Why on Earth Did I Buy This Old Lodge Skillet??? 🙄
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2021
- While I was out sourcing for my online reselling business, I spotted an old vintage cast iron skillet at a local thrift shop. Nope, it wasn't a Griswold, Wagner, BSR, or other old vintage, but a LODGE! Yes, I bought a Lodge!!! Why did I do such a thing??? Because it had a couple of things most other skillets in this size do not have, plus it had a fairly smooth cooking surface which is NOT a trademark of Lodge. Join me as I show you my small collection of number 8s and why this one offers something more...
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Thanks for another interesting video. Yours all always so fun to watch. And love the cat "interruptions." 😉 I also have several Lodges and use them often. Different pans have different preferred uses and these Lodges have their place. And #8s really do benefit from the helper handle. My research shows the dates on the various Lodge logos to be a little different from what you say here. Here are my findings for what it's worth: while the company used the Egg logo in the name Lodge in all of their labels and printed material, they didn't put their name on that actual cast iron pan until 1987. At that time they were still making the 3 notch heat ring and put Lodge with the egg in the center. In 1993 they got rid of the heat ring and used a recessed ring instead and changed to the recessed Egg logo. The first #8s did not have a helper handle for the first few years and then added one but without the name. I think the Lodge name was added to the helper handle around 2012. For whatever reason that I haven't found out more about, some of their pans during this time have a very smooth "pebbled" surface and others have a much rougher "pebbled" surface. Not as bad as sandy asian cast iron but not pleasant either.
In any event, I think you have a great collection and I love watching how much you love to cook and use your cast iron and care for your cast iron. Thanks again.
Thank you for all of that information! I read similar things and because you confirmed that they didn't add the Lodge name to the assist handles until 2012, that would make mine a bit older. I also read that the assist handles were added to skillets over 8" in 1998, so my skillet must have been made between 1998 and 2012 when the LODGE name was added to the assist handle. I don't know as much about Lodge as I do other manufacturers and I learn from my viewers in every video that I put up. Anyway, my thinking it was probably made in the late 1990s or so but I will never know. All I care about is that the surface is relatively smooth and it has the assist handle and I am so looking forward to restoring it to like new! Thanks for your supportive comments and support of my channel! 😊
Some of the prominent cast iron collectors say not to use a wire wheel as it will ruin the collectible value of the pan. I guess it you only want it for yourself it does not matter.
That's right, they certainly do. The only ones I wheeled were ones I was keeping and didn't have much extra value anyway. I would never ever do that to a pan like Griswold, Erie, Vollrath, antique Wagner or Lodge, or Wapak! So, the ones I did (modern Lodge) and a #6 Wagner are still in my collection and work great!
I got that very number 8 brand new in 2008 in Fairbanks AK so not quite the 1980s or 1990s but still sometime ago.
All I know is that you can't buy them now. The fonts are different and so is the finish. They started making these skillets in 1973 with the new egg logo and the design didn't change until 1994. It's possible mine was from that era. Does your assist handle have LODGE font on it?
@@ladylibertystacker2014 Nope it does not have the Lodge on the lil helper handle.
Interesting....
After more research on the assist handles, this is what I have discovered. Lodge began adding the assist or helper handles to their skillets in any size over an 8 inch skillet in 1998. I also discovered that Lodge did not begin adding it's name to these assist handles until 2012 or so, so if you bought yours new in 2008 it would look just like mine as you already said. So that makes my skillet as old as 1998 or as new as 2011. At the end of the day, all I care about is the relatively smooth surface of my skillet and its assist handle which are easier for me to use! $7 wasn't too bad either for someone that has a hobby of restoring cast iron! lol
@@ladylibertystacker2014 I think they added it for all those instagram photos of people making great stuff in cast iron and folks wondering where to get the cast iron.
🙋🏻, just seen your notification. It's been a while since YT let me know you had something loaded up.
YT does that sometimes. I've had some of my channels not show up either. Thanks for stopping by!
You mentioned in this video that you would make meatloaf in this skillet. So, now I have meatloaf stuck in my head. It's cold enough in the evenings here that I look forward to meals of hearty food like meatloaf.
I use my cast iron all year, but for winter, it's more comforting to use the oven more often I think.
Yes, the next time I make meat loaf, I will use this skillet as the assist handle will make it much easier to use and to transfer from the stove top to the oven! Since I am on KETO diet now, I have a way I make it that is extremely low carb and no one would know the difference if I didn't tell them. Hint: the secret is what I use for a bread crumb substitute! 😉
@@ladylibertystacker2014 I forgot to mention that I have made meatloaf in my cast iron. I'm almost to the point of getting rid of my glass baking dishes and loaf pans I have not used for several years. Last time I made meatloaf, it was in my 3 quart dutch oven. But I honestly would rather use my 2 quart dutch oven (that I didn't have when I made meatloaf last time) or one of my skillets. I'm not overly picky about using one piece of cast iron over the other because I usually get great results for all. But it's important to me to use all my cast iron because a time will come when that dutch oven, or whatever, is being used for another part of the meal. I'm trying to make myself as easily versatile as my cast iron by always switching things up. Different recipes, different numbers of people to feed, etc. With my collection of cast iron now at about 30 pieces, it feels more fun to rotate through them. I hope that makes sense. I have been told, "All that isn't necessary. You only need one or two!" far too many times. I cook all my meals, so the days of only one or two pieces I can still remember as not being much fun. I invested in tools and cast iron to make avoiding restaurants, boring food, and processed food a lifestyle I can be happy about adopting. I'm always learning and have no regrets - even for the mistakes, because I am definitely not a chef.
