Ancient cast iron skillet rehab

[brothers]

Found this heavy old fellow inside a very old and long-abandoned cook stove this week. It weighs in at 6.6 pounds. Measures 10.5 inches across and 3.25 inches deep. Ferociously coated with the expected debris from longtime use and abandonment. I've researched a bit so I can take appropriate steps to bring it back to life.

Considering what I know about the background of this specific skillet, I'm comfortable saying it's probably at least 100 years old and maybe as far back as the 1800s.

I hope to be able to post some positive updates as time permits. Before and after photos will follow. Wish me luck!

[drmoss_ca]

You might not need to strip it completely and re-season it. If the inner surface feels glassy smooth, I'd try simply washing it in warm water and a gentle wipe. Obviously, if the seasoning has gone you can start from scratch.

Old cast iron can be found with a smooth inner cooking surface, which makes the process easy. New pans, like those from Lodge, have the foundry sand texture from the mold, and this makes it difficult to get a good surface. I'm aware some people will take a sander to the inside to flatten it before trying to season it.

I've gone off cast iron a bit. We started out with a nice set of Le Creuset cast iron pans as a wedding present, but the saucepans were ceramic glazed all over, and after twenty years of scrubbing (it isn't non-stick) the ceramic was scratched and discolored. The non-stick frying pan, however, soldiers on and it's non-stick is still good over 40 years later! Knowing I wanted to get an induction stovetop, I bought some of those multi-layer stainless steel pans, and the saucepans do work well. However my efforts to season the SS wok and frying pan were ineffective, and they are too heavy to use in any way other than flat and stationary on the stove. The solution was to find quite cheaply (on Amazon) non-stick aluminum pans that have a steel base. A frying pan, a wok and a tiny fry pan for tossing pancakes were found for only about $25 each. Light enough to pick up and angle when stir-frying, or to flip the crêpes (though the induction stove does complain after the pan is lifted for more than five seconds, and shuts itself off if the pan isn't returned by 30 seconds. Bossy machine.) I do still have a 10" plain cast iron frying pan, and one of those big, heavy ceramic glazed Polish cast iron Dutch ovens for certain baking jobs. One of the few things the Warsaw Pact did well.

[brothers]

Here are the before and after pics. Click on the images to enlarge ---

Finished product ---
Before:




After:

[CMur12]

That's an impressive job, Gary!

The "before" pictures don't look very promising, but the finished product is beautiful.

- Murray

[drmoss_ca]

Brilliant! How is the new seasoning working?

Chris

[brothers]

The seasoning process was interesting because I ran it three times and each was one and a half hours at 500°. I used grapeseed oil. I think it may be ready for me to fry something.

[Sam]

Good job