I have nice vintage skillets at both the house and the cabin that all cook great, but if I was forced to buy a new one today, I would probably go with these guys:
We started by taking one of our favorite vintage cast iron pans, a beautiful Wagner from the 1930s, and going to visit some foundries. We were told that there was no way that a modern foundry could pour iron that thin. Not willing to accept that answer, we stumbled on a whitepaper called Thermophysical Properties of Thin Walled Compacted Graphite Iron Castings written by a material science professor in Europe. We emailed him and he agreed to Skype with us. He was eager to help and more than a little amused. With his help, we were able to perform microscopic imaging to compare the graphite structure of vintage pans and make sure they weren’t black magic. Eventually, we visited his lab to learn to make iron castings by hand—the way our favorite pans had been made over a hundred years ago.
Field Co is good stuff; I’d go Stargazer if I didnt have any iron or access to vintage iron
Instead, I just built an e-tank b/c I got bit by the vintage bug & enjoy the hunt for old iron & bringing it back into service ... Here’s a quick video I cut right after building my e-tank: https://youtu.be/23aiCmjUG30
Last edited by BamaGuitarDude; 01/11/2010:57 AM.
ALDeer physics: for every opinion, there's an equal & opposite opinion
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
Any idea on brand/age of this little thing? It came from my mom but I'm not sure if she bought it or it was handed down, she had a large mix of cast iron some 70's/80's and some from her grandparents. Not sure where this one falls.
On this subject. How do you suggest you season a pan from scratch? I've ready so many articles and tried many things but at this point it just appears to be luck because I can't get it consistent between all my pans.
I'll start using crisco instead of regular veggie oil but what about temp, length of time to bake, how many times to repeat, how often to do it, etc.
On this subject. How do you suggest you season a pan from scratch? I've ready so many articles and tried many things but at this point it just appears to be luck because I can't get it consistent between all my pans. I'll start using crisco instead of regular veggie oil but what about temp, length of time to bake, how many times to repeat, how often to do it, etc.
it's actually very simple ... BUT, when you say "from scratch", to me that means a completely stripped down pan (IOW down to bare iron again with no traces of the previous seasoning on the pan) ... below is a pic of what ALL my iron looks like before i ever start a seasoning cycle on it -- complete, raw, stripped cast iron ... it's battleship grey when you get it to this point ...
once stripped, the process is a simple 3 step process - 1) warm the iron up to 200 deg in your oven; when it hits 200, pull out the pan & wipe on A THIN COAT OF CRISCO & THEN (seems counter-intuitive but trust me) wipe it off with a lint-free dry cloth to wipe the EXCESS Crisco off the pan; put it back in your oven 2) raise the temp to 300 deg & punch 20 minutes on a timer - after 20 minutes, pull the iron out & wipe the excess Crisco w/the lint-free dry cloth & put it back in the oven, 3) raise the temp to 475 deg & set a timer for 1 hr 15 mins & let it bake on the first layer of seasoning; when this timer goes off, turn the oven off & let the iron completely cool down INSIDE THE OVEN (which can take a few hours or so) ...
for my USER iron, i do this 3 step process once & then start cooking on it; for my SALES iron, i'll do this process another time or two b/c well seasoned iron looks good in pictures ... the pan is non-stick after the 1st seasoning cycle, however ...
Last edited by BamaGuitarDude; 01/13/2003:50 PM.
ALDeer physics: for every opinion, there's an equal & opposite opinion
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.
'cause i live so far out & didn't buy a tank & run the lines ... but trust me, i wish like hell i had gas!
Hell... I run the cabin stove off of a 20# propane tank. (2 actually) they cost me $14.92 about every 4 months for enough gas to cook on my gas range and oven.
Check the cabin build thread and I think I have some pics of my set-up. ti was super easy to install and works just like a regular stove hooked to the grid.
'cause i live so far out & didn't buy a tank & run the lines ... but trust me, i wish like hell i had gas!
Hell... I run the cabin stove off of a 20# propane tank. (2 actually) they cost me $14.92 about every 4 months for enough gas to cook on my gas range and oven.
i might have to do this one day - once this electric bites the dust ... my GF back in 2018 had a gas stove, and it was wonderful to cook on! i've got a bottom cabinet that I could shoehorn the tanks into & run the line to the range/oven
Last edited by BamaGuitarDude; 01/13/2004:42 PM.
ALDeer physics: for every opinion, there's an equal & opposite opinion
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.