Iron Skillets

[Lynnkay]

Are iron skillets a good item to use? I understand that they increase one's iron intake simply by cooking in them. How about keeping them clean, especially an old one with a rusty patch on the inside? How would that be cleaned, or would it be unsafe to use?

[walls0stone]

They are easy to clean, and awsome to use. I'd say don't worry about Iron any. Probly another silly scare from the people who brought you teflon. ;D

[TNDadx4]

We use cast iron with no ill effects and love it.

Keeping them clean is easy, just a rinse (without soap) and wipe out. I usually set mine on the warm stove top to completely dry it.

To get out rust, you can bake it in a self-cleaning oven or scrub it with steel wool. Scouring powder with a halved raw potato works for stubborn spots, or use a slurry of vinegar and salt. Keep in mind that when you remove the rust or do some hard cleaning of it that you'll have to reseason it.

After it's back to normal, it's really easy to clean.

[flatwater]

After you clean the rust off you can wipe it real good with olive oil and set in the oven at about 350 for an hour. Take it out and do the same thing again , that should season it pretty well. You don't need to cook on a high heat with cast Iron.
Flatwater

[B00kW0rm]

We love our cast iron and we've not had any ill side effects either.

[Lynnkay]

Thanks for the great information, as it was very helpful. I appreciate everyone taking the time to reply. ;D

[rockymtngirl]

We just started using them - best place we found to buy them is a thrift store. Love using them!

[WileyCoyote]

A standard wedding gift for the girls in our family is a set of cast iron cookware. It is usually given with the note, "He has to sleep sometime!" :o ;D
In my experience, nothing cooks more evenly than cast iron. It is Excellent for baking, especially cornbread. A well-seasoned pan will never allow anything to stick to it. Over the years, I've bought many at garage sales and flea markets - rusted and caked with who-knows-what. As has been said here - steel wool and a little effort and a reseasoning and it will be good as new, as long as it isn't rusted through!

My kids laughed at me when we went on a camping trip and I brought my cast iron cookware. When we got there, a tropical depression hit. Everything outside of the vehicle and everyone was soaked. We ran for a 'rain shelter' that had a huge stone fireplace at one end. I had the kids put up the tents inside and ropes inside to hang their clothes to dry them out, and I started a fire. Then I brought out the cast iron pot with the coal lip lid, mxed some ingredients, dumped them in the pot, buried it in the coals. I whipped out my frying pans and the old grill top and cooked a dinner on the grill over the fire. Then I dug the cast iron pot out of the coals. There was a cinnamon coffee cake in it! The kids never picked on me about "Mom's Security Blankets" again! ;D ;D

[bookwormom]

I hate to admit it, but I got a huge cast iron skillet at Wal mart in the camping section. also got a cast iron big griddle that fits over two burners, loved that thing, gave it away to someone and now I can not replace it, they do not carry it anymore. I bought my first one for a dollar, that was in 1966, I passed it on already. Mother in law gave me a few pieces. Once when I had a job where I had to be out late at night, I carried a cast iron skillet in a canvas bag. I figured if you get hit over the head with that you'l lhear the angels sing.

[flatwater]

Ouch girls , cast iron is for cooking not for hitting. If you want hitting cut a hard wood bat in half then drill a big hole in the end and fill with lead. Easyer to swing and easy to carry.
Flatwater

[Faye]

I have many pieces of cast iron that was my Mothers and Grandmothers and that I bought at flea markets. I have let my DD use most of it because I use my new enameled cast iron that is easier to clean and I don't have to season it. It is expensive but I just buy one piece at a time. I have all I need now except for maybe one more piece.

[WileyCoyote]

*I have all I need now except for maybe one more piece. ;D ;D ;D ;D

LOL DH has heard that from me before!! LOL Yes the enameled cast iron is great, too. Especially good when making lighter sauces or chocolate where you don't want that iron flavor or possible coloration, or when using vinegar or other acidic bases.

[Sarah]

Enameled is ok, so is pre seasoned (Lodge), but coppered inside is best.

Just make sure is not arsenic copper plating. Confederate squads were issued one fully coppered skillet, but based. I wonder just how many soldiers were hurt by this.

So much easer to keep clean.

My problem is that I polish too much. I have had to have mine re-plated several times. ::)

Sarah

[Gallowglass]

I just don't know how one can live without cast iron. My kettles are used for making salt, soap, and dyeing. And, maybe it's just me, but food taste a lot better when prepared in cast iron.

Over a campfire, two skillets make a dutch oven suitable for biscuits or cornbread....

As a gift, they'll last a life time compared to teflon, and can be handed down through the generations.

btw....there's no better deal then buying cast iron pots for a buck at a thrift store. Hopefully, they'll stay out of favor until I've got a shed full of them... ;D

[shadowwalker]

Just before we left Tennessee. We went to a farm auction and got a box of cast iron skillets. I mean like two 6 inch, two 9 inch,one 14, a dutch oven, two muffing pans, one flat bacon skillet. All for 10.00.
It looked like one big rust pile inside the box. She was going to use them for decorations and flower pots. I was in a old country type gas station and spied a man using a box type air sanding cleaner, cleaning spark plugs off. I talked to him about doing the pans. We agreed on prices and I went home and got the rusted pans. I dropped them off and he called me when they were done. I went back to see almost new looking pans. We seasoned them and now have a huge selection of them, just like rich folks!! Heck we even got three of one pan!

