is better for cooking on an electric stove. Why 2 sets? One is for my tiny house, one for the house I live in most of the time. So what is the problem with an electric stove? Heat regulation is more difficult than with a gas stove.
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stainless is still poor at spreading heat, but its good enough and best overall for the price, i believe thats why its the #1 seller in America.
most people are heating up ramen noodles and hamburger helper anyway. very few people can even cook good enough for heat displacement to matter so that’s probably why cheap steel pans are king in USA.
i love electric because i cook low and slow most of the time
ive never been a fan of gas stoves because of the benzene exposure, but this double burner style is REALLY nice to cook on.
Not all stainless are equal. I have the $300 stainless (gift) infused with aluminum on the bottom and I’ve had the cheap stainless. The difference is very noticeable. Expensive heats evenly and cheap does not. Then there is the durability issue. Cheap is super thin and some have been known to rust. I think I’m going to try sanding one of those inexpensive cast iron pans. Sounds like a cheap way to get a quality pan.
What are the ups and downs of cast iron pots?
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Absolutely the aluminum bonded steel pans are the beez kneez but titantium is expensive, aluminum is toxic, cast iron sticks even when seasoned great so its cooking potential is limited, try to avoid acid food like tomaotes and boiling water and scrubbing with dawn soap, BUT when you find out what cooks best in iron it really shines. you can bake with cast iron and it holds heat great. you can slide eggs on a #3-5 cast iron pan but thats a lot of work with seasoning and proper cooking temps. cast iron is great for many reasons though and you can never go wrong with having a nice skillet in your kitchen.
When it comes to heat distribution… im not too concerned with it because i tend to cook at lower temps, im not cooking quality dishes fast paced at a restaurant so i can use lower quality steel pans and still produce bangin meals.
i never got into the magnetic stove tops because i cant use a pressure canner on them lol.
O and heres the $10 gate marked Ohio barn find. perfectly flat with a thick handle. my dad took this to the Phillipines the pan has been around lol. from the 1880s now on the other side of the world being neglected. lol
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