Good Vintage or Bad vintagE- Cast Iron Love Pt2 🌞

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Good Vintage or Bad vintagE

Generally speaking, the cast iron cookware you find at yard
sales and flea markets can usually be salvaged if you have the
time and energy to put into it. Rust, scaling, and debris are all
relatively easy to combat with coarse sea salt, a wire brush,
elbow grease, and determination. There are, however, some
types of damage that are difficult, if not impossible, to fix
outside the foundry. Cast iron that is warped, severely cracked,
or pitted from erosion is beyond repair by the casual consumer
and should be avoided.

Foundry Logos and Markings

Collectors and aficionados of cast iron are familiar with the various foundry markings and logos
found on the bottom of cast iron pieces and the inherent value these convey. On the bottom of
vintage cast iron you will often find these types of markings:

• Logos and brands: A logo on the bottom of a cast iron skillet marks it as a product of the
particular foundry where it was made. While there were many brands making cast iron in the
United States and Canada during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the most
common were Griswold, Wagner, and Lodge.

Griswold was in business from 1865 to 1957. Based out of Erie, Pennsylvania, Griswold
began to manufacture skillets and other cast iron cookware in 1870. Their cast iron has a
reputation for quality and durability, and their pieces are now collector’s items.



Wagner Manufacturing Company was founded in Sidney, Ohio, in 1881, and was open until
1999. They began manufacturing cast iron cookware in 1891, and made it a core part of their
company’s mission to make good-quality products that could live up to the name stamped on the
bottom.



Lodge Manufacturing was founded in 1896 in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and is one of
America’s oldest cookware manufacturers still in continuous operation. Much of the new cast
iron available on the market today is made by Lodge, and the company is still owned by
descedants of the founder, Joseph Lodge.



• Numbers and letters: At first glance it’s easy to assume the number stamped on the bottom
of your skillet is the size of the skillet, but it’s actually a completely different size indicator.
When wood-burning stoves were commonly used in people’s homes, it was important to use
cookware that fit the “stove eye,” the opening in the top of the stove. Brands such as Wagner
made skillets to fit the various-sized options for wood-burning stove eyes, which often continued
as standard sizes even after gas and electric stoves became more popular. (This is why you see
cast iron available in quarter sizes, such as 10¼ inches.) These dimensions were not common
among brands, so a #3 Wagner may be a different size than a #3 Griswold.

•A number followed by a letter is called a “pattern letter.” Foundries used different patterns of
popular cast iron sizes so they could maximize production output. Each pattern was noted with a
letter, so if there were problems, it could easily be traced back to the source and controlled.

• As cast iron popularity and demand increased, the numbers on the bottom of a piece evolved
and often became longer. These longer numbers are not size indicators, but rather catalog
numbers which are unique to the manufacturer and generally correlate with earlier dimension
and pattern numbers.



• Buying tips:

The first thing to consider when buying cast iron is what you have space and
time for, and whether it needs restoration. It isn’t necessarily a great investment of time or space
to buy every piece that comes your way. When collecting pieces, you can choose based on
brand, pan type, or characteristics of individual pieces. If your goal is to collect as many unique
pieces of Griswold as you can find, stick with that strategy and get hunting. If you primarily use
your cast iron for one type of cooking, such as roasting, keep your eyes peeled for pieces that
will help you in that venture. Shopping based on need, collecting goals, and budget is the
strategy that seems to work best for the fledgling cast iron enthusiast.


What Is Seasoning?

When people talk about cast iron, both old and new, they often talk
about “seasoning” it. I’ve learned that this term gives cast iron an air of
mystery and can unfortunately scare people from using it. “Seasoning”
is a layer of fat that has polymerized and bonded with the iron. This
seasoning protects the iron and gives it a beautiful shine and luster. It is
something that you can build up over time, but it can also be damaged.
As such, cast iron owners will often talk of “reseasoning” and
maintenance—two things that are central to working with cast iron. The
benefit of seasoned cast iron is that it has a smooth, well-oiled surface
that is durable and naturally nonstick. Once an ideal level of seasoning
has been achieved, it is easy to maintain through regular care and
cleaning. Occasionally, you may find you need to reseason your
cookware, which is usually as simple as cleaning and reoiling it a few
times to restore it to its formerly pristine state. Well-seasoned cast iron
will be pitch black with a natural, slick patina and a soft shine that
invites you to put it to work.