[rivahmom]

A standard wedding gift for the girls in our family is a set of cast iron cookware. It is usually given with the note, "He has to sleep sometime!" :o ;D *


;D
My grandmother gave me my first cast iron skillet that belonged to my great-grandmother when I got married and told me it was the best way to keep a man in line. I told my daughter that story and she now refers to my skillets as man handlers.


I adore my cast iron and my favorite place to pick them up is at thrift stores and flea markets. They last a lifetime if cared for properly.

[humbug]

Is there cooking without cast iron?? I have had mine since I was 16. Getting your cast iron properly seasoned is the key to great cast iron cooking. I never use soap on mine. They never stick and heat evenly. They also last forever...a great investment.

[cubcadet]

I have gotten many skillets in junk shops and yard sales. Usually they were not only rusty, but so encrusted with old food that I just throw them on a fire that has burned down to glowing embers. Come back in 15 minutes and turn it over. Wait another 15 minutes and the crud an most of the rust just comes off in soapy hot water. When they dry, if there is any rust that won`t come off easily, I fill the pot with lemon juice. I usually let the juice work on the rust about 1/2 hour. It doesn`t take long. After a while I pour out the used lemon juice into an old windshield washer fluid bottle and keep it in the shed. No homestead should be without a couple of gallons of lemon juice. It works on rust like magic. After the de-rusting I just coat them with grease from a piece of beef tallow and put them back onto the fire. I keep doing it until I feel the tallow has permeated the iron.

[backlash]

My Mother bought a chicken fryer with a lid at a garage sale for $2.
It was in bad shape so we put it on a big fire and cooked it clean.
There are red blotches on it.
Not rust and it will not come off.
Almost looks like paint but again it's not.
It's just discolored for some reason.
Anyone have any idea why?
We use it a lot and it's a great pan but it makes me wonder why.
We have several cast iron skillets that belonged to my Mom and use them a lot.
AC

[cubcadet]

backlash
Iron is porous. Its not too hard for some things to penetrate and go deep into the iron, I would think. Is the area pitted? Some cast skillets have a semi-polished cooking surface, while some have natural surfaces. What`s yours? Perhaps you could lightly sand the surface to see if the coloring comes out. I once polished the cooking surface of one skillet to get it clean. Worked good for me. Just don`t go too deep. Good luck.

Joe

[conundrum]

Childhood memories...Went on the "class trip" in 4th grade to Wagner Ware in Sidney, Ohio. Small factory, but what a neat place to go through. We were all given a miniature iron skillet as a momento when through.
Ever since then I have been most partial to Wagner-I think perhaps their finish is smoother inside...but gee, that could just be a prejudice!!!!

[Native87]

Nothing like cast iron. I use it all the time. I collect all I can get. The wall has all different kinds hanging. Euen got a big and heavy apple butter kettle. If you had to wash clothes in it also. Terry

[CarolAnn]

After my Mom passed away, Dad must have gone through six or eight teflon coated frying pans until I wized up and gave him my good iron one. He loved that thing! Unfortunately, when he passed away, somone else snagged it. It was the best pan I've ever had.

The two I've got now came from Wal-Mart, but they don't hold a candle to that old one. They're still 20X better than any teflon coated pan of any price. The seasoning I've achieved isn't perfect yet - (Don't know if it ever will be, but I'm working on it.) I won't cook something acidic like tomatoes in it - I've read that acid foods can damage it.

[Kyhome]

It is a rare day that I pass on picking up every old cast iron piece unless it priced to high at yard sales or thrift shops. Have found some really nice old griswold,s that are great. alot of times the person having the yardsale ask it there is anything I am looking for usually say something like old cast iron cook ware for camping with the kids. You would be surprized at how many times they say I have one in the house we never use and I get it for a couple bucks. makes for a fun Sat morning. If I could ever get wife to stop washing with soap would be good but don't think she can. She has to use soap to feel they're clean, then doesn't see the good because they stick. lol

[NCLee]

My Mother bought a chicken fryer with a lid at a garage sale for $2.
It was in bad shape so we put it on a big fire and cooked it clean.
There are red blotches on it.
Not rust and it will not come off.
Almost looks like paint but again it's not.
It's just discolored for some reason.
Anyone have any idea why?
We use it a lot and it's a great pan but it makes me wonder why.
We have several cast iron skillets that belonged to my Mom and use them a lot.
AC

The red color sounds like heat damage. When iron is overheated, it can have a red color to it that can't be removed.

FWIW, I collect and restore old cast iron cookware. Methods include a lye bath and electrolysis. The lye removes the seasoning and crud that developes over years of use. The electrolysis system tackles rust.

Please visit this site for more information on cleaning and taking care of cast iron. Many of these folks are experts and have a wealth of information to share.

http://www.wag-society.org/

Hope this helps.
Lee