Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

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SxS
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Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#1

Post by SxS »

This is not a recipe but it is ketchen related!!

Let me 1st say, I'd rather pan sear a steak in a cast iron skillet than BBQ a steak any day, end of story!!

About 3 years ago we bought a casita camper trailer. About a week before our 1st adventure, I started loading the trailer with all the essentials. I searched high and low all over the house for both my beloved Grisold #8 cast iron skillets. Both seasoned to perfection after a century of service. one a gift to me from i forget who it's been so damn long and one an antique mall find for 20 bucks about 12 years ago where the check out lady offered me 75 for it on the spot. one skillet was flat one ever so slightly warped but still worked well, far from a "spinner". I finally asked boss lady (my lovely wife) if she knew where they were. Her reply was as follows: "those crusty old black things? I threw them out last year" insert needle dragging across record here..

After some tears, some laughter and some anger, and a little bit of horrible language, i started searching high and low for camper cast iron replacements.. old warped rusty griswolds are now way out of my price range. i found a lovely flat as pancake wagner #8 for 35 bucks on craigslist that had never been restored with a thick ice rink layer of black gold which I drove across town to get. Out of guilt, the next day my wife got me a new lodge which ain't a bad steak searing pan for 20 bucks once you break it in a bit. i guess life was getting back to normal..

Then I had a birthday and to my surprise and great joy I was given a set of brand new smithy's.. the founders collection, 10" 12" skillets and 8" chef skillet.. seasoned well right out of the box, these are hands down the nicest skillets i've ever cooked with! nothing sticks, the heavy weight makes them ideal searing pans and the valley quail engraved on ea handle suits my bird hunting lifestyle. Each pan is truly a work of art!! I will add the 10" chef and the 12" lid/griddle next.. they ain't cheap but they are beyond lovely!!

The cheap replacements are living in the camper and my smithy's have replaced all the newfangled home cookware we were using out of convenience like stainless and replace annually coated crap.

i still sometimes wonder where my old griswold's ended up? did some homeless guy score them before the garbage truck took them away or are they buried under a mountain of trash at the sunshine canyon landfill? i actually hope they're being used by someone somewhere.

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jhuskey
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#2

Post by jhuskey »

I trust you have forgiven your lovely wife, after all, none of us know what we don't know. I gave my Mom & Dad's (both RIP) 10" skillet to one of my four Daughters (Chef at corporate Aldi headquarters) - no regrets. Best Regards!

slw
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#3

Post by slw »

My best guess is that your old Griswolds can now be found at xbay or etsy for more than you paid for them :-)))
I know nothing about the brand you replaced them with, but have been impressed with some other new classics that I've seen, though they are pricy. That's good news for cast iron fans.

FWIW, Lodge cast iron is pretty much good stuff , though heavy, except for their unpolished surface....which is pretty terrible. It's manufactured that way (unpolished) so that it will hold a spray on soy oil treatment that is baked on prior to being marketed as "preseasoned" cast iron.

My first cast iron skillet was a Lodge ( being so poor at the time that I couldn't afford to get out of town) and as a last ditch effort I polished the cooking surface with sand paper. Took a while, but it came out OK. I moved it along to a family member when I started on Griswolds just for the heck of it.

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Short Tip
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#4

Post by Short Tip »

I also have a nice stash of Griswolds including a stovetop dutch oven (joy!). In the past I have taken the orbital sander to a Lodge and got very good results. The re-seasoning takes a while of course but they are very good skillets when smoothed. I've seen those Smitheys, looks real nice but quite a price!

