Cast Iron is it safe

RiverDoc

Hey all, my aunt gave me 3 CI pans. One is a Lodge , the other two are pictured below. the smaller one is thinner and stamped made in Taiwan 8in skillet. The second is stamped no7 10  1/2 in made in USA, these are the only markings I could find. I know nothing about CI so here is my questions. the larger skillet is heavy much like my Lodge but looking at the back of it the surface has what appears to be stress marks? are these lines normal for CI and is this ok to use? Next question the smaller skillet labeled 8in skillet is much thinner is this safe to use or am I better off to make it a CI target at the range? any advice would be great thanks in advance.

SGH

As long as you do not see a crack through and through they are perfectly safe. Give them a good sandblasting and re-seasoning and they will be as good as new. Some pans are thicker or thinner than others. This is not a reflection of quality as so much it is of design. Some of the higher end cast iron pans ever made were thinner than the Lodges. This certainly does not make them inferior in any way.  Clean them up and use them brother. 

Jstroke

First of all it won't literally shatter before your eyes. Unless you drop it or hit with cold water when it is super hot. Secondly either will make good pans to cook with. Hit them with a stainless scrubber and hot water NO SOAP. Then oil them all over and cure them in the oven until they dry--called seasoning. Do this a couple times. Then use them. NEVER USE SOAP. I use a plastic woven scrubber--just like a stainless--except plastic. If stuff is stuck on soak with hot water. Then dry and light oil with paper towel. They will last forever. 

RiverDoc

Thanks @SGH I know nothing about CI and when I picked up the 8in it was super thin I do love the size of it, I'll clean them up

SGH

RiverDoc said:

 the 8in it was super thin 

I have one the same way. Thin as paper but it cooks like a champ. 

RiverDoc

Thanks @Jstroke I'm starting to love CI , just don't know much about it I'm gonna clean them this week!

Zmokin

While I never use soap on my well seasoned CI, if those were mine, I would use steel wool with soap to give them a good cleaning, before seasoning them.  but if you know of a place with a sand blaster, sand blasting them clean and then seasoning is also a great route to go and you don't need soap with a sand blaster.

Carolina Q

It's okay to use soap on seasoned CI. http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html I wasn't sure about this one until I saw the condition of one of Mom's skillets - and then watched her wash it with a scrubby and soap. She's 98 - been doing it for years.

It is NOT okay to sandblast. All that does is make it rough. And destroy its value (if any) as an antique.

theyolksonyou

http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html

Carolina Q

theyolksonyou said:

http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html

David's a nice guy, too!

theyolksonyou

Carolina Q said:

theyolksonyou said:

http://www.panman.com/cleaning.html

David's a nice guy, too!

I found his site very informative. 

Jstroke

You are more than welcome my friend. Here is the bottom lime. I agree with SGA. If they are cruddy and they feel like craters and pockmarked then take a blaster to them or a wire wheel on a right angle grinder. You can get one at harbor freight cheap good  for lots of things. Then take down to fresh metal. It will look almost shiny grey. Ifon the   other hand they are black with some slight surface rust then just hot water. Then season as previously described. Again there are only a couple of rules to cast iron. No soap and do not "shock" them with cold water if they are super hot. Example-fry steaks or burgers and then run some cold water in them straight off the stove or egg.  You can crack them.  Also do not scrub the hell out of them. You want that black patina--carbon to build up. They will literally never wear out. Mine haven't seen soap in 25 years and is the only thing my wife wants if we ever got divorced. She said i could have everything else in the   house. None of mine are anything special like Griswold except the dutch. And that is at least 75 years old. It was my grandmothers. My father grew up with it and when i went to college I stole it. I keep it under my bed--no lie. It doesn't fit nicely in my cabinets and the one time i put it in the oven my wife turned the oven on and left it there for an hour. Took me about eight hours to reseason it. Trust me. After twenty years with it you wont lend it to your best friend or anyone else. 

blasting

I've developed almost a fetish for cast iron.  Love the stuff and the way it cooks.  Pick up one of these for regular cleaning, my humble recommendation.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FKBR1ZG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Begger

I would recycle the Taiwan pan.    Too much GOOD American made not to.  
Much New and semi-vintage Lodge around.    If you get 'into' vintage you can alway start collecting and using Griswold or Wagner.   Griswold had several logos over the years which can be used to identify age and they also made cast with different names.   Erie springs to mind.  

Goin' on 35 years ago (+) my room mate left my big skillet on the stove.   I came in and it was glowing ORANGE and was still evolving a little SMOKE.   It took me YEARS to get the pan back in shape.  But it didn't crack or warp!

blasting

@Begger  May I ask what you mean when you say it took years to get the pan back in shape?  I triple season my new stuff and it seems good to go - just wondering what you were doing with it?

Begger

Yes, good question. 
ALL the oil / seasoning had been taken out of the pan.
I didn't  know how to properly season except thru use.   I DID know to at least start with some oil rubbed in which I did when warm, but to get the pan back to near-teflon took me quite a while.  
I'm much better these days and would be ok pretty quickly, were that to happen again.  

blasting

@Begger - got it.  

Most of the Lodge stuff comes "pre-seasoned", which seems like a good start, but I still triple season.  Possibly overkill, but I like that "wipe down" finish

nolaegghead

The polymerized oil in seasoning isn't going to be removed by soap.  You can use soap to clean if you want.  Regardless, oil them after washing.

Skiddymarker

I’m also a fan of blasting with a soft medium, something like walnut shells or soda, saves a ton of elbow grease and dose not roughen the surface. 

I have an 8” and 6" Taiwan pans like the one you have. I use them all the time, the larger 10” pan warped and I tossed it but the little guys are quite useful.

nolaegghead

I've been blasting some of SGH's cast iron with 80 grit glass beads.  Works well.

blasting

I've been on the lookout for some used CI, but haven't found any since I wanted to try blasting it.  The pic you posted looked like brand new virgin CI.  I mostly blast calcium deposits off swimming pool tile, so I'm always looking for unrelated things to blast.

nolaegghead said:

I've been blasting some of SGH's cast iron with 80 grit glass beads.  Works well.

nolaegghead

You blast with Kieserite?

blasting

nolaegghead said:

You blast with Kieserite?

You know your stuff!  Do you blast as part of a hobby or for work?

Yes, if it's never been blasted before I use MaxStrip (Kieserite).  If somebody else has already used glass bead, then I will do the same, since clean up is a lot easier and the damage to the tile has already been done.

nolaegghead

hahah....I'm a hobby grease-monkey...I'm building a steam-punk motorcycle right now and doing a lot of blasting, painting and powder-coating.  I googled the media - I would think you would use something like soda but salt just dissolved in the pool, brilliant!

blasting

I wish it dissolved.  Kieserite, if not vacuumed up sets up almost like concrete at the bottom of the pool.  That's why most guys try and get away with using glass beads.

My apologies OP, for the unintentional Hijack.

RiverDoc

No worries @blasting thanks for the help!
Thanks everyone for the input

Skiddymarker

nolaegghead said:

I've been blasting some of SGH's cast iron with 80 grit glass beads.  Works well.

Tried beads once. Damn things were everywhere, of course my blasting booth is either my driveway or my front lawn - soon found the shells are biodegradable and they do a reasonable job on CI and my grunged up DFMT. 

blasting

RiverDoc said:

No worries @blasting thanks for the help!
Thanks everyone for the input

Not sure I was much help, but you're welcome.  I've offered before, but if you or anyone else has grill related things to blast, I'm happy to do it if you can get to me.  No charge of course.