I did find your meatloaf video. But I agree that some foods are easier to handle with the assist handles. Having a lot of Lodge cast iron myself, can't tell you how often I appreciate those handles because of health issues.
Thanks again!
You are more than welcome! I totally get making most of your meals to avoid unhealthy and often expensive restaurant meals and processed foods! I do all the cooking in my household as hubby doesn't know how to do much of anything in the kitchen except pour coffee! lol That said, I do have a fairly active social life which means eating in restaurants a lot. I do my best to pick the healthiest keto options but at least I have been continuing to lose weight and feel great. Close friends will eat where I have choices, but when a larger group goes somewhere that there are no options (Olive Garden for example) I opt out and eat at home.
With 44 pieces in my collection, I too like to swap out pieces to rotate them, but I do have a few favorites (my newly done Lodge has become a go to in my kitchen because of that handle) I use again and again. I agree that a real cook can hardly exist on just two pieces of cast iron. I use many and sometimes more than one for a meal! Anyway, thanks for your support of my channel and happy cast iron cooking! 😊
Hola Miss LLS and everyone ♥️
Hola Mr FS. Hope you and black belt have been doing well! 😉
Hard to beat 7 bucks! good deal!
Thanks Mike - that's what I said too! lol
LLS, if ‘80-90’s skillets are Vintage, Then are you and I “Antiques?” 🤷♂️
No snarky, just pulling your chain a bit. 😉
Technically, vintage is anything over 20 years old. So, if this skillet was produced in 1998 which it very well may have (that's when assist handles were added on any skillet over 8 inches), then I have a vintage skillet! Most modern skillets now produced in this size have LODGE engraved on the assist handles. Since mine wasn't, it appeared to be an older skillet, plus the surface was smoother than my #10 Lodge purchased brand new in 2016. Anyway, based on this definition, we are definitely antiques! lol Just pulling your chain right back! 😉 As a side note, I have no idea when my skillet was made and I did some research too. 🤷🏻♂️
I'll buy "new" stuff if the price is right 🍳🍳
The problem with new Lodge is the surface is much rougher than the vintage Lodge, including Lodge made in the 1980s-90s. The only exception to that is the Blacklock 96 chef's skillet made by Lodge which I bought a couple of years ago due to it's lighter weight and smoother surface. The price was good, but higher than the standard line of Lodge skillets. It doesn't have an assist handle, but it isn't needed due to the lighter weight.
@@ladylibertystacker2014 power tools are generally frowned upon for vintage restoration, but I see nothing wrong with smoothing out "newer" pieces that are for personal use 🍳🍳
And that's exactly what I did with my other two Lodge pieces that were in this video. As you could tell if you watched long enough, my No 10 or 12" skillet was as black as could be so I use it much more than the No 8 without the assist handle, but both of these were wheeled for my personal use. My comment in the video suggested that I might not have to do this with the one I just picked up because it felt smooth to me without any indication that someone wheeled it before. We shall see once I remove it from the lye bath. That said, I NEVER wheel anything truly collectible like Griswold, antique Wagner, Puritan, Vollrath and the like. That would feel like stripping a piece of antique furniture - generally frowned upon like you said.
I have a small cast iron skillet that I can't find on the Internet.
OK. Is it vintage?
@@ladylibertystacker2014 I don't know. It's marked with a 3 on the top of the handle and when you turn it over the heat ring is raised and looks like a Mercedes Benz logo. It also is marked 6 1/2 INCH SKILLET and it has a P on the handle.
I know that piece but I can't remember who made it. I will need to look that up later on today when I get a window of time. Thanks for the description though.
@Jeff Guillory I know of 2 brands that had that propeller type heat ring. Wagner and BSR. Only Wagners had the size number also on top of the handle so I think that's what you probably have. Wagner made many pans in the late 40s and 50s that did not have their name on the pan, it was on a paper label. Their pans in the 60s were still different so I would guess yours to be 60-80 yrs old! If you google "wagner cast iron with mercedes logo" you should find what you're looking for. I saw a #3 there that probably matches yours. I would guess it's quite rare. I have seen a lot of unmarked Wagners but never this style. Very Cool!
@Cast Iron Fan @Jeff Guillory I "googled" just what CIF said and I couldn't find that many with that logo. Of the ones I found, I only saw a No 8 which was a Wagner with the number of the skillet on the top of the handle. I do happen to know that the font 6 1/2 INCH SKILLET was used by Wagner in their unmarked cast iron and the mold mark (B, P, A, X, etc) was also on the added to the handles. My belief is that you (Jeff) have a very rare Wagner. Any truly rare finds that like rarely leave my collection. Good for you!