Papa's Cast Iron

In 1968, my mother married my dad.  He went off to the Army and she stayed behind to "set up housekeeping.

One of the items that was gifted to her was a piece of cast iron cookware.  It had belonged to my "Papa" (Paul James Forbes) and he gave it to her.  

Cast iron was THE cookware to have as it could be seasoned and would then be non-stick and was versatile, going from the campfire, grill, oven, stovetop, and onto the table... with a potholder under it, of course.

The pan prepared many items for my Papa and was then used for many meals and many cakes of cornbread when I was growing up in my own home.

Sometime, around 2000, mom passed the pan down to me.  I used it over and over.  Burned a few things in it.  Had to re-season it.  Learned how to make cornbread in it (after trial and error).  Tossed more grilled cheese sandwiches in it than I can count.

It met near catastrophe in 2013.  My son was cleaning the kitchen and he scrubbed THE pan with a Brillo pad!  These pans are not meant to be scrubbed and especially with a Brillo pad!  I was furious but decided to use it as a teaching moment for the dear boy.  We homeschool our kiddos and a tutorial in cast iron seemed like a good lesson!

My oven needed to be cleaned and I took advantage of a break in Carolina heat and humidity of August to use the 67 degree days to open my windows and get to work.  I put THE pan and all of my other cast iron pieces in the oven upside down.  I figured if I were going to strip and season one piece, I might as well do them all.  The oven went to the "self-clean" setting and I went on about my chores.  The house was smelly and filled with smoke, at times.  Five hours later, I returned.  All the crud from the oven and pans was now on the bottom of the oven, ready to be wiped out and my pans emerged... silvery gray with a few rust spots showing through.  Brillo pad, vinegar and salt did the rest of the scrubbing until I was down to just pure silver cast iron.  Then back into the oven for 15 minutes to dry out.  Water = rust       Rust = sad cast iron

A very small amount of Crisco shortening was put on a lint free rag and the whole pan... inside, outside, handle... everything was coated in a very thin layer of shortening.  

Back into the oven for one hour.  

        Out of the oven, another thin layer.  

                 Back in the oven for 15 more minutes.

                               Out of the oven, another thin layer of shortening.

                                             Back in the oven for 15 more minutes.

Finally, one more thin coat of shortening.  The pan was rinsed and then wiped out with a paper towel and put back in the oven for a few minutes to dry out thoroughly.

Alas...  THE pan,,,  

She was a beauty and cleaned up so well.  It looks brand new and the cleaning of years of seasoning revealed some cast iron history.  There was a ring around the bottom of the pan with notches in it and a number.  I set out to explore to figure out what this unmarked pan was.

Lodge Manufacturing made (and still makes) cast iron cookware in St Pittsburg, Tennessee.  They started in 1910 and are still going in 2013.  They are actually the only company still making cast iron cookware in the United States.  Between 1940-1960, they made pans like this one.  The heat ring was inset on the bottom rather than being right at the rim.  There were three notches in the heat ring located at 9 o'clock, 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock.  These are referred to, by collectors, as "3-notch-Lodge" pieces.  In the 1940's, the pan would have had a raised molder's mark at the 6 o'clock area.  Mine did not.  Later versions of the pan would have had an "SK" for "skillet" below the number 5.  Mine did not.  This puts my pan in the 1950's time period.

Now for the number 5 on the bottom.  When cast iron began, people cooked over wood or on a wood stove.  If a foundry made cast iron wood stoves, then many times, they also made cast iron cookware.  Other foundries would have also made the cookware.  Wood stoves had "eye" numbers and the pan sizes coordinated with the eye number.  The number 5 skillet is actually about eight inches in diameter.

In 1960, Lodge began marking their pans "USA" or "Made in USA" and in 1990, they began adding a logo with their name.

Today, my pan made lunch.  The black patina of the pan is perfect and because I took the time to season it, it is non-stick does a beautiful job.  Not bad for a pan that has been through three generations and is cooking meals for the fourth!  Not bad for an item that is 63 years old and still going strong.

THE pan joins the others in the collection and someday, my son can make a sandwich, panini, or egg for his child and tell them bout his mama and her love for cast iron, her Papa, and the beauty in things of the past.

Just for those future generations...

How to clean cast iron.

1.  Remove food 

2.  Add warm water to the still hot pan and let it bubble and bowl for a minute

3.  Add a good handful of course salt to the pan

4.  Use a nylon scrubby or rag to wash the pan

5.  Rinse thoroughly

6.  Dry thoroughly

7.  Put back on stove for 30 seconds or so, just to dry out pan

8.  Put a small amount of cooking oil in the bottom of the pan (dime's worth at most)

9.  Use a wadded up paper towel to spread the oil thinly all over the inside of the pan

Do not use soap.  Do not let soak in water.  Do not put in the dishwasher.  Do not EVER use a Brillo pad.

More importantly, do not EVER EVER EVER sell at a yard sale!!!