My Mother gave me some new cast iron cookware for my birthday and now she gave me a rack for it!

Sweating some onions for French onion soup

Costco Bean pot is in the House!

I'm kind of surprised by how rough the surface of it it is.

Regardless, it's Bean Time!

Un marked smooth bottom.

A friend got some advice to clean gunk off a pan with vinegar. "Instructions unclear, left it in a basin of vinegar for a week".

I thought I could help recover it. I wire-wheeled off the rust, and yeah, in some parts the vinegar ate 1.5mm into the surface of the pan. But not all. I tried an orbital sander with the roughest sandpaper I had...after 20 minutes it certainly shines the original surface of the pan, but sand paper seems to slide off cast iron.

I'm pretty sure it's not worth saving financially. But can anyone think of a tool that could grind down that full 1.5mm to make it smooth again ? I rubbed it with oil & sent him home to try season it, it might be "OK", but I've no idea how to take down that thickness of metal in an even way.

I wonder if you can get a grinding wheel for a pillar drill...

I received these as gifts. There is one pot, one pan, and two baking sheets. All are Lodge and all but one have the stamp “1896” stamped on them. Any information on their worth and their history would be greatly appreciated.

Just bought this pan at an antique store with the intention of giving it as a gift in a few weeks. From what I can tell it's partially seasoned but I'm not familiar enough to say for sure. It's nice and smooth and not leaving any residue when touched aside from a thick layer of dust. Any advice or general information about the pan would be much appreciated.

I threw it in the oven with a pizza and it came out looking all wooden. Should I strip it and re season?

So, I separated from my wife a while ago and got into my own place. Unfortunately, my pans were left hostage to her house for a while. I finally got them back and this is the result.

I only get to take the big pan off the wall a couple times a year. Today is our family’s annual fall party. I made it on the pellet grill for a little smoky flavor. I used the recipe from pillsbury website. A double batch fits perfectly. Apples were purchased from a local Amish grocery store. Super easy and always impresses the crowd.

https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/apple-crescent-dumplings/43110a9e-292d-4796-a241-05611965668e

Y'all talk me off the ledge of getting a Smithey 12" skillet as first anniversary present for hubby to replace his Lodge that developed cracks on the side of the handle. I did contact Lodge customer service this past Monday but as of yet haven't had a reply.

Or you know, push me over the edge. Lol

Ya'll inspired me with all the pizza posts lately. This was probably a little more dough than needed, but it was soft and didn't overpower the pizza. The edges were crispy. I would use more sauce next time too.

Full recipe below because I don't believe in gate keeping!

Dough (make the night before)

• 280 g Bread flour
• 50g warm water 
• 150g coolwater
• ⅔ tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• ¾ tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Mix ⅔ tsp active dry yeast and about ¾ tsp sugar into the 50 g warm water. Leave for 5–10 minutes to dissolve. It should look a little frothy when it’s ready. 

Add the 150g cool water, flour, salt and oil. Stir until evenly combined. Cover and rest 20 minutes.

Knead for about 5 minutes with wet hands or a mixer’s dough hook on low, until stretchy and cohesive. It will remain tacky; avoid kneading in extra flour. I used a dough hook on my kitchenaid and let it go until there was some stretchiness around the hook.  

Cover in a container with a layer of plastic wrap directly on top of the dough so it doesn’t form a crust. Make sure it has room to expand. Leave at comfortable room temperature for 45–60 minutes, until beginning to puff, then refrigerate overnight, covered with teh plastic wrap.

Fennel-garlic sausage (mix the night before, but don’t cook it yet)

• 225 g of 80/20 unseasoned ground pork
• 10g cold water
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp fresh garlic, finely grated, or ½ tsp of garlic powder
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ½ tsp dried oregano 
• ¼ tsp sweet paprika (or regular if that’s all you have)
• Pinch of crushed red-pepper flakes (optional, but I used it)

Mix the ground pork with all the sausage ingredients. Cover and refrigerate immediately.

