old cast iron pans

[Bill]

Not habitat related.

Picked these up today cheap. Griswold and pre-Griswold, Erie frying pans. Made in Erie Pennsylvania years ago. They're supposed to be one of the best cast frying pans out there. The Erie is probably from the late 1800's to early 1900's. Its actually in the best shape. Built a quick make shift Electrolysis tub. Just put them in tonight. We'll see what they look like in 2 days or so.

 

[T-Max]

Treasures!


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[Westwind]

Thats pretty cool! Interested in seeing how they come out!

 

[Catscratch]

I love cast iron! Good find!

 

[hillrunner]

Sweet find! I finally bought my first cast iron pans this year. I can't believe I spent so many years cooking on non stick garbage pans that would end up in the dump in 6 months.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Interested in how the electrolysis goes as well. Spose there are details on process out on the web but verified results are nice

Erie, PA must have been a major foundry area back in the day. Picked up an old Reed vise from there just a few months ago.

 

[Tree Spud]

Great find! Keep updating us with progress & pics. I have also learned some stuff about grinding the pan cooking surface to make more non stick.

 

[gjs4]

CI is to venison as to what steak knives are to steaks.

enamel lined dutch ovens are almost as good as the content they make.

Our crown jewel is a WW2 CI griddle that is like 4ft by 2 ft. Great for breakfast or hernias.

Take one of those pans put it on three old metal milk crates, heat the pan then some oil/grease and make some cajun blackened backstrap chunks using a weedburner (propane tank= "rosebud") torch.

 

[Catscratch]

CI is to venison as to what steak knives are to steaks.

enamel lined dutch ovens are almost as good as the content they make.

Our crown jewel is a WW2 CI griddle that is like 4ft by 2 ft. Great for breakfast or hernias.

Take one of those pans put it on three old metal milk crates, heat the pan then some oil/grease and make some cajun blackened backstrap chunks using a weedburner (propane tank= "rosebud") torch.

I want a video...

 

[gjs4]

I want a video...

remind me in the spring and i will grab one; it resides at my inlaws place up north. We use two turkey cooker burners and slowly bring it up to temp.

or are you talking about the torch cajun blackened straps? We have a game dinner in february and i should be able to do that video as well.

 

[Catscratch]

remind me in the spring and i will grab one; it resides at my inlaws place up north. We use two turkey cooker burners and slowly bring it up to temp.

or are you talking about the torch cajun blackened straps? We have a game dinner in february and i should be able to do that video as well.

Torch blackened chicken please!

 

[b116757]

We have a lot of cast iron pans but with our glass top range we usually use a carbon steel pan or a couple all clad stainless pans I do like cast iron especially on a gas range.

 

[Bill]

Great find! Keep updating us with progress & pics. I have also learned some stuff about grinding the pan cooking surface to make more non stick.

I read don't grind the old ones. They (whoever THEY are) say it takes away from them. I was going to glass bead them but read the same thing. These old ones are prized because back in the day they cast them in fine sand and the cooking surface came out smooth. I wouldn't hesitate to grind a China model.

 

[Bill]

So this morning the water said something was happening.



Pulled them and the larger Erie pan was loosing lots of old grunge.




I felt like it should have been further along. Patience isn't my strong point. So I added another sacrificial piece of metal to the other side of the tub and wired them together so +charge was coming from both directions. I also went down to just 1 pan.

Checked a while ago and we had more going on.




Put it in the utility sink with hot water and scotch Brite and it's almost there.


Still a bit of gunk so it went back in. Something tells me I'll be reseasoning it tomorrow.

 

[Bill]

The process is simple.

Tub
Water
1/2 cup sodium carbonate per 5 gallons of water


Wire sacrificial metal to the + side of a 12 volt battery charger and the pan to the - side. Just need a manual charger and don't let the pan touch the sacrificial metal in the water.

 

[Bill]

Did some more research on the Erie pan. It's a second generation manufactured in the late 1880's.
And I'm eating some bacon out of it soon...

 

[hillrunner]

The process is simple.

Tub
Water
1/2 cup sodium carbonate per 5 gallons of water
View attachment 60162so

Wire sacrificial metal to the + side of a 12 volt battery charger and the pan to the - side. Just need a manual charger and don't let the pan touch the sacrificial metal in the water.

So what happens to the sacrificial metal? I have a rusty cast iron pot I dug up at a jobsite several years back that I'd like to clean up.

 

[Bill]

So what happens to the sacrificial metal? I have a rusty cast iron pot I dug up at a jobsite several years back that I'd like to clean up.

Kind of like a sacrificial zink on a boat. Eventually it gets eaten away. But I haven't seen much yet. Use something old. I wish I had some old mower blades to use. I noticed flat stock worked better then round stock. More surface I guess. Just don't use stainless, I've read it produces a noxious gas.

 

[hunts_with_stick]

Cast iron is all we use. I don’t cook in anything else. Pizzas, gravy, frying, eggs, literally everything!

 

[The Fishman]

I don't have your patience. I just clean them with a wire wheel brush on the grinder. I don't smooth the surface, but just remove all of the old gunk. I found a large logo Griswold like your medium size pan this summer. The pan is so smooth and much lighter than expected. You have to wonder how the pans 100 years ago were made better and lighter than current cast iron. Season them a few times and enjoy. Those pans will outlive us all.