I have been an aspiring “home-chef” for decades and one of my favorite pieces of equipment in the kitchen is the classic cast iron skillet. After recently watching Pioneer Woman make a pizza in a skillet, it got me thinking of some of my past favorites that I have prepared in my cast iron beauties!! I have attached pics of cherry wood smoked bacon, cinnamon and pecan sweet rolls, and my “Big Chocolate Chip Cookie”.

I’m always looking for great ideas. If you enjoy cast iron skillet cooking please share some of your favorites!!

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Cellar Hound I think we have the same kitchen!

Virtually all I use is cast iron. I did buy the rack to help me stack pans off the stove when I need a burner—I normally just leave my pans on the stove.

I am going to invest in some cast iron pots too, just have not pulled the trigger yet.

One of my son’s favorites—put your favorite pasta on to boil. In medium cast iron pan throw in a 1/2, 3/4 stick of salted butter and some minced garlic. Lightly brown garlic/melt butter. Pour in a cup or two of heavy creamy. Then stir in some fresh grated cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Asiago. A cup or so. Let melt, stir, salt and pepper.

Drain pasta then dump in the cast iron pan with the cream sauce. Gently stir to coat pasta. Serve. Entire pan full will be eaten by a growing 16 year old boy in less than 15 minutes.

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No school like the old school.

Believe it or not, that pasta combo is one of my favorites. I also like to add some fresh chopped sage and serve it with a pounded, breaded, and fried boneless chicken breast!!

Thanks for sharing. The cast iron skillet is amazing! I am also a big fan of solid copper, tin lined sauce pans. Nothing like them for making great sauces!

After inheriting three generations of cast iron skillets, I added the big Lodge chicken fryer version shown above with the pecan sweet rolls.

To bring it all together, I recondition the old skillets. From left to right the reconditioned skillets are the following: (Mom’s) 1956 Wagner, (Grandmother’s) 1940 Griswold, (Great Grandmother’s) 1914 Wagner.

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Old cast iron skillets are the way to go.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

My most used pan in the kitchen is a Griswold #8 skillet with the self basting lid. Number two most used is their #8 griddle. There are several other cast iron pieces but these are my favorites.
The advantages of cast iron are even heat distribution and repairable (reseasonable) nonstick surface not to mention incredible long useful life. It’s not unusual to be using pans today that are over one hundred years old and are still as good as new.
But they are heavy! My skillet with lid weighs just over nine pounds.

I'm definitely coming over tonight to allow you the opportunity of demonstrating your skills in person. I'll bring beer.

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I only take a knee for God

You are absolutely correct on all points! As far as the weight.......I will continue to lift the heavy weight until I can no longer do so.... At that point, I will pass my collection on to the next generation as to continue the tradition.

I even use it for my Jimmy Dean biscuits! Spray the pan with a shot of Pam, separate the bisquit place the bisquit half's down on the pan and the sausage, egg and cheese together meat down with egg and cheese on top set stove on medium and cover pan with a top. 10 minutes and I like it much better than microwaved.

Here’s a couple more for the party....

Skillet fried Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto and onions

Wild mushroom and gruyere soufflé

Skillet fried fingerling potatoes with rosemary and onions

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This sounds awesome!! And fast.

Here is a picture of me cutting up a roast for a chili cookoff. To the right is a #14 Griswold skillet that I used for browning up the meat, peppers and onions. It is big enough to hold 3 onions, 3 peppers and 3 pounds of cubed meat. Part of the fun is putting on a show for the crowd browning up my stuff in a 100 year old skillet.

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#14 Griswold is a serious skillet!! Looks like the right equipment for the job. I can imagine that it draws the attention of others as you have said. I know it would catch my eye. Thanks for the pics!

All those pans look nice but I don't see one that can put out............................

Aebleskivers !!

Discovered cast iron cooking somewhat late in life. Hard to understand why there is any other method. But I mostly just use mine to fry up potatoes and onions and to make big, unhealthy patty melts. For those I melt some butter and saute a couple of sweet onions for about 35-45 minutes. Set aside and wipe out pan. Take 2 lbs of fresh ground chuck. Season with black pepper, onion powder and Worcestershire. Divide into four patties (I know, that's 1/2 pound each). Cook about 3 minutes per side. Wipe pan. Assemble sandwiches using sourdough bread, with a spread on the inner side of each slice made from mayo, dijon mustard and paprika. Cheddar cheese on BOTH side of the patty (done properly that's two slices of cheddar side-by-side, for a total of four per sandwich). Don't forget the onions (I did last time). Melt butter in the pan and grill to golden brown. At first I was skeptical about the sauce, but it really is what makes the sandwich.

John,
Maybe you need a #14 Griswold like I have.

