Author Topic: Cast Iron Score! Had to share! (Read 2162 times)

Frugal Upstate · « **on:** June 28, 2012, 07:52:44 AM »

Was at one of the local antique shops yesterday and really scored on cast iron! I'm sharing because my local friends are not likely to get as excited as I am about these:

Wagner #8 skillet-$14.40
Griswold #7 Skillet-$14.40
Griswold #3 small pan (as in about 4 inches across) $7
Unnamed cast iron skillet, about 5" across- $4.99

A little rust on the #7 Griswold, and they need a bit of cleaning & re-seasoning, but compared to the price of new (which is nowhere near as nice) this is such a bargain! I actually already have a #7 Griswold I picked up years ago at a rummage sale and brought back to life-I use it all the time. The one I got yesterday is for my brother, the others are all to add to my own arsenal

I think I'm just going to go nuclear on them all-set them in the oven on self clean, cook them down to bare metal and start the re-seasoning from scratch. That's what I did with the one I have.

Morning Sunshine · « **Reply #1 on:** June 28, 2012, 08:37:07 AM »

nice. our heavy used one is our 4" in fact we have 2 that are used frequently at the same time.

just for you!

Cryptozoic · « **Reply #2 on:** July 20, 2012, 09:45:34 AM »

Keep an eye on garage sales. Old (don't make 'em like they used to, the old ones are best) cast iron frying pans can often be found for $2.00 if they are rusty. To fix them I chuck a wire wheel into a drill motor and scour off everything which doesn't belong there. Sometimes 80 grit sandpaper is needed. Then seasoning as usual. I tend to fry potatoes (olive oil) and bacon a lot so soon they are beautiful.

Aside: I used to have a cast iron frying pan, 18" diameter, 4" high inside. Lost in a divorce. If I ever find another one, I don't care what it costs, I'm buying it.

Quebecker · « **Reply #3 on:** July 26, 2012, 04:44:03 AM »

I keep searching the garage sales for cast iron, the problem is, that lots of people here know their value so they keep them. Or the people who did have them, and passed them down, their kids have already sold them off. Long time since that generation has been handing down.

Oil Lady · « **Reply #4 on:** July 26, 2012, 06:23:42 AM »

Just for ha-ha's sake I decided to do a Google image search for "old cast iron."

And I found this one very brief blog entry with a photo of about 2 dozen old rusting cast iron skillets all hanging up on the outside wall of a barn as one huge collective decoration.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7711610_season-old-cast-iron-skillet.html

Both interesting and sad I think. Unique barn decorations can be fun, but I kinda wish someone could have saved those old pans.

But then again ... maybe the barn owner is being clever. Maybe the barn prompts passersbys to stop and say to him "Hey! I have a few old cast iron pots and pans. Would you like to take them off my hands for free?" Or maybe he has a larger business involving cast iron and this choice to decorate the barn like this is a thematic advertisement for that business.

Oil Lady · « **Reply #5 on:** July 26, 2012, 06:31:32 AM »

And here's another gem of a blog entry I found:

http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/07/ten-reasons-for-cast-iron/

jr doyle · « **Reply #6 on:** November 08, 2012, 01:35:36 PM »

dont forget the goodwill's too. i was browsing one day while the wife was treasure hunting at goodwill and i found a 14" lodge on the bottom shelf that was buried under piles of junk (i think an employee had stashed it) and when i pulled it out it was marked $9! then when i showed my wife she informed me that the color tag was @ 25% off that day. felt like christmas!

prepgal · « **Reply #7 on:** November 08, 2012, 02:03:36 PM »

I love my cast iron. I use it everyday. Some I bought from Lodge and others passed down from my mom. Nothing makes better fried chicken or pone cornbread!

smurf hunter · « **Reply #8 on:** November 08, 2012, 03:25:11 PM »

This summer I scored a few on the cheap at yard sales as well.

Most people have no clue. I got mostly modern brands like Lodge, but for $5 when they sell knew at Cabela's for 10x that price.

ncjeeper · « **Reply #9 on:** November 08, 2012, 03:58:20 PM »

Trying to win a deep pan on ebay right now. Gotta fry me up some southern fried chicken.

NorIDhunter · « **Reply #10 on:** December 02, 2012, 09:34:54 AM »

Quote from: prepgal on November 08, 2012, 02:03:36 PM

I love my cast iron. I use it everyday. Some I bought from Lodge and others passed down from my mom. Nothing makes better fried chicken or pone cornbread!

Or meatloaf or pineapple upside down cake or ...

We've got an old Gris that my mom inherited from HER mom, so it's from the 30's or 40's! I remember her & my aunts arguing that it wasn't fair and she needed to "shaaare it". Not so much! Mom guarded that pan jealously!
Last year we found a few "oldies" at an "estate sale". Seems a guy had inherited an old western store and had to sell off a bunch of inventory to pay taxes etc.

