Cast Iron skillet/dutch oven question

[610Alpha]

Where I live the first 2 weekends of October turn my area into a huge flea market in all the small towns along the spoon river. There are all kinds of crafts and primitive stuff for sale as well as old tools and military items.

If I should happen to find an old cast iron skillet or dutch oven should I buy it?

Will I have to cure it again?

I am also going to keep my out for anything else that might be useful. I hope to find some old gas cans and ammo boxes :)

[RobertJ]

I love my dutch ovens, sadly all were bought new, and at retail pricing,except a freebee. Now that I know better I try not to buy reatil anymore for most things if at all possible. Be shure to know pricings of the various size dutch ovens and camp stoves, skillets,trivits,stands ,etc. I dont know your knowledge base for the dutch ovens or camp stoves (there is a difference) So please forgive me if I get trivial or offend. Stay away from the chinese pot metal crap that harbor freight etc. sells. I see a lot of these at flea markets and garage sales here in FL. Buy good ole American/english/dutch/etc made cast iron. If you dont know the old long out of business brands study a bit online or use a smart phone and google from the market if unknown. Most of the chinese junk is not branded, but most old cast Iron and modern as well have the manufacturer cast into the lid, handel,etc. There is just a pleathera of companies ,styles,brands,sub brands and country or origins to list so do a good study, hours and hours of info an dutch oven info on this interweb as well as numerous forums dedicated to it very much like this one.
As for re seasoning that depends on the condition of the oven. Even the heavily rusted ones can and have been brought back to life, one of my best ovens was a freebee from a yard sale because owner thought it was ruined and me crazy for taking it. I wire brushed decades of rust and gunk off it seasoned it ,re seasoned it,and then cooked many o pot roast in it.The best turkey I ever made came out of that oven as well.
So... yes dont be afraid to buy from flea markets. Like buying anything just research a bit, know pricing and makes/models (be a bit knowadgeable) and most of all have fun. Dont be afraid to haggle price a bit, the worst they can say is no!

[EX121]

I would buy a 10 incher if the lid fits well and it's not rusted. Usually if I find one at a yard sale I do a little clean-up and a re-season. But if it looks like it just came out of the kitchen probably not. Sorry for being wishy-washy but it hard to say without seeing it. If it looks kinda shiny and slick just a quick cleanup, if it looks likes it's been in the shed or outside then it needs more work.

[1Admin]

You want one with legs on the bottom and a lip on the lid. This is a true "oven" whereas the ones without legs and domed lids are supposed to just be cooking pots. They CAN be used as ovens however. But the true "ovens" will do both.

A 12" will do most all of what you need to do.

I had started a series on Campfire cooking on youtube but gave it up.

You can bake bread in these and do just about anything in these, including cooking underground.

[CLT46910]

If you run into some good ones cheap, pick them up. Even if rusted they can be cleaned up and re-seasoned. If you are wanting to learn to cook over a campfire, like was said above the ones with legs work the best. I had a whole set at one time but lost them when I went homeless many years back. I am starting to build up a good collection of cast iron again. Once seasoned and broken in they cook really good and easy to clean up.

[monkeybird]

These are excellent vidoes on cleaning cast iron. It works!

[RunAndGun]

I love cast iron. Its cooking properties and durability just give me a charge!

Just about half of my extensive cast iron collection of cast iron cookware is from garage/estate sales. Estate sales are the best place to find good cast iron in my experience. Most of the time you can get this stuff for a song, like around $5.00 to $10.00 a piece.

Allot of really good cast iron does NOT have a manufacturer name cast on it. I have some Chinese "junk" that works awesome too. At $5.00 it was worth a try and it worked out.

Don't turn your nose up to the Dutch Ovens with a lipped lid but no feet. Allot of them are designed to be used with a steel stand under them if your using them on coals, and you also have the versatility of using them on your home cook stove or camp stove without the stand. Allot of time the steel stand is lost or separated from it on the used market. A simple stand can be fabricated by making a X by bolting or welding flat iron or angle iron together.

Regarding cast iron with no manufacturer name: If your at an estate sale in an old neighborhood and the heirs are selling mom and pop's cast iron that they made breakfast with when they were kids, you can pretty much bet that that no name cast iron is good ole American made good stuff. Again, if your $10.00 skillet does not work out, you can sell it, make a planter out of it, or throw it away.

[Klayton]

@Monkeybird, thanks so much for the videos. I especially want to thank the producer for saying you dont want to breath this (ovencleaner). About kicked the ex in the butt one day when I came home from work and she had all the windows closed (AC was on) kids sitting in their hi-chairs watching her, as she was all upper torso inside the oven spraying oven cleaner on all the oven's nooks and crannies.... GEESH

May be my ex, but she will always be the mother of my babies ;)

[610Alpha]

Thanks MB those vids answered my questions on whether or not I can restore it if I find one that looks a little rough!! I will be looking around this weekend for some cast iron...wish me luck. If I find anything I'll post pics and what I paid for it.

[Lowdown3]

Also, while a large skillet is nice to have, usually you can use the lid of the oven (flipped over) as a skillet also.

