I just scored my first cast iron!!

[davidniebeling]

I was telling my wife that I wanted to get some cast iron for use at home and in the camper. She said her parents had some "old stuff" that they didn't want any more. Turns out they were my father-in-laws grandmothers cast iron fry pans!!! I got a Griswold #9 779, another Griiswold #9 (with a broken handle, should still work) and a domed Griswold lid that fits both pans model #1099a. They were pretty crusty and the good #9 had a fair amount of surface rust on the outside of the skillet. My wife said she used to scrub it hard to get all of the "grease" out of it, so I'm blaming her for the rust! I just got them cleaned up good and now I have them in the oven seasoning. I looked on youtube for how to season cast iron and checked this site. I gave it a go and I will see how it turns out. If nothing else I'll just cook up some bacon in it (BACON!!!...one of the top 5 best things in life!!) When they are done seasoning I'l take some better pics of them. For now here are a couple of them just before going into the oven for seasoning.

[TPMcGinty]

Wow! Nothing better than free cast iron. My favorite cast iron is a free square cast iron fry pan I got from one of my Tearjerker friends. Now THATS a good friend, giving me such a quality piece.

[davidniebeling]

Here are some more pics after seasoning. While it was seasoning I watched some more videos about cleaning them and learned more about "proper" cleaning. Oh well, I will try using them and see how they do. If I have problems I'll strip them again and start over.

[TPMcGinty]

Looks like it's time for you to go camping!

[Woodbutcher]

Very nice. You just can't beat a good cast iron pan. But I warn you, cast iron is just like old Coleman stuff. It keeps following you home! Enjoy...

[bobhenry]

A gas stove burner grate and a short length of log chain will turn that little skillet with domed lid into a good replacement for a dutch oven. Makes great pizza since the upper heat is close to the food.





Here is Wimperdink's take on the chain idea.....

[davidniebeling]

A gas stove burner grate and a short length of log chain will turn that little skillet with domed lid into a good replacement for a dutch oven. Makes great pizza since the upper heat is close to the food.





Here is Wimperdink's take on the chain idea.....

Cool Thanks for the great idea! I love the idea of dutch oven cooking but it seems like every dish feeds like 13 people and there are only 3 of us. Your idea gives me the option of cooking smaller portions.

[bobhenry]

[quote="davidniebeling] I love the idea of dutch oven cooking but it seems like every dish feeds like 13 people and there are only 3 of us. Your idea gives me the option of cooking smaller portions.[/quote]


Maybe you need to make a trip to Wally world! here is a cutie only 7" round 5" deep

http://www.walmart.com/ip/11412732?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem

[Catherine+twins]

Lodge also has smaller options. I'm cooking for my 11-yo twins and me, and they haven't yet reached the teen-thing were I need to cook 8 servings per meal.

I bought the 6-inch Lodge (listed at 1-qt) for when I am camping alone, and the 8-inch (listed at 2-qt) for when we are all camping together. That is, a one-pot meal in the 8-inch and a side or desert in the 6-inch. I also have the 6-in skillet (nice for a single serving of eggs in the morning), the 8-in skillet (works for the 3 of us), and a 10 1/2 in round griddle (comal) for pancakes or tortillas.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/CatalogueRetrie ... ectType=27

http://www.lodgemfg.com/CatalogueRetrie ... ectType=27

The kids are getting hungry enough that I will probably get the 10-in DO this summer or next.

I didn't buy mine directly from Lodge (got the 8-in at REI on sale, ordered the 6-in from Amazon when it was on sale), but I am committed to buying American rather than Chinese.

A nice thing about the small DOs is that you can use a Webber Smokey Joe grill on a picnic table as your DO table and wind guard. Well, here it is on the ground, but that's because I didn't have a table on the patio when I was trying this.


This was a very small chocolate cake in the 6-in (using parchment paper not very neatly to line the DO so I could just lift the cake out). We cut it in thirds and ate it with berries and whipped cream.


There are some more recipes in this thread, and that whole site (camp-cook.com) is a fun one to explore.

http://camp-cook.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4165

Catherine

[bonnie]

Lodge also has smaller options. Catherine

I have those same ones! There's only me, so I didn't want to have huge amounts of leftovers. I'm learning.