Don't let my boys' Scoutmaster see the first pic. He'd have your hide for looking at the camera while using a knife.

WOW!! That sounds amazing!! It wouldn’t be right to make them with anything less than 1/2 pound each.

This guy does some great stuff:

My go-to skillet is a Griswold #8 hand-me-down from the '20s-'30s.

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John

Ohhhhh. Yeh!!

I have a Griswold No. 3 and an unmarked No. 10 that my mom acquired around the time she was married in 1950. They had not been used in several decades. My new home has a gas stove so I cleaned them up, re-seasoned them and put them to good use. Nothing like a cast iron pan for certain types of cooking.
Speaking of pasta, have you ever tried fried leftover spaghetti ? Put some butter in the pan, get it good and hot and stir in the leftover spaghetti with just a little sauce. Stir until it is good and crispy, then serve with some grated Parmesan.

Cookin' fry bread in my favorite cast iron skillet.


I have no idea who made it. It has no makers mark.


It's from my wife's side of the family so it may have come from Italy when her family first came to america. I do like the wooden handle.

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Keep on Chooglin'

I’ve never tried it but I will put it on the list. Sounds good with the Parmesan.

Very cool pan Snubbyfan. I can definitely see where the wooden handle would come in handy.

Sherman, set the Wayback Machine!

My dad used to do that for us. He would just mix the leftover pasta with the sauce and put it in the fridge. The next morning he would fry it into palm sized slabs until crispy and slap it between bread for my school lunch.

I like it and still do it here for the grandkids. They like it, too.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

My collection is all Griwald and Wagner except a well seasoned Lodge that is extremely shallow and makes a great pan for frying eggs.
I don’t cook in anything else except my stainless vegetable steamer or one fo my grills. Tossed all my other cookware out 30 years ago.

Like most of you guys, we cook strictly with cast iron. Just yesterday my wife said we had 30 fry pans in the kitchen. I cleaned four Wagners the other day( two #8's, a #6, and #5) and took them to a small country gun shop. They tend to sell any cast iron the put on the shelf. For years we collected cast iron, bought it a yard sales, Good Will store, etc. Lots of different brands, such as Piqua, Victor, Lodge, Grisswold, and Wagner. Sure has been fun.

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Kevin in Oregon

My dad swore by Griswold cookware; even had a Griswold meat grinder that we clamped to the table. It is cast aluminum, I think. I've got quite a bit of different pieces and some two & three burner cook tops, waffle iron, etc. Also some newer Lodge and I think a Wagner. My dad freaked out one day when my sisters washed a well-seasoned pan in soapy water! They learned that was wrong!

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Waiting For The Sun.

My wife likes to cook, but not wash the pans for days, sometimes a week.
She purchased a cast iron pan because she had read so many good things about them.
The first one was ruined in about 2 weeks.
Now she washes them within an our or two of cooking.

One of the most unusual murder cases I've ever participated in involved a Lodge cast iron skillet. The call came from a 18 year old guy who claimed he found his 36 year old girlfriend dead in bed early one morning in the trailer they lived in together. He was crying and talking about how much he loved her and how he wanted to find out what she died from. While waiting for the forensics crew to arrive I took a look at the forehead of the dead woman. I could see imprinted the letters LOD backwards on her forehead. Another officer arrived and I told him to cuff the guy. I then went to the kitchen and found a Lodge skillet with bacon grease in it. The guy had hit her with the skillet and then cooked something to eat before cleaning the place up. I later found bloody clothes and sheets hidden in the woods behind the trailer.

Back to the original post, I have an extensive collection of Griswold skillets and other cast iron Griswold products. No Lodge products, especially the one mentioned above. I especially like making cornbread, size depending on how many folks are coming to eat. I also fry a lot of fish and game in my skillets. For something that hasn't been made since around 1957 Griswold is a very good product. I have several over 100 years old that still work very well.

I inherited my great-grandmothers Husqvarna skillet. I made bacon in it a week ago. It is truly far better quality than the new super-duper nonstick stuff from the store.

My dad recalled his father making french toast in it when he was a boy. It was cooked in bacon grease. I had a try at it and found out that it was far better than what I had been making with PAM. Bacon grease may not be the most healthy, but dang! it tastes so good

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On the Oak Savannah

I always said that if a missile ever hit my house, when they sifted the ashes they would find the Griswold skillets and Pfalzgraf dishes.

I only cook in cast iron. I have an omlette pan that is phenomenal, but for some reason I really enjoy the mini pans I use them in the toaster oven. Eggs for sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, muffin tops, garlic cloves, individual meat loaf. Etc

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One of the issues with new cast iron is the lack of finishing steps. They do not start out as smooth on the cook surface. This takes more effort to season. I rehabilitated a Griswold #8 waffle iron which was rusted but not pitted. The end result was quite nice.