The long handled (wooden) brush scraper deals like you'll find in the BBQ section of the store are helpful. A magnetic thermometer is useful for when you actually do bake in one of them.

IMO, it's easiest to learn/experiment with just wood versus charcoal. If all you have is charcoal by all means use it though.

Coal placement, whether wood or charcoal is important and if your baking you want roughly the same on the top as on the bottom- one of the reasons the lid is flanged. Legs are nice but aren't critical, especially if your getting a "deal" on one.

It's fun to start using this stuff, just remember it isn't like sticking something in the microwave at home. You can't really start it and just walk away from it, unless it's something your baking underground (even then it should be checked). I watched a gal that was new to this at a campout walk over with her oven and food, drop it in the fire and walk off- NEVER once to come and check on it. She probably assumed I would, dunno.

Your garden probably isn't going to do well if you just plop it in the ground and never check on it. The stuff your cooking on the fire won't either.

Get or make a lid lifter also, you'll be glad you did.

Lowdown3

[EX121]

One of my first 'expirments' I forgot that just because I took the oven off the fire, I forgot that it would take a while to cool off. A fine roast turned to charcoal.
But on a serious note, the wife & I have started using a ceramic insert inside the oven when baking cakes, it really saves on clean-up time. Some friends use a metal pie plate elevated on a couple of large hex nuts, to allow air to circulate under the pie tin.

[Grinnan Barrett]

If you can find them cheap buy them. No big deal to clean them up and get them back in shape. I have some my great grand mother used. I have some of the old pots my grandmother and great grandmother used to make soap in. I will buy cast iron I don't even need right now. If you can get it for $5 to $10 you got a steal.

[RobertJ]

I love cast iron. Its cooking properties and durability just give me a charge!


Allot of really good cast iron does NOT have a manufacturer name cast on it. I have some Chinese "junk" that works awesome too. At $5.00 it was worth a try and it worked out.


Regarding cast iron with no manufacturer name: If your at an estate sale in an old neighborhood and the heirs are selling mom and pop's cast iron that they made breakfast with when they were kids, you can pretty much bet that that no name cast iron is good ole American made good stuff. Again, if your $10.00 skillet does not work out, you can sell it, make a planter out of it, or throw it away.

R&G,
How did you get the chinese stuff to take a season? Between some of the Scout's, and some I had, the castiron would not take a season correctly and made the various recepies tried stick to the point of ruining Breakfast/lunch/dinner. One of the scouts wasso upset his mountain man breakfast was ruined I voluntiered to clean it out for him so he could go on with the other boys doing their thing. I also ruined my triple chocklate cake in a 10" harbor freight brand my best friends wife bought. I have witnessed and expierenced lots more bad then good with it. Not knocking you just trying to learn.
Is there a better way or process to season I did not do. Im the crisco,heated in the BBQ grill school of seasoning then cook lots of bacon or greasy meats in it to help the patina. Ive found I'm never to old to learn, and what one persons expierences may not be what another dose.
And any good recepies you have? Done lots of meals and biscuts etc but no breads yet (besides jalipino corn bread)
Thanks.

[CLT46910]

I season my cast iron in the oven. Much like this site saids....

http://www.kitchenemporium.com/info/castiron.html

[RunAndGun]

R&G,
How did you get the chinese stuff to take a season? Between some of the Scout's, and some I had, the castiron would not take a season correctly and made the various recepies tried stick to the point of ruining Breakfast/lunch/dinner. One of the scouts wasso upset his mountain man breakfast was ruined I voluntiered to clean it out for him so he could go on with the other boys doing their thing. I also ruined my triple chocklate cake in a 10" harbor freight brand my best friends wife bought. I have witnessed and expierenced lots more bad then good with it. Not knocking you just trying to learn.
Is there a better way or process to season I did not do. Im the crisco,heated in the BBQ grill school of seasoning then cook lots of bacon or greasy meats in it to help the patina. Ive found I'm never to old to learn, and what one persons expierences may not be what another dose.
And any good recepies you have? Done lots of meals and biscuts etc but no breads yet (besides jalipino corn bread)
Thanks.

I season mine the same way as you. And some of the Chinese stuff I've come across has been truly junk. But, the cheap Wenzel set that I picked up years ago that was made in China is really good stuff!

What I was trying to convey is you don't know when your picking this stuff up used if its good stuff or not, but if you pick it up cheap enough you can try it and see.

As for recipes: Oh let me tell you! Lodge Cast Iron Cookware has THE BEST cookbook ever! Best $25.00 I ever spent. It also has some great care instructions for your cast iron. You can order it on line, but Im pretty sure I picked mine up at Cracker Barrel. I have also seen them for sale at places that sell Lodge cookware.

There is a pork roast recipe that we use in the Dutch Oven that will make you want to slap yo momma. When I cook anything in my cast iron that has allot of water in it like this roast recipe, I eventually have to re-season my pots. When they seem to be getting a little sticky, I will start using them as skillets for a while and it seems to greatly prolong the time before the re-seasoning eventuality. I have not used my cast iron either for anything other than the occasional biscuit or corn bread.

Incidentally, if you want to ensure the brand new stuff you buy is good stuff, buy Lodge.