Found Dreaming

Got some new skillets, well they are about 100 years old. Wapak Cast Iron went out of business in 1926. These Indian heads are some of their most rare. Picked these up at an auction and may cook some in the big one but the little one is going on the wall.

Those old ones were nice to cook with. The new ones you can buy now are a bit rough. Probably made for city folks to decorate their kitchens.

Richard

Yes the new Lodge have a rough surface but they get better with use. I probably have about 100 pieces of Cast Iron and yes a lot of them are hanging on the walls. There are a few we use to cook and some in plastic tubs in the basement.

Rasper wrote: ↑

Mon May 22, 2023 5:44 pm

Those old ones were nice to cook with. The new ones you can buy now are a bit rough. Probably made for city folks to decorate their kitchens.

Richard

First thing I do with new cast iron is sand out the inside as best I can. Its pretty dirty work but an orbital can really make a slick bottom in a pan. Then once seasoned its the best nonstick you can use.

We have alot of cast iron cookware sold around this area, and Ive never really been that fond of cooking in the one we have tbh, it always seems to burn everything you put in it, so I usually tend to use the normal ones.

Ive seen alot of videos where they're forging skillets out of steel sheet metal, and thought try that one of these days and seeing how that handles vs a normal one since it's seasoned and done up the exact same way as a cast iron pan, but not as much weight and not as much spread out heat. I think a steel one would actually be pretty neat to try cooking on really anyways, one of these days, Ill hammer one out, lol. Most are made from 1/8" sheet steel from what Ive seen. Also, Im talking about real steel, not stainless, which is horrible to no end at conducting heat and doesnt season for crap.

I have a steel Comal, they are made in both concave and convex. Both have handy points about them. I also have a huge steel wok.

All of these when kept in use build and maintain a great nonstick finish. The carbon from the burned oils is the magic I believe.

Point is I suppose doesnt matter, stainless, cast iron or mild steel. All will develop the nonstick coating through use.

Some of the fellas at the forge in TN were making skillets. They made up some fancy patterns to aid in hammering out the steel. I think a piece of 4" round steel would make a good anvil to hammer out the shape. I've never tried it. My son is trying to find me some sheet steel from the scrap at his work. They do a lot of stainless but also have some low to medium carbon steels that would be nice to work with. I a one of the prototype Lodge steel woks they tried out a few years ago. They decided they weren't worth the hassle and shelved the project. They warped so bad when they cooled. I only bought one I wished I had gotten about 10 of them. They are handy.
I find it kind of funny. They breed turkeys to be bigger and bigger then, have a breed that is the size turkeys used to be and call them "Miniature Turkeys". We used to have turkeys when I was a kid and we were thrilled to have any around 20 pounds. That was in the early 60's. I had turkeys back in the late 70's that were about 22 to 25 pounds. I went to OSUs turkey farm and they were playing with breeding and genetics and had turkeys that were over 50 pounds but their legs couldn't support the weight. I think they have since come up with a good size but I don't think the flavor is quite right.

What I have noticed on flavor and overall appeal with these Midget White Turkey and I suspect other breeds has to do with maturity. I harvested the extra Toms gradually last year at 16, 20 and 28 weeks,

My experience was that not until the 6 month + mark were they beginning to lay on the fat. At 7 months butchering was a big surprise with how well the fat came on over 5 months. I did not get to do one at 6 months as my dog decided she needed some turkey so we lost one there.

I did two at 7 months as I had promised a bird to a friend for xMas, she agreed it was the best Turkey she had ever cooked and it was just about 16lbs dressed. For us this is still large for anytime use so I am hopeful when we have excess Hens we can see birds in the 10 to 12lb range which would be like cooking a couple chickens which I often do.

Replacing the raising of xCross Chickens with a bird we can reproduce here is my goal.

Back on the skillets, well sort of anyhow... I was gifted a cast iron pan in a shape I had never come across. It is about 8 to 10 inches wide, 6 inches deep and 24 inches long with a lid like a dutch oven pan. I imagine it is for ribs or ribeye and we have done ribs in it a few times. I also made Osso Bucco on the fire pit in it that came out awesome.

Last year I also bought my Wife a 4 gallon Cast Iron Cauldron for doing her Witchy stuff It has 3 legs and a classic Cauldron shape to it.

Will get some photos and add them to a post soon.

Sounds like a Lodge fish fryer. I have a shallow one about 3" deep but I don't have the lid. I keep watching for a lid and a deep one.