Cast Iron Dos and Don’ts

Do:

• Clean it immediately after use, every time.
• Dry it completely after use, every time.
• Keep it oiled.
• Treat it with care.
Don’t:

• Use harsh or abrasive cleaners. Cast iron is porous, so I don’t put anything in my skillet that I
wouldn’t want on my eggs.
• Soak in water for more than 20 minutes
• Leave it wet to air-dry on its own—this leads to rust spots
• Scrape at it. I do use metal spatulas, but take care not to dig into the seasoning.
• Put it in the dishwasher

Seasoning New Cookware

You’ll have more success with cast iron if you take the time to season it
well. The following instructions work for those sold as “preseasoned” or
“unseasoned.” (Even preseasoned pans benefit from additional
seasoning before use.)

1. Scrub the cookware: Pour in ½ cup coarse sea salt and give it a good
scrub with a towel. This will take care of any grime it has picked up on
its journey from the factory to your home.

2. Wash it with soap and hot water.

3. Place it on the stove over medium heat until it is completely dry.

4. Oil the cookware (warm from the stovetop) with vegetable oil, such
as olive, coconut, or peanut. Start with about 1 tablespoon for a 12-inch
skillet, using more as needed to coat it thoroughly on all sides. Drain off
any excess.

5. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the cast iron in the oven for 30
minutes. Turn off the oven and let it cool completely in the oven. Repeat
this process of oiling and baking three or four times until it is pitch black
and slick.

From Barnacled Boat to Seasoned Beauty

I chronicled** the restoration of my found 12-inch pan, step by step, in a series for my blog
Biscuits and Such. Over the course of the series, I got more than one email from my father giving
me feedback and tips. He had recently taken on the project of restoring his grandmother Sybil’s
cauldron, a process that started with an electric sander and finished with him burning “the
bejesus out of it.” Much of the work of restoration is removing layers of debris and rust, and
stripping the pan all the way to bare iron before building the seasoning back up. In the case of a
large or especially damaged piece, such as Sybil’s cauldron (which had been sitting outside for a
few years), an electric sander is just the tool to cover a lot of ground quickly. A smaller project,
such as my skillet, was managed with steel wool, sandpaper, and motivation.

Once the cast iron has been stripped of all rust and debris, both my father and the good
people at Lodge recommend lighting it on fire. When I posted about this step in my “Cast Iron
Chronicles” series, I immediately got a very strongly worded email from my father exclaiming
that I’d used too much oil. He was right. I had taken the recommendation from the Lodge
website—to use a “thin layer”—too far, and had very narrowly avoided setting our small
Baltimore back patio on fire. Luckily, my Eagle Scout husband had insisted on having a fire
extinguisher ready, just in case.

The proper approach to oiling a pan is to coat a paper towel or dishrag (my preference) with
oil and rub down the pan, draining off excess oil so there is none pooling in it, and expose it to
high heat over an open flame. (We generally accomplish this with a propane burner outside, but
a grill is also a good option.) Bringing it past its smoke point releases the toxins built up in the
pan and helps restore the iron. I recommend having baking soda on hand to extinguish any fire
that does start in your pan. Once the pan cools completely, give it a quick scrub with steel wool
and sandpaper, and wash it with hot, soapy water. Rinse it until the rag wipes clean, then proceed
with the seasoning instructions as though it were a new pan (see here).


Reseasoning Cookware

You may find your cast iron occasionally needs a quick reseasoning.
Anytime you notice a chink in the seasoning, a spot of rust, or a dry spot
that returns even after the pan has been oiled, it’s a good idea to
reseason.

Reseasoning is much the same as seasoning a new pan, with the
addition of first removing the damage. Depending on how damaged it is,
you may want to scour it with steel wool, sandpaper, or (in dire
circumstances) an electric sander. My father swears by the third method,
but since I like to watch crime dramas while I restore my cast iron, I
usually stick to the two-step approach of steel wool followed by
sandpaper. Once all the rust has been worked out of the pan, proceed
with the seasoning steps for a new pan, starting with the sea salt scrub.

From "The Southern Cast Iron Cookbook"
https://goodreads.com/book/show/35152249-the-southern-cast-iron-cookbook

Thanks Elena!! I also restored a 12" Lodge I found literally buried in the ground...discarded : hi:

**https://www.democraticunderground.com/1157153272