Somewhere deep in my DNA, there must be a blacksmith. I have a thing for heavy metal. Not the music variety, but cast iron. There's something very sensual and earthy about the smooth cool surface to the touch. On my latest trip to my local Gee-Dub (Goodwill Store) I found a 10 inch by 3 inch vintage cast iron skillet with years of lovely patina. It's marked Wagner Ware Sidney #8. The Wagner Manufacturing Company was founded in Sidney, Ohio in 1891. The name Wagner did not appear on skillets after 1922. From the style of the "W", it's safe to say mine is one of the older models.
If you don't own a cast iron skillet, it's well worth the time and money to invest in one. You can find old seasoned ones for sale on the internet, thrift stores, flea markets, or garage sales. Look for one that might look as if it has seen better days. If the pan is rusty or encrusted with grease, buy it anyway. With just a bit of gentle cleaning (I don't use a lot of soap) and a light swipe of vegetable oil, it will be luminous and ready for the kitchen. Plus, you'll be able to pass the pan on to your children and grandchildren.
Do I cook with it? Absolutely. I added it to my wonderful 12 inch family heirloom that's been cooking up Hoosier food for nearly a hundred years, and my little 7 inch garage sale find. Besides being an ideal heat conductor, cast iron cookware heats evenly and consistently, it is inexpensive and will last a lifetime (actually several lifetimes). I love that it goes from stove to oven, no special utensils are needed to cook in it, it won't warp, and cleanup is a cinch. A well-seasoned cast iron pan will only get better with age.
Since you can pop them in the oven, try making cobbler, corn bread, and even lasagna in your cast iron. One thing to remember, don't pour cold liquid into a hot skillet, or it will crack. Allow it to come to room temperature before adding water.
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| my Wagner Ware Sidney #8 |
Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
A real treasure! As are you! Soulful woman.
ReplyDeleteYou rock! Great advice on heavy metal. I have a couple of my grandma's and think of her whenever I cook with them.
ReplyDeleteThere are two cast iron skillets (one vintage) and a Dutch oven that belonged to my Mom in my kitchen. Sadly, though, I'm afraid to use them on my new glass top electric stove; they still get a lot of use in the oven, though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you have to be careful with them on electric burners, bring them to a full heat slowly.
ReplyDeleteI have a heavy cast iron skillet. We bought it new about 25 years ago. i had a hard time getting over the fact that I can't wash it with soap and water. Now that's my husband's job. He cleans it with coarse salt and paper towels.
ReplyDeleteI cook in a large one all the time.
ReplyDeleteWillow,
ReplyDeleteI love cooking with cast iron : skillet, dutch oven, and cornbread stick utensil.
I have my great grams cast iron skillet, it was all that survived a house fire year and years before I was born, she gave it to her daughter, my gram, who gave it to her daughter my mum, who gave it to me...I adore it, and corn bread from the oven just taste better made in it ;)
ReplyDeleteTess -- At 70 years of age I can remember many iron skillets being used by my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. It was a staple in their kitchen cupboards. My mother always wiped every bit of moisture off the pan when she finished washing it. Then she would sometimes give it a slight wipe with a cooking oil to keep it soft and lustrous and she said to prevent rust. Fried chicken was especially delicious in the skillet. Good post. -- barbara
ReplyDeleteMine's a Wagner's too; but modern. I should use it more than I do!
ReplyDeletegenerally i dont like metal. however, have cooked on cast iron for years. pans found in the thrift store and one my mom left to me. it has gotten so i dont know how to cook on other types of pans. The timing and heat distribution is so different for a cast iron pot. I'll have to look at the bottoms for that "W"
ReplyDeleteI love cast iron, too--it's absolutely the best for baking cornbread!
ReplyDeleteI'll, of course agree with everyone's cast iron love. I remember when all my friend's moms had fancy, pretty pans. We had a bunch of black, heavy cast iron pots and skillets that had a rough outside, like the metal was scabbed. I wish I still had those.
ReplyDeleteOh, YEAH. When my grandmother died, there was only one possession her seven daughters fought over...her cast iron skillet.
ReplyDeleteIs there anything else made today that might even remotely "last several lifetimes"? I don't think so.
thinking of the many women (probably) who used that new/old skillet of yours. How wonderful.
great find Tess
ReplyDeleteI like to think of you as a rescuer
....so much good stuff is thrown away
but ah folks like us..we know good stuff....and cherish it
fine post
BACK TO THE MANOR!!! :D
ReplyDelete"There's something very sensual and earthy about the smooth cool surface to the touch" That's true!!!
