Thanks. I'll work on these. You are right about the names!

Sanding newer Lodge ok though right? All of them are rough even after the easy off method.

Yea, I must've misunderstood, old cast iron that is already finished smooth do NOT sand I.E. Wagner, Griswold, etc. New lodges or newer cast iron that has the rougher finish you 100 % can sand.

Any info about these 2 Dutch ovens?
TIA
1. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/w2M0Cc

2. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/0058bQ

https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/6tvJ6f

Gate marked griddle with circular pattern interior and too much oil seasoning. No idea on who made it.

A little bit of Googling shows an eBay auction for one that looks the same and the seller thinks it's an Excelsior. Not a brand I've ever come across, but if use the heck out of it.

bullitt said:

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Any info about these 2 Dutch ovens?
TIA
1. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/w2M0Cc

2. https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/0058bQ

https://www.flickr.com/gp/195082196@N03/6tvJ6f

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I'm almost sure #2 is Lodge, and winning to bet #1 is as well. Need to see a picture of the lid handle and top side of both for the spots, wire handle, etc.

Dang I need to hang out on the outdoor board more. Never knew there was a thread just on cast iron!

I've only got 2, one I've used for seafood the other for pretty much any meat but use it mostly for smoking side dishes….got recipes for smoked beans, smoked potatoes, and smoked Mac and cheese that I cook in a 12-inch.

Guess I know what thread I'll be reading through for the next several days.

Most people on the cast iron face book pages will tell you that it is almost impossible to identify a manufacturer for those gate marked cast iron pieces.

Bellards Boys said:

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Cast iron is great!!!

Here is my cast iron storage solution. I am not a great handy man, but a couple of fittings and black pipe from Home Depot did the trick.

Note: wall studs are a must for this setup = LoL

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I like that but don't have that kind of wall space in my kitchen. I have a wall a little wider than a door that I could do something with. I know someone who put up a nice (painted and finished) pegboard to hang all of their cast iron. It actually looks pretty good.

saysomethin said:

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Sanding newer Lodge ok though right? All of them are rough even after the easy off method.

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Sand away on newer stuff. I have found that 180 grit is about as fine as you need to go, and when you do sand don't put a lot of pressure on the sander. Sand until you have a smooth surface on 90% or so of the cooking surface and you are good to start re-seasoning. I don't worry about the sides unless there is something obvious like a casting seam or similar that needs to be knocked down.

The difference between older and newer is that older cast iron was typically a bit lighter because it was hand formed in molds versus the batch mechanized processes used now, and once it cooled it was stone polished that left a much smoother surface. They also didn't season them at all, so it wasn't uncommon to have to hit them with a brillo pad or brush to knock the surface rust off before granny used them to start cooking with. Seasoning developed over time and made them that much better. A hand formed and polished skillet would take about 3 days to complete, Lodge knocks them out today in about 90 minutes from pouring the iron to running it through the oven with the seasoning process.

The reason why newer stuff has the rougher surface is for 2 reasons - it's cheaper and faster to produce, and the pre-seasoning adheres better due to surface profile.

Log gets all wound up over old stuff because he's a chem-e and a bit crazy to begin with. Even on older stuff, if you are going to actually use it and want to smooth the surface out (odds are you don't need to anyway - I've never seen an older one that required anything other than seasoning), nothing wrong with it. Sure, it will make some dork collector somewhere scoff at you, but if you are actually using it then it really doesn't matter. If you want to clean it and flip it, it will matter a small amount of people that do nothing but collect and get way into the weeds on things.

If you want to hit something with a wire wheel to strip it, use a crimped wire wheel with brass wire. A knotted wire wheel or cup usually is hard enough that you may be able to leave a swirl mark on the surface if you put too much pressure, really can't do that with a brass crimped wire. Stripping seasoning is not grinding or sanding - if you are stripping with a wire wheel and leaving marks, you probably don't need to be around power tools to begin with.