What is your favorite? We cook primarily with two skillets... a Wagner and a Griswold.

I honestly don't know the brands on mine. I think my 8" is an older lodge, but my 10" and 12" are at least 70 years old

I inherited a Wagner dutch oven from the 1920s and a Griswold 9 inch skillet that was dated between 1905-1909. I also have a 12 inch Lodge that is about 15 years old now. I probably use the Lodge more than the others because of the size.

I'm in the process of stripping down and reseasoning some Lodge skillets I got off Amazon.

I dunno about preference, but I have an 8" BSR "No. 5" and a 12" Le Crueset.

Both are great. The LC gets more use just because it's bigger. Both are seasoned great, but since the BSR is 60ish years old it's like glass. The LC is seasoned well too - I can cook cheese crips in it with no stick. Scrambled eggs will leave some residue though.

My brother just gifted me a refurbished antique cast iron! Can't wait to use it. Here's an info table on it and some pictures. It is a #8 from Griswold, made around 1910.

Do we have an official cast iron thread somewhere?

A lodge

So like 10 years ago it was either a new Lodge that people wanted to sand down and reseason, or you had to find an old Wagner or Griswold

Nowadays there's been a resurgence of American-made machine-smoothed cast iron pans. I don't have the resources to sand down a Lodge to refinish it, so I'm grateful for these new breed of pans to come along

For price and performance, Stargazer is my favorite

I looked into the new American made skillets. The cheapest 12" is about $150 for those types of brands. So I bought a sander for $45, a 10" and 12" lodge for about $30 total, and a couple bucks on Crisco and am on my way to two fancy skillets for much less than one of those nice skillets. I might even do more as gifts.

I got a #10 Field skillet as a gift. It's bad ass

I find a lot of cast iron at scrap yards and garage sales. The #8 skillet is an unmarked Wagner and the smaller one is a Vollrath. One coat of seasoning and they both are as smooth as glass.

BSD said:

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I looked into the new American made skillets. The cheapest 12" is about $150 for those types of brands. So I bought a sander for $45, a 10" and 12" lodge for about $30 total, and a couple bucks on Crisco and am on my way to two fancy skillets for much less than one of those nice skillets. I might even do more as gifts.

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I didn't realize Stargazer upped their price. I got their 10.5 in and their 12 in for $85 and $95 respectively

True Anomaly said:

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BSD said:

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I looked into the new American made skillets. The cheapest 12" is about $150 for those types of brands. So I bought a sander for $45, a 10" and 12" lodge for about $30 total, and a couple bucks on Crisco and am on my way to two fancy skillets for much less than one of those nice skillets. I might even do more as gifts.

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I didn't realize Stargazer upped their price. I got their 10.5 in and their 12 in for $85 and $95 respectively

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was that a Kickstarter? I looked at them about a year ago (maybe 2) and they had the 8" for $105, 10.5" for $115, 12" for $145.

At least I think that was stargazer.

Icecream_Ag said:

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True Anomaly said:

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BSD said:

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I looked into the new American made skillets. The cheapest 12" is about $150 for those types of brands. So I bought a sander for $45, a 10" and 12" lodge for about $30 total, and a couple bucks on Crisco and am on my way to two fancy skillets for much less than one of those nice skillets. I might even do more as gifts.

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I didn't realize Stargazer upped their price. I got their 10.5 in and their 12 in for $85 and $95 respectively

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was that a Kickstarter? I looked at them about a year ago (maybe 2) and they had the 8" for $105, 10.5" for $115, 12" for $145.

At least I think that was stargazer.

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I came in right after their Kickstarter, which was in 2016. My order was severely delayed by many months due to initial foundry issues they had. But once I had the skillet, it was so worth it. I think it wasn't until 2018 they offered the larger 12-in skillet for $95

So I just got lucky I suppose. I love those things

I got a 10.25" and 12" lodge that I've been using for almost a year exactly. At first I just used them for breakfast, but now we use them for everything.

My initial plan was to see if I liked cast iron then upgrade to a new fancy brand, but now I feel bonded to them and won't ever let them go.

My favorite is a cheap bayou classic I got at academy for $25. I took an angle grinder and flap wheel to it and it's just as smooth as my inherited 100 year old one.

I have a Griswold skillet that was made between 1939 and 1957. Picked it up years ago at an Antique store in Virginia. I pan fried some fresh cod in it last night.

So, related question to this thread that I really haven't seen addressed elsewhere-

Why doesn't Lodge offer machine-smoothed cast iron?

Is it because they still have such a dominant market share they have no financial motivation to do so? Surely it can't be because they don't have the resources to offer it. Just seems like a good investment to start making a limited run of them and offer at a premium price- but still lowballing all the other mom-and-pop shops. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't happened by now

dp

Brand is highly overrated - the surface and the seasoning on it are what make a good cast iron versus a not so good one. I have a hodge podge of different brands, my Lodge skillet gets used probably the most and works wonderfully. And it isn't 100+ years old or any of that nonsensethat people think automatically make it better.

True Anomaly said:

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So, related question to this thread that I really haven't seen addressed elsewhere-

Why doesn't Lodge offer machine-smoothed cast iron?

Is it because they still have such a dominant market share they have no financial motivation to do so? Surely it can't be because they don't have the resources to offer it. Just seems like a good investment to start making a limited run of them and offer at a premium price- but still lowballing all the other mom-and-pop shops. I'm kinda surprised it hasn't happened by now

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Becasue people won't pay for the additional cost

I own Lodge and Staub plain cast iron and in enameled I own Le Creuset and Martha Stewart branded stuff. Honestly the Lodge and MS stuff cooks every bit as good as the LC or Staub for 1/4 price (or less).

I will say the Staub and LC are thinner and lighter while cooking very well too. I got the LC at an estate sale and the Staub on 85% off at Macy's so I don't have any buyers remorse, but there's no way I'd pay retail for them.

Lodge does just fine.

Cant remember who it was, but somebody on here had instructions for stripping the factory Lodge coating off with Oven cleaner and then sanding the surface smooth before re-seasoning. I did that on one of mine and it worked great.

I think this is the video -

both of mine are Lodge, and belonged to my grandmother. No idea how old they are, but they've been around a long time.

I have some older BSR stuff from the 30s and 40s. a 10" that I bought myself,and a couple smaller ones that were my grandmother's. They are my favorites. the small ones make great vegetable roasting pans.

I also have a 12" Emerill that someone gave me as a gift. I took and angle grinder to it and it's very smooth now. Been using a lot lately because the size is often more convenient that a 10"

Even when I reseason mine or even after daily use for a year mine never look shiny wet like that. Mine are definitely smooth, and have a sheen, but not quite like that. What are you using to season?

All my cast iron is old except I do have one lodge that I use on my grill, usually for fajitas.

We use about 80% cast iron cookware. Most of it from my mom and grandmother. One thing I've found to help get the "shiny" look it cook a pan of cornbread, turn cornbread out and Wipe with a lightly oiled rag and back in the oven for 30 minutes or so, then turn the oven off and leave in there to cool over night.

How to strip a Lodge

Smithey