My favorite heavy metal (aside from Type O Negative, of course) is my cast iron Dutch oven. I use it like a skillet most of the time, but it rocks the roasts and sauces too!
ReplyDeleteCare tips: After washing and towel-drying cast iron, set it in a warm oven for a few minutes to make sure every last bit of moisture has evaporated off the surface. Before putting it away, take a paper towel with a few drops of cooking oil on it and rub the inner surfaces down, leaving a very light sheen of oil. This prevents rust, and also helps build that smooth patina necessary for even cooking!
M.A.S., yes, as a poet, you've described the outside perfectly. Scabbed, indeed.
ReplyDeleteLots of childhood memories steam up from the surface of a cast iron skillet... Sunday fried chicken... Swiss steak when the budget was flush... hamburger gravy when not. We used our over-sized treasure nearly every day, and I learned to wash it with care, setting it over high flame to dry and scare away the idea of rust.
ReplyDeleteI have three, from small to large. My current large one is from my mother (well, my old large one was too). the one I had before cracked. It was a small crack and I kept using it and the one day, it broke in half. Don't remember if I added cold water to it while hot. It did surprise me when it broke.
ReplyDeleteMy Melva finally bought some new
ReplyDeletecookware, and it is attractive and
functional, but beneath it, with the
shiny new pans on top, lies the
great wide cast iron black skillet
that started it all, from her mother,
who got it from hers, back 100
years into Texas fires and bacon
grease.
loved this post Tess - usually catch you on fb these days:)
ReplyDeletevery cool post, tess - i agree, there's no substitute for a well seasoned pan. in my case, it's a wok.
ReplyDeleteThe best cookware ever. I have a giant pan for frying chicken -- it spans two burners -- and two smaller skillets that get almost daily use. They belonged to my grandmother -- are probably about a hundred years old. And my husband uses cast iron Dutch ovens for the delicious artisan bread he makes.
ReplyDeleteOh, I SO love this. My mom has her handy dandy cast iron pan still... the one I complained about when I was a teenager because I wanted a microwave in the house. (she didn't get one until I moved out and it is seldom used). I DO need to get one and I want a seasoned one! I am on the look-out! :)
ReplyDeleteI swear you did this to make me hungry! The best pancakes in the world come from such pans.A great find indeed!.By the way if you spy a cracked one they can be repaired,although it's an old skill it will still be cheaper than a posh Teflon coated replacement.
ReplyDeleteOh, another reason to envy your Gee-Dub! What a great addition to your collection.
ReplyDeleteWe've got the family heirloom version too, and when I use it, I like to think of those who came before and what they must have made in the skillet.
I am embracing the idea of making cobbler in the skillet!
My brother had the good sense to claim our grandmother's cast iron skillets (my mother sure didn't want them). It always makes me smile when I visit and see them being put to good use. Perhaps there will come a time, hopefully in the not to distant future, when I will revert back to cast iron. Besides, they are excellent for home defense :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm pretty good at swinging a skillet around. ;^)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your play with images. With all the new high tech cookware our cast iron pan is languishing with neglect.
ReplyDeleteWife cooks with iron skillets often...everything from corn bread to chocolate pie.
ReplyDeletetess, the kindest cookery comes from a cast iron skillet - or a deeply seasoned wok - or a well seasoned baking stone! lucky you. steven
ReplyDeleteWe cook with our cast iron all the time. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI love my cast iron skillets. They always remind me of my grandmother, too. They're the best.
ReplyDeleteHi! Willow...
ReplyDeleteThanks, for the information about cast iron skillets. On personal note, I'am not a cook, but my father is a cook and have cast iron skillets like the one you have described in detail in your post.
[Nice photographs too!]
Thanks, for sharing!
DeeDee ;-D
My husband puts mine in the dishwasher. Though I rail, I think he must do it for spite. That, or he really doesn't know about the seasoning. I've heard oldtimers say they put their pans in campfires to clean off the buildup of grease etc.
ReplyDeleteMy husband puts mine in the dishwasher. Though I rail, I think he must do it for spite. That, or he really doesn't know about the seasoning. I've heard oldtimers say they put their pans in campfires to clean off the buildup of grease etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd one can get trace amounts of iron when you cook in it, not a bad thing!
ReplyDeleteI am a chicken, never used a real cast iron pan.
ReplyDeleteI love my enamelled cast iron Dutch oven, though.
On the stove, I even make steaks in them, sears them perfectly.