JoeBolt
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#5

Post by JoeBolt »

Before my Mom passed, all I asked for was her post-war Wagner #8. Everybody else got furniture and china and stuff. She winked at me.

eapling
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#6

Post by eapling »

Glad you could forgive your wife. Guess I would have......... but I wouldn't have meant it. Does she not know anything about you after how many years ?😥

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SxS
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#7

Post by SxS »

Well, i'm a messy hoarder and she's rather OCD and loves a clean house. she's way better looking than me and 18.5 years younger which means when she's really old and ugly, i'll be dead. i'm a trout bum bird hunting working musician who's been semi-retired since age 18 while she's a hard working physical therapist. (i limped in with sciatica and crawled out married) Anyway, point being, at some point, a favorite old skillet means a little less to me emotionally than it used to. The short answer: "yes dear"

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BigTJ
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#8

Post by BigTJ »

On a whim I bought a calphalon at Wal Mart for $25. After 2 years of use it is every bit as good as my vintage cast iron. Scrape off the crud (if needed) with a metal spatula wash it out with hot water and a tooth brush and wipe down with a paper towel then a light lube with avocado oil. With as expensive as the vintage stuff is getting unless you can find deals I say don’t waste your money buy modern. I can’t get my head around $200 for a smithy.

I’m not sure why folks are smoothing these pans out with proper seasoning and a bit of butter or oil eggs and pancakes slide off like Teflon.

John


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wctc1
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#9

Post by wctc1 »

After the bad news, this thread makes me laugh. It was sort of like when she found out I'd cut and tossed her old original brown Nordstrom card. Who knew big dogs could taste so good for a week. Finally she gave up and started cooking again.

My wife is a "chef." She really does good in the kitchen, taught by her mother. Her father was a logger, and had logger friends. She is now +70, god help me should I say exact. Anyway, we have catered up to 23 people at forest campgrounds in the last pre-covid year {2019?} and about 19 on 9 mountain occasions in 2017-2019.

Well, what's the point? Sharon has all kinds of fancy cooking gear, German knives, triple clad pans, etc. But what does she use mostly? Cheap knives from Bi-Mart {NW economy dept. store}, Lodge cast iron, etc. She has a lot of Lodge, just have a need and 20 minutes later.... She's talked about sanding, but thinks proper seasoning is best. Incidently, on our camp trips she uses Lodge exclusively; pans, dutch ovens, griddles, etc.

And, I am a bit perplexed. Since she insisted I go to a gas grill from charcoal, I'm like SxS, seared in cast iron is now best, far better than a gas grilled steak, however I get the second Weber ready.

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bamboo rodley
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#10

Post by bamboo rodley »

I am glad I read this thread earlier this week. My wife's parents recently moved into an assisted living apartment, and we were cleaning out their house earlier today. I ended up seeing they had a Griswold #12 that probably would have ended up going to the auction, so it was up for grabs and I grabbed it. Also got a deep skillet with a lid and bought a Diamond brand #5 at an antique store on the way back today for 25 dollars. So added three new items to our cast iron assortment. We've pretty much got all the bases covered now with cast iron cookware.

narcodog
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#11

Post by narcodog »

If any of you use FB there is a great FB page on cast iron. My mind is gone so you will have to do search for the name.

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bamboo
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#12

Post by bamboo »

If You Guys want to check out a lot of cast iron cookware content , go to Cowboy Kent Rollins channel on YouTube. Quality info.

bamboo....mike

sanderson
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#13

Post by sanderson »

Let me 1st say, I'd rather pan sear a steak in a cast iron skillet than BBQ a steak any day, end of story!!

Agree, whole heartedly!! 45 years ago, my dad started a tiny tavern that served only one meal, a filet mignon dinner. I was his first cook. We cooked all our steaks in cast iron pans, that lasted about 10 years, (I was only there 2) until the kitchen couldn't keep up, hence the "upgrade" to a retrofitted cast iron flat top grill. Nothing can match the even heat dispersion and retention of cast iron. Though, eventually after I bought the business 22 yrs. ago, we had to switch over to a regular flat top griddle because we couldn't find anything large enough, in cast iron, to handle our volume. I like to think our steaks are wonderful today, but I know in my heart of hearts, they were better when we used cast iron.

crowebeetle
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#14

Post by crowebeetle »

Where is your restaurant and its name?

sanderson
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Re: Cast iron calamedy, a true story!

#15

Post by sanderson »

crowebeetle wrote:
10/04/22 17:58
Where is your restaurant and its name?
Huron, SD (between a couple siblings, we have 10 in SD and CO)

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