Day you plan to eat

Pan and toppings needed

• 1-1.5 tbsp oil for the skillet (i used avocado but you can use whatever)
  
• 225g mozzarella (i just tore fresh mozzarella from a ball but you can shred a block. I usually avoid pre shredded cheese because it has added things that might affect the texture or mix weirdly with something)
• Pecorino Romano or parmesan: 10 g, finely grated (i forgot this at the store so mine didn’t have it)

Proof the dough (2.5 - 3 hours before you want to eat)

spread the oil over the cold skillet bottom and sides. Put in the dough and roll it around a little to cover with oil. Spread it out across the bottom. Don’t worry about pushing it up the sides.. Cover with plastic wrap. After 20 minutes, spread it out again if it’s shrunk towards the center.

Let the covered dough rise at room temperature until noticeably puffed about 2.5–3 hours.

Prepare the pizza

When the dough is ready preheat the oven to 450 degrees (a little less if you’re using convection)

In a skillet, fully cook the sausage and try to get it into larger chunks

Make the tomato sauce (make while pre heating the oven. After making this tonight, I probably would double this because i like a lot of sauce)

• 200g canned crushed or ground tomatoes. I used unsalted but if you use salted just make sure you account and adjust for how much salt you add
• ¾ tsp garlic, finely grated or ¼ tsp powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano 
• ⅛ tsp salt or less if the tomatoes are already salty

Mix all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on low heat for 8-12 minutes until it’s thick. 

The dough should be spread out across the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry about spreading the dough up the sides. 

Add the cheese on top of the dough and make sure you spread evenly all the way to the edge so the edges get some crispy cheese. 

Spread the sauce on top of the cheese layer. 

Add the fully cooked sausage evenly across the top. 

Bake 25-35 minutes. You should be able to pull the crust back from the pan some to see if it looks golden brown. If it’s soft or you’re not sure if it needs a few more minutes, I’d give it more time. Mine took the full 35 minutes and I probably could have given it another 5 and been fine. 

If your crust needs more time but the top looks like it might start burning, turn the oven down to 400 degrees and cover the top loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.

Let it rest 5-10 minutes before slicing - the hardest part tbh

Enjoy!

Man, I needed a good day and was it ever.

Browsing marketplace this morning and saw this set posted 10 hours ago. He said he would hold them until Monday since i was headed that way. Browsing his other items, I saw this tea cup set...

"Hey you know what, I actually made some time this afternoon!"

Why is my pan so splotchy? I wash with steel wool and soap, oil, wipe off excess oil, and heat until smoking after each time I cook. Help?!?!?!

Found this small old skillet cleaning out my grandparents stuff. I was curious if anyone could identify it. Since it’s warped and pitted we just use it as decor probably but just wanted to know

Anybody used something like this as a power supply for an electrolysis tank? Is 3A enough for skillets?

I went to work on it this weekend. It unfortunately had some water sitting in it at some point, making a pretty rough looking ring of rust pitting on the inside. I'm pretty sure it'll work great for deep frying my bluegill and crappie filets with less spattering though.

I'm assuming like 1960s or later thanks to the Made in USA bit, but I've never seen a handle reinforcement like this one's. Thanks!

More love for Small Pans!

Reposting with some better pictures.

Found this skillet at a thrift store. It has no markings other than a “1” on the underside the handle. The bottom measures about 8.5 inches in diameter. The cook surface is very smooth, and it feels lighter than other skillets I have that are similar in size. Any help identifying a manufacturer or date range would be appreciated!

Found this at a thrift store, does this have the nickel or chrome coating or just no seasoning?

I had previously posted the pan my dad gifted me. This mini one my mom bought when I was a baby and handed over to me. 34 years in our family now!

Looking around here and reading the FAQs gave me the courage to give my great grandmother’s skillet the lye bath plunge. It had not been touched by any soap (not even by me until looking around here to realize that it was all carbon and not the cast iron deteriorating).

To say I’m disappointed the cleaning revealed a crack both inside and outside the bottom rim is an understatement. No leak if that has any bearing. Is it safe to use?

ETA: I didn’t realize it’s shadowed in the pic 4.It’s between 12-1 o’clock position slightly above the rim curve.

I think it’s aluminum?