Since the making of this video I have learned a technique to avoid flash rust. I hand dry the piece as soon as possible and immediately apply my seasoning oil. I do not wait until it is bone dry. I have a new video on how to avoid flash rust. Please check it out when you get time because it goes more into detail. This technique has saved me a lot of trouble and completely avoids the problem of flash rust. Here is a link to the Flash Rust video. th-cam.com/video/brl7RrgHBzE/w-d-xo.html
I just did a lodge #10 ingot from the Goodwill. I washed it in cold water but I put ice in the skillet and let it cool and then hand dried it pretty well and stuck in the 200 degree oven. Very little of any flash rust came about.
I enjoy watching you video's and the fact that there's so much we agree on when it comes to taken care or cast iron. There are somethings i have learned new materials to use. Crisco was what my great-grandmother and everyone else used when i was a kid growing up but i was never stuck on there was no other oil to use. I'm waiting on my easy beezy to come through the mail
I finally purchased my first BS&R skillet a century series #10 at $55. It's in great condition, sits flat and i can see every milled or ground line on the inside of it. I still stripped it and reseasoned it. I have to or i feel creepy using them. I buy them for cooking more than just a collection piece.
I try to show as many methods as a possibly can that is safe for cast iron cookware. My preferred method is electrolysis but everyone does not have the ability to setup thatkindofa system. A vinegar water solution only works for rust while a lye tank only works for organics. The electrolysis system works for both.
Somebody should put a chart of seasoning products together in scientific order of efficiency and desirability. Maybe it has already been done? It's obvious there are a few items that are top notch for the job with a whole string of things that do work, but with less efficiency.
I get the best results when I just do one piece at a time. It seems like it goes twice as fast with one piece. A few times that I have tried to do multiple pieces, I spend more time adjusting them. Of course if you have them separated so they get the same amount of exposure fan you would probably be okay with increasing amperage. Only one at a time works best.
Well done! I recently got reacquainted with cast iron cookware after mother mother got rid of some pieces she had bought. I cannot remember why exactly as she was a southerner. The pieces as I remember rusted. It is vague. In any event, I bout several Lodge pieces which I like very much. Watching various videos from the cast iron community, I am slowly learning about vintage pieces. Watching this restoration was wonderful; but I would be afraid to try this myself.
Restoring a piece of cast iron can seem a little intimidatingly but not as hard when you get started on the right foot. A little research goes a long way.
So do you prefer buzzywax or crisbee ? I've been using crisbee and it's been good. I'm not sure they're worth it though. Peanut oil seems to work pretty well anyway
My personal preference is BuzzyWaxx but tjey are both great products. The only thing is Crisbee recommends a seasoning temperature that is less than the smoke point. I think that this makes the seasoning not cure as well.
How often does one need to replace water/lye in lye tank. Will the lye eventually eat through the tank? After emptying tank, shd I wash out the tank or just refill? How bad does the cast iron have to be to use the lye tank? New to all of this
Newbie, and new sub here. I just learned from your video that I found a Century series #14 just like yours!.. It was part of a Craig's List find of a lot of 4 including a Made in USA in center #10 DO (dutch oven?) with a D at bottom otherwise unmarked... a #10 three notch Lodge with no made in us or SK that I can find (although still pretty cruddy)...and a 6 1/2 inch that's too cruddy to tell any markings right now.......... All for.............Get this!.................$20.00!!!.............SCORE!!!!!
@@craftsman673 Mine was a transparent green quilted maple 6 Carvin string. I miss it occasionally but bass is not my main instrument. I have a cheaper backup bass though. It's a Yamaha and not so pretty. The Carvin was a beautiful.
@@castIroncookware I've bought and sold a few over the years, but my main go to was a 4 string Ibanez in pearl white that I had almost 20 years. The only thing I have now is a electric blue Ibanez acoustic that I got for H.S. graduation. I picked it up yesterday for the first time in months...boy have I gotten rustier than a #8 Griswold left out in the rain for days. Lol.
I have a large skillet I think might be a Lodge I’ve had it for 30 yrs now. It has typed style markings: at 12 o’clock opposite side of handle 14 then right under is bold type: S K in the center of the skillet is typed in bold MADE IN THE USA a ring around the bottom 3/8” from the side with 3 notches at 9 12 3 o’clock. The other skillet type style: 8 next to it H on the same side of the handle. No ring around the bottom. May I ask what these skillets are please. Thank you.
The first one sounds like a Lodge. They were the only manufacturer that I know of to use SK (short for skillet) on their pieces. The other one is almost impossible without a picture. 8 would be the skillet size, and H is generally just the mold run indicator. Many manufacturers used both of those.
