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Robster thats a good looking selection of ovens
...that is good advice on the way to treat a and keep a good skillet.
The round flat skillet you are talking about in the pic does it any numbers on the bottom of it. The hammered one I have like that has 3 numbers, 999 cast into the bottom of it. It looks to be the same mnfgr(identical handles)...The surface is in fact either machined or a ground finished in some fashion.

sse, The surfaces vary greatly on cast iron cooking surfaces, they should have a very smooth look and feel. If they look porous and rough don't waste your time with it. Cooking corn bread in a skillet is one of the best ways to season one that I have found. As robster said care must be taken to keep the seasoning in the iron once its right. Never use soap on them. When I do get something that sticks in my cooker I just let water set in over night and heat it up to near boil the next day and it wipes right out.

I cook all kinds of stuff in my CI skillets, corn bread being one of them, none of which require an extremely smooth surface. I have picked up several, though, having impeccably smooth surfaces, just haven't used them.

It says Wagner Ware. Wagner is top word, and Ware is bottom word and they share the W. Underneath it says Sidney. below that it says -0- at the bottom are the numbers 1109

Tndrbstr, I really like the hammered look as something different. Dont remember seeing it before. And yes, they do look very similar.

Like you, when something sticks in anyone of my stovetop skillets, I put water in them, and boil for a while then try to scrape the stuck or burned food with a plastic spatula or bamboo/wood utensil.

SSE, give the smooth surfaced ones a shot, they might be just what you are looking for!!

Usually, I use those old fashion plastic mesh pot scrubbers, after simmering a bit of water. I have also used the green dupont scrubbers, but those may be a bit too aggressive.

The one thing I wish I paid more attention to is the outside of the skillet, get's a little caked on there.

sse, if you or anyone decideds to strip the cooking crud off of any cast iron, oven cleaner works great. spray the oven cleaner liberaly on the skllet or pan and put inside of a black plastic garbage bag out in the sun....wear gloves and eye protection and be careful not breath it tho. For really though build up you mave have to repeat a couple of times. It does a great job but you will have to re-season the peice after that.
For rust your better of burning the peice in a fire, you have to be careful with that tho. Get it to hot or to cool to fast and it can crack it.

Burning off the case iron was always part of our hog killing. When we built a fire to cook off the lard, the cast iron got a yearly cleaning as well. Came out good as new and ready for another year of heavy use.

Elwood

My Dutch Oven is hammered. Handed down from my Mother. Not sure where she got it from. Maybe her mother. It's a #8 Griswold.

taconic11,..I have several #8 ovens in the griswold but none of them are hammered. The hammered griswolds are not near as common as the smooth ones. They will usually sell for quit abit more.

Thanks

As I was making soup this afternoon, I pulled out a cast iron pan that has become one of my favorites. I'm curious as to the maker and since you cast iron gurus are online here, I wondered if someone might be able to ID it.

At the confluence of the handle and pan, it is stamped 2 QT reading outward, and the lettering is almost as wide as the handle. The handle is shaped like a wide exclamation point, or a elongated teardrop, and has has a slot of the same shape in the outer half of the handle.

The only other mark on the pan is a capitol A on the bottom. Looking at the bottom, the A is in line with the handle with the point of the A toward the center of the pan. The pan has a small ridge around the bottom and the A is just inside it. The lid has a 3 on one side of the handle and a 4 on the other side but I take that to be sizing information.

Anyone have a clue???

I just made out like a fat rat at the local Salvation Army. You all have made me aware that few of my many cast iron pieces say anything but the occasional "China" on the back. I just found several Griswald pieces (LARGE skillet, dutch oven, and lidded chicken fryer) and a "Wagner drip drop No.8" roaster dutch oven like: http://www.wrinkledwillytreasures.c...ster-Dutch-Oven-Free-Shipping_p_976.html (I don't believe the prices on this site.) I did not fully grasp what the term "self basting lid" meant before seeing this one. They were all between $10.00 and $15.00 which is not bad for Alaska. I want to draft some techy to help me take pictures soon.

BTW - when my lovely but well heeled, teflon loving, wife asked why I bought all of this cast iron (she is in Anchorage this week) I am blaming tndrbstr completely.


Almost exactly like this picture.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BXHL5/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_fd_it_P1400_1000?tag=dradis-20

Now on sale for $64.59.

Just recently got into cast iron myself, I had a newer lodge pan that was nice but nothing like this old one my dad gave me at Christmas. He didn't remember where he got it, and I haven't had much luck with an ID. Any of the expects here know anything about it? I'm thinking it might be an unmarked lodge from the 70's? [img:left]http://flic.kr/p/btkY9M[/img]

Not sure why the pic won't show up?

That particular cooker would likely sell in excess of $100 on e-bay. If you got it for $10-15 then you made out like a rock star!

Nice snag!!

I would like one of these $24.95 cast iron 14 quart cauldrons but the shipping to Juneau ($155.+ when I checked!) is way too much. http://www.readydepot.com/servlet/the-74/Rusty-Goat-14-Quart/Detail This just seems like a good size and shape.

for used cast iron, i put it in a self cleaning oven and run the self cleaning cycle. getting hot on a fire outside will acomplish the same thing. gotta burn the crap off of it.
then wash it and immediatly heat it so it won't rust. while warm, wipe it with a light layer of Crisco and bake it @ 450*-475* for an hour. if the Crisco is absorbed into the iron on the inside of the pan, repeat the thin layer of Crisco and bake some more.

that will leave a baked on, non-stick seasoning.

I used to use the self-cleaning oven, then switched over to my old gas grill, which was about the only thing I used it for before I got rid of it. Both the self-clean and baking the new seasoning on is way too smoky to do in the house.

have quite a bit of cast iron from my grandparents. skillets, dutch ovens, tea kettle, cornpone pans, cornbread pans. flat griddles. when we go camping i mainly cook everything over the fire in a big lodge skillet.