Ah Tess : the lovely words and sentiments I am well used to, but what I sometimes forget is what an exceedingly good photographer you are.
ReplyDeleteThere is something about a cast iron skillet that makes trying to cook on a frying pan a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteI did not know about the cold water so thank you for that tip! I always learn something new from you. I love my skillet and would hate to damage it.
ReplyDeleteAck! No, Donna, the dishwasher is a no-no. Clobber your husband on the head with it, and maybe he'll stop. ;^)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, you are so right about the trace amounts of iron. Trace amounts do add up over time, though. Good point. Another small advantage.
ReplyDeleteAlan, thank you, my friend. x
ReplyDeleteThat sure is great... Its amazing, looking at the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you provide.
ReplyDeleteI also have a Wagner Ware Sidney -- it is a 0 -- supposedly it traveled with my great grandmother in a covered wagon when they moved to Illinois in the 1860's. Do you know how to research the age of these? BTW, I make apple pie in it and the crust is to die for.
ReplyDeleteI must have been stoned when I first read your post, okay, now I know it couldn't have been my great grandmothers, ohhhh the fibs our mothers tell us:)
ReplyDeleteoh ....
ReplyDeleteyou know everything!!
i would have poured cold water in a hot pan and broken it!!!
Violet, I can't wait to try an apple pie in mine!
ReplyDelete...or maybe even a chicken pie?
ReplyDeleteI just love my old cast iron pans...when we bought our old house there they were in the basement...
ReplyDeleteI love cast iron. My ex-husband had a family heirloom, a cast iron dutch oven that was used in a real wagon train. I felt I had to let him have it. Should have saved it for my daughter. It made the best stews in the world. Hmmm, maybe my daughter can get it from her father as a wedding present.
ReplyDeleteGarage sale season is here! I am going to keep my eye out.
ReplyDeleteFantastic post Tess, thank you.
I do NOT own one! You inspire me to keep my eye out for one.
ReplyDeleteI have two large Griswold skillets, they were my mother's- they are the best things in the kitchen- I did not know about cold water - I have been doing that for years and nothing has cracked.
ReplyDeleteThat is a find. I have one that I love.
ReplyDeleteI have made chicken pie too and it is awesome. Just remember when you pull it out of the oven to put a kitchen mitt on the handle while it sits on the stovetop -- can't tell you how many times I grabbed that sucker while it was still hot! Talk about heat in the kichen.
ReplyDeleteI have a nuber 8 too that I inherited from my mother. She and now I make meatballs in this pan. I have eight cast iron pans including a tiny "square egg skillet" (mark on the reverse side) hanging in my kitchen. I use and love them all. My kids will probably fight over them later on because they will outlast me!
ReplyDeleteYour glowing (yes, 'glowing'--grin!) words make me want to fall in love with an iron skillet.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully written "ODE TO IRON"
PEACE
I too have an ancient cast iron skillet and only recently heard you can bake stuff in the oven in it.
ReplyDeleteI will try it.
Greetings from at very long last spring-like New York.
Ha! The house right this minute smells lightly of buttered smoke because a bit ago I scrubbed out the cast iron skillet I sauteed mushrooms in tonight and set it on the stove to cure. I love this pan and loved reading how you love your old and new/old ones. The history behind your find is interesting.
ReplyDeleteI use ours almost exclusively, including for most things that say a non-stick pan is required. What a bit of irony that I have beans soaking tonight to make chili tomorrow....and I will try your idea of using my cast iron for the cornbread! Thanks also for the tip about the cold into a hot pan making it crack; I did not know that.
That Other Husband brought a set of those ubiquitous 1970's cast iron sizzling steak platters sitting in cheap wooden chargers into the marriage. A year later he added a set of small matching cast iron bowls, perfect he reckoned for sizzling garlic prawns. They were the first things I threw into his packing boxes as he 'exited' the said marriage. I can understand your affection for this cooking medium Tess, but I don't share the same affection!!
ReplyDeleteMillie x
I was antiquing in Texas with a friend of mine and she bought a tiny Wagner ware skillet. (She has a whole collection of iron skillets for her ranch.) The man who owned the store said that Wagner ware is a particularly good make. He gave us a wonderful oral history; I wish that I could remember even half of it!
ReplyDeleteWonderful find!
ReplyDeleteIron stays flat, heats evenly and as you say lasts for lifetimes. When I bought Tiziana, the owner took everything off, including mooring lines!
But under the oven I found hidden, a large iron skillet (we call a frying pan) and I must say it is worth more than all the other bits and pieces the mean bastard 'stole'!