restoring some heirlooms

[camp_cookie]

My mother recently gave me a small skillet and a griddle that had belonged to her maternal grandmother. She found them in in storage in our old dairy barn. I have no idea how long they were there, but it was most likely 30 years or so.

Here are a few before pictures of the skillet:




and the griddle:




I washed them as best as I could with detergent and then washed them with Coke a few times. I put them in my gas grill at full blast (around 700 degrees) and burned all of the old seasoning off of them and washed them some more with some of the Camp Chef cast iron cleaner. I also used a flexible putty knife to get off stubborn little bits of the old seasoning. I coated them with the Camp Chef conditioner and seasoned them. The griddle has received a second seasoning with Crisco.

After:








I don't know who manufactured them. The "3A" mark on the skillet is the only mark on either of them.

 

[camp_cookie]

This square skillet was my maternal grandmothers and is the skillet in which she always made cornbread for me. It was unused for many until my mother gave it to me. The seasoning was beginning to flake off, and it was beginning to rust. I decided that it needed to be cleaned and re-seasoned. I used the same procedure as outlined above. It is seasoned with Crisco. Nothing on it indicates the manufacturer.

Before:






After:




They will all probably need to be seasoned more, but they are in much better shape now.

 

[bassman]

Nothing cooks better that cast iron! I was recently given a very nice Wagner Dutch oven complete with lid and rack in the bottom. I didn't have near the cleaning to do that you did! Good job! Keith

 

[fireguy]

Great finds, and nice job... gotta love Cast.

 

[travcoman45]

You've gotten yourself some nice cast iron there, and even more valuable as they are from the family. Take a little care of cast iron and it will last forever! And as the old sayin goes, you can never have to much cast iron!

 

[zapper]

I just happened to read somewhere recently an old saying that I remember hearing along long time ago. The question was "How do you season cast iron?" and the answer came "Have a fish fry!"





Funny.
I spend an awful lot of time trying to get burnt on grease off of some of my pots and pans, while I can't seem to get enough burnt on grease on my cast iron........... Go figure..........Oh the IORN ney.....

 

[desertlites]

Yup gotta love my cast iron-great job resurecting it.

 

[kookie]

Good job.............They look great.............

 

[camp_cookie]

A member on one of the cast iron forums identified the small skillet and the square skillet as being made by Birmingham Stove and Range. That makes sense as my maternal grandmother and family lived in Pell City (near Birmingham) prior to moving to Georgia.

 

[richtee]

Dutch has an interesting method of resto for cast...electrolysis.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...37828#poststop