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Common sense isn't.

What was it Saddam Husain use to say before he got himself hung? This will be “The Mother of All Battles,” I think.

That #14 Griswold is the mother of all skillets!

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No school like the old school.

FWIW. I took one of my mini lodge pans and spent a lot of time finishing the inside until it was smooth. Then re seasoned it and it performs no differently than any of the others.


My only complaint with the new stuff is it is noticibly heavier. I’m Leary of old cast iron because I’ve seen too many lead ingots shaped like frying pans.

Beginnings of Beef Bourguignon in old cast iron pot.

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I'll add a pic after I put this up. Typin' is a lot easier on the laptop than the i-phone for these old hands.

My paternal grandmother was born circa 1890. At some point not too long after she married Gramps she got this black cast iron skillet. My earliest memories of standing at her feet as she fried chicken she was using this skillet and it was well broken in then.

When my parents married she gave it to my mother as "something old". When I married my first wife in 1965 my mother gave it to us as something old. I don't think there is much in my kitchen that I use any more that that skillet. I only use it for 4 things. Fried chicken, chicken fried steak, fried fish, and cornbread.

I use an air fryer for french fries these days for health issues but sometime...just now and then I gotta fry up some 'taters and relive the good old days.

I have other cast iron cook wear but I don't use it much. It's okay but it just lacks something that I get with that old black iron.The food is unbeatable and every time it brings back a flood of precious memories of my Nannie and my Mom. Now my kids will some day get it and perhaps remember standing at my feet as I fried chicken and fish.

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Real men love cats!

Your little pans are very cool....

Great story, Walkin Jack! I inherited Mom's cast iron. I remember her cooking the best meals with it. My favorites were chicken and dumplings, and her oven-fried chicken. Funny thing, I have her cookware and her recipes. I watched her cook these meals. Heck, she taught me to cook. But do you think I can replicate her cooking? Nope. There's something missing. Something not on any recipe. I bet you know what it is too.

I use her Wagner cast iron all the time. Over the years I've added a few Griswold pieces of my own. But hers is the best.

You know how we're told not to use soap on cast iron? Well, I don't - just hot water. But I have two No. 5 Wagners that Mom used to cook her eggs. A couple eggs fried in Fleishman's margarine (and toast) were her usual breakfast. Then, the cast iron skillet went in the dishwasher. The DISHWASHER! Those two No. 5's are jet black and slicker than deer guts on a doorknob! Might be the dishwasher and margarine treatment, I dunno. Flies in the face of "don't use soap" but it sure didn't harm these two.

I am almost cast iron exclusive in my kitchen. My every day go-to pan is my Griswold #11 which has been in the family longer than I. My second favorite is a no name 'gated' pan about 9 inches that dates back to I have been told the 1860's. If I didn't use my cast iron for supper we probably ate out.

Here's a shot of the bottom of my Griswold 11, and several in progress renderings:
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New York strip steaks
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Scrapple and eggs
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Shrimp, scallops, and crab meat in sauce (usually served over pasta)
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What time is breakfast tomorrow morning?

"But do you think I can replicate her cooking? Nope. There's something missing. Something not on any recipe. I bet you know what it is too."

Yes I do. I certainly do.

Krogen, I have also been told never to use soap on cast iron. But once a years or so I do use Dawn to remove any build up that might be going on. I immediately re-season them. That's what mom did. Don't know what Nannie did but what ever it was worked for her.

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Real men love cats!

My son has a large Lodge pan. Excellent for making a batch of spaghetti sauce.

Once. Too much trouble to clean and get right. So I'm back to a big Circulon non-stick pan. Easy.

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I've still got it made.

PS - I use a gas grill, not charcoal, too.

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I've still got it made.

My Grandmother was heartbroken in 1957 when Griswold folded up their tent. She had friends that worked in the Erie plant and used their cookware a lot. I have one Griswold, but unfortunately, not from her.

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Foster Positivity.

Not a Skillet.......but I thought I would share a pic of my cast iron garlic roaster....... It’s awesome! Some salt, pepper, and olive oil......a little roasting....and you have spreadable roasted garlic.

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When I started acquiring old cast iron cookware, I kind of went whole hog and started acquiring reference books, including a replica 1918 Griswold catalog. It is amazing that what were probably considered common household implements are now going for over 100 times what they cost at the time they were produced, and we are happy to pay that enhanced price.

Griswold skillets, Colt 1911 pistols. 1917 Smith & Wesson .45 revolvers. 1903 Springfield rifles and 1917 Enfield rifles. All designed over 100 years ago and I have them to use.

I use Griswold and Wagner skillets a lot. My favorite is a large logo Griswold #10 griddle. It works great for warming up tortillas.