Thanks mamaizzy, This is a yery useful post and it works! Cast iron cookware is common in yard sales and you can not beat it for durability.

That pan looks great.

I look for them when I can. Sometimes you get them really cheap or even free. I rescued a 10 inch (?? maybe even 12") fry pan made in Hamilton way back in the start of the 1900's. I looked a lot like your small top pan, all rusted, with some minor pitting. After a session with a wire wheel and a good re-conditioning, it's now one of my favourite pans that sees nearly constant use on my stove and my barbeque.

Runs With Scissors

Great post! I never wash mine out, just wipe out with a cloth or paper towel. I coat with olive oil occassionally. I also use olive oil to coat my cast iron cooktop on my cook stove. My latest purchase was a large frying pan - 25 cents at a garage sale! I also have other well worn cast iron cookwear: small frypan, small dutch oven, muffin pan, a few frying pans, kettle, newish pot set with lids, trivet - ALL bought at garage sales for $0.25-$2 (6 piece set). I love cast iron - it also boost my bloods iron content too.....

when I am done cooking, I soak in hot water for a few minutes, scrub with steel wool and dawn dish soap, rinse well, dry immediately then take paper towel drizzled with olive oil and wipe the inside of the pan. 2 years and not one rust spot! I got my cast iron pan set at Benix in ancaster for $25. Dutch ovens there are 40 something... I also have my dad's old cast iron pans. 🙂 I love em!

My grandmother gave me my first cast iron fry pan when I moved out on my own. That's what she told me as well, 'don't wash it in soap and water. Just wipe it with a damp cloth and make sure you re-coat it with oil'. My wife had almost no experience with the iron, and she washed it up like a normal dish and it dried out and started to get some spot rust. We fixed it and now she and the kids now are fully clicked into the pans.

Either way, can't go wrong with iron! Great posts. Got a little from column A and some from B. Thanks.

Runs With Scissors