My cast iron collection started with a desire to eat healthier. The more I learned about healthier cooking, the more I learned about how unhealthy traditional nonstick cookware is.
My husband and I decided that instead of purchasing a new set of non stick we would purchase cast iron pieces one at a time until we had a set.
My first pieces were an enameled dutch oven and an enameled skillet.
This one is an 11 inch Fancy Cook, made in china :/ I don't use this a lot, everything seems to stick to it. I do like it for small amounts of spaghetti sauce as high acid foots can strip the seasoning on seasoned cast iron.
This is a 6qt (necessary for my big family), Lodge, American made (yay!) dutch oven. These are easy to clean and maintain. I like this for chilli and spaghetti for the high acidity reason I mentioned.
After these two purchases and my unpleasant sticking experiences with the skillet, I wasn't in love with cast iron. I joined a couple groups on Facebook and learned a little about buying used and cleaning and restoring plain old cast iron. This peeked my interest again because I love all things vintage.
My first fixer upper was this little guy, I got him at a second hand shop at half off for only $2.50.
He's the perfect size for one fried egg. After going through cleaning methods and seasoning methods and feeling unsuccessful, I was ready to throw in the towel with cast iron.
My good friend, fellow collector and enabler (hehe) encouraged me to keep trying and assured me that after the learning curve I'd be in love.
Shortly after that conversation she gave me this little dutch oven for my birthday!
This one has no markings and I'm not sure what it is. It's a smaller dutch oven. I'm assuming Asian made. But it is great for boiling noodles, making small portions of things, oatmeal, etc...
A couple months later we celebrated our friendshipversary by having breakfast together and she surprised me with this guy!
This one is another modern Lodge, American made. Can be tough to clean but It grills a mean pork chop. :)
I think at this point I became a full on addict. I looked for and found a second hand larger skillet. I think I paid $10 for this one from an individual.
It's a 10 3/4 inch skillet, modern Lodge. It's a great first pan if you're looking to try cast iron. Lodge is American made and even sold at Walmart already seasoned.
I would look for cast iron at second hand stores.
I picked up this vintage Lodge biscuit pan at a thrift store for about $6.
My dad recently passed away and in his belongings was this treasure.
This skillet is about 10 3/4 inches, it's a "3 notch Lodge", you can see the 3 notches in the heat ring. The 8 is the size number indicating the size hole it fit in to on a wood stove and the makers mark right above the 8 helps date this lodge to the 1940's. This wasn't only my dad's, it was his mom's and maybe even her mom's or mother in law's. I love using this pan.
Since my dad passed I have been understandably sad. Thrifting and finding treasures makes me happy. Needless to say, my collection has grown quite a bit since then. :)
I found this along with the next few items at a local second hand shop. I don't know much anything about this company, I can't find info online. I do think it is pre 1960 because as I understand it in 1960 the government required the country of origin to be on cast iron. I had been wanting a cornbread pan and was excited to find this one.
I learned after picking up this sauce pan that sauce pans are harder to come by in cast iron. That made it an even more exciting find! There are no markings and I think it may be Asian made. Again, I believe this is pre 1960 because of the lack of country of origin.
This is a campfire dutch oven. Post 1960 Lodge based on the markings.
This one is a small "3 notch lodge" dating it to the 40's. Single fried egg size.
We also replaced a teflon electric griddle with this modern Lodge reversible griddle/grill for the stove top.
This was a learning curve, it sits over 2 burners and it takes some trial and error to figure out how to regulate heat. We are still figuring it out but it has made us a lot of bacon!
I think my next purchase was a set of modern Lodge that I got a good price on on Amazon.
I LOVE this round griddle. This is one of my most used pieces. Great for quesedillas, warming tortillas, would be good for making nachos in the oven, pancakes... the possibilities are endless!
This is just another fried egg size.
Another dutch oven.
Another basic sized skillet.
I picked up this smaller dutch oven at Ross for a good price. Plus, it's beautiful!
I don't remember the brand, Green something... But it did say made in USA.
I picked up this beautiful trivet at Cost Plus World Market (anyone else LOVE this store??).
My husband loves and also enables me in my collecting (I love him!). On one adventure I found this Wagner and paid $15. I was pretty excited!
This dates 1935-1959. Big range but lovely. This is about an 8 inch skillet.
I have 4 of these Asian made little pans. I bought them at Walmart with dessert mixes with them. I thought they'd be good for homemade personal pizzas!
My hubby came along with me to an antique mall in Reno we had never been to recently and I found several pieces I had to bring home!
I believe this trivet to be from the 1950's.
This one was so gunked I couldn't see all the markings. After I got it cleaned up it was clear it was an unmarked Wagner, pre 1960.
This one is a vintage Canadian pan. I read online that it is considered the "Griswold of Canada", so I think this is a unique find.
I love the shape of this one! Based on the help of other collectors I believe this one to be a post 1960's unmarked Birmingham Stove and Range (BSR).
And this one I believe to be an unmarked Vollrath. Pre 1960.
The same day I picked these up at thrift shops in Reno. I got each of these for about $4 a piece!
I got this snowman biscuit pan, unknown maker and origin.
Other collectors helped identify these as unmarked Wagner corncob cornbread/biscuit pans. I picked up 2!
This is just and Asian made fajita skillet but it was fun and the price was right.
I have more that are being cleaned so I can re season them, I'll list them in a separate post.
Here is a picture of my collection taken this morning, I'm overwhelmed with pride!