Thanks to TSP I was able to direct the Huntress to the Gris's!

I work at an animal shelter with a thrift store so I get a 50% discount. I grab all the iron I can and was able to score some steak platters and the wood planks to go along the other day, $4.50 for all 3!

ouphie · « **Reply #11 on:** December 03, 2012, 01:31:38 PM »

I too have scored all my cast iron from Goodwill. We just picked up a 5 inch pan for 3 bucks. Didn't even have to knock any rust off.

Frugal Upstate · « **Reply #12 on:** December 03, 2012, 02:01:24 PM »

Awesome scores guys!

markl32 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 03, 2012, 06:59:00 PM »

Quote from: Frugal Upstate on June 28, 2012, 07:52:44 AM

I think I'm just going to go nuclear on them all-set them in the oven on self clean, cook them down to bare metal and start the re-seasoning from scratch. That's what I did with the one I have.

This will absolutely work. I accidentally left some cast iron in the stove and found this to be an effective way to strip cast iron...

Bonnieblue2A · « **Reply #14 on:** December 03, 2012, 07:05:25 PM »

Whatever you do, don't stop at the Lodge Cast Iron Factory Outlet in South Pittsburg, TN. It is dangerous I tell you!

Morning Sunshine · « **Reply #15 on:** December 04, 2012, 08:43:25 AM »

Quote from: Bonnieblue2A on December 03, 2012, 07:05:25 PM

Whatever you do, don't stop at the Lodge Cast Iron Factory Outlet in South Pittsburg, TN. It is dangerous I tell you!

so that is where it is located huh? guess where we will be stopping on our cross country trip

Bonnieblue2A · « **Reply #16 on:** December 04, 2012, 09:18:20 AM »

Quote from: Morning Sunshine on December 04, 2012, 08:43:25 AM

so that is where it is located huh? guess where we will be stopping on our cross country trip

Don't say I didn't warn you!

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2011/08/lodge_cast_iron_store_south_pittsburg.php

Twibble · « **Reply #17 on:** December 06, 2012, 02:22:49 PM »

Quote from: Morning Sunshine on December 04, 2012, 08:43:25 AM

so that is where it is located huh? guess where we will be stopping on our cross country trip

Make sure to budget for your gas mileage to go down due to all the extra weight!

I have a Wagner #8 that I kind of wandered off with (with Mom's permission) from the garage at some point. Dad later objected that it was his from college. "Daddy, can I have this? Pleeeease?" Yeah, I got to keep it.

I've had to reseason it a few times. Don't bake quiche in it, then soak it to get the rest to come out. Yeah, that was a fail.

I think my favorite wedding present did not come from the registry - one of my friends bought me a dutch oven and 3 cast iron skillets. I'm still working on getting the skillets seasoned correctly, but I'm deep frying corn dogs and french fries in the dutch oven for dinner tonight.

Kilted Brewer · « **Reply #18 on:** December 06, 2012, 05:54:43 PM »

When the current crop of non stick pots and pans dies, I'm replacing it all with cast iron. I have to lodge dutch ovens, one black with 3 legs, and the other is an enamled one.

I use them more than anything else in the kitchen, everything from soup to bread. And when we camp, most meals come out of that 3 leg oven. All our camping buddies went out and got their own after I cooked a few meals for them.

People around here seem to know the value of cast iron as well. I rarely see them at yard sales or in goodwill stores.

Frugal Upstate · « **Reply #19 on:** December 07, 2012, 12:35:44 PM »

Hmmm, I think I need to get one of the dutch oven with legs and add campfire cooking to my skills list. . .

TimSuggs · « **Reply #20 on:** April 24, 2013, 01:21:29 AM »

Excellent Cast Iron Group on Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/groups/castironskillet/

urbansurvivor · « **Reply #21 on:** May 06, 2013, 03:04:37 PM »

Nice, love the facebook link and the top 10 link

Ok, here's my cast iron score

I was cleaning out a friend's garage, and found this awesome trio of pans:
One large pan
One medium pan
and one smaller pan with ridges it in, to cook bacon! (or whatever. but mostly bacon)

I also picked up this great flat skillet, with a grease runoff trough, that could sit on the stove or on a bbq.

Mine were rusty - so I cleaned them using standard cast iron cleaning solvents, and oiled/greased them up good. Voila. Now I just need a Dutch oven like all you guys

Hestia · « **Reply #22 on:** May 08, 2013, 03:01:45 AM »

Amazon also has some pretty good pricing on Lodge cast iron. Tends to be half the price of what I see cast iron for in local stores.

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Author Topic: Cast Iron Score! Had to share! (Read 2162 times)