After watching a few more of your in the wild videos I’ve learned the 8 H might be a BSR. The handle has a tear drop hanging hole. The back side of the tear drop is bevel shaped. There is a ridge (pyramid shape) from the point of the tear drop to the side of the skillet. It’s been in my Wife’s family for more then 80 years. My wife is 61 and can remember it as a child at 6yrs old. May have been bought through either Montgomery Wards or J C Penny’s. Also a NO. 9 HANDLE GRIDDLE GRISWOLD ERIE PA. 609 G probably about the same age. Neither of these have made in USA so as you stated pre ‘64 Thank you for your response. Oh FYI after watching your how to biscuit recipe I’ve finally got the ataboy from all family member. I’m 63 been married 42 yrs and been making either hockey pucks or very dry n crumbly so called biscuits. The family appreciates you for my biscuits. Lol and so do I. Many thanks to you and your videos. I’ve been a subscriber for a while now. Look forward to your next video! 🤙🏻👍🏻🤟🏻👌🏻
I learned so much lately from your videos and really appreciate what you are sharing of amply experiences and techniques. I have a question from this video about the coloring of the pan after it is water down with Dawn and left try. How long should I let it try out on its own? Also, if it starts to show the yellow colors, these are not rust, are they? what should I do? just apply buzzywaxx on it and then oven bake? thanks!
Since the making of this video I have learned a technique to avoid flash rust. I hand dry the piece as soon as possible and immediately apply my seasoning oil. I do not wait until it is bone dry. I have a new video on how to avoid flash rust. Please check it out when you get time because it goes more into detail. This technique has saved me a lot of trouble and completely avoids the problem of flash rust.
Hey another Great video! Thanks for doing these! One idea for using BIG skillets is to preheat in oven, then transfer to stovetop. Then no warping. Keep up great work sir!
As a precaution some drain openers do contain Sodium Hydroxide (lye), but may contain other ingredients as well. Make sure that you purchase 100% Sodium Hydroxide. Red Devil is a good brand that is 100% lye.
To keep the wife happy and for me to have a nice clean kitchen to cook I have a dedicated large thick bath towel I cover the stove top when I season and a plastic tub in the sink to avoid defacing the enamel. when the cast Iron does scratch or stain it I use Barkeepers Friend to clean and a 50/50 water/bleach mix to help whiten it again!
I just acquired one of these monsters in the wild. Unfortunately, mine has some cooking surface pitting and a casting flaw along the right side that is not handsome but not serious. It also has what could either be a utensil/tool gouge line or (gulp) a crack. I've posted some closeup photos on the Facebook group, asking for opinions. If you could look at those and weigh in, I would be most appreciative. I'm hopeful but prepared for the worst so...
Hey- The flash rust probably occours because the iron is reacting to the minerals and metals collected in your hot water tank- from heating and evaporation over the years- those impurities are higher in your hot water line and come out in the water- cold water is fresh and so no concentration.
Cast Iron Cookware I have passed on many BSR skillets in the past, not knowing what they were. After a few of your videos, I might pick up some BSR when I see them! Your enthusiasm for BSR is infectious!
I think that the cornbread skillet was in a class of its own. The cornbread skillet Pat. Pending was made from 1967-1969 and the Made in USA from 1970-1980’s. Here is some information that I got from the Cast Iron Chaos webpage: The story of the cornbread skillet, according to retired Birmingham Stove & Range President Saunders Jones, went: "Billy Washburn was the guy in charge of the production line [Foundry Foreman], and his wife wanted that cornbread skillet for a long time but no one ever listened. Finally, one day they decided to indulge him and the thing took off! They couldn't make enough of them!" Mrs. Washburn wanted a "cornbread skillet" that would cook cornbread with a crust on all sides of each piece, so her husband used his position as one of the Foundry's Foremen and made a handmade pattern. He experimented with it in 1967, and it became their best seller. The cornbread skillet was initially produced with a PAT. PENDING ("patent pending") mark, and not a MADE IN USA mark. This was done in an attempt to prevent other companies from producing their own imitation versions of this pan; though the attempt was unsuccessful. 1967 to 1968 were record-setting years for BS&R, largely due to the sales of this skillet. The popularity of the cornbread skillet soon enticed rival Lodge Manufacturing to produce their own sectioned "wedge pan" in imitation of the cornbread skillet, which was introduced "only three to four months" (Saunders) after BS&R began producing the cornbread skillet. The Lodge skillet had a hole in the middle, which made it lighter than the BS&R pan. When BS&R saw their skillet being imitated, they removed the PAT. PENDING mark and replaced it with the standard MADE IN USA mark, in the early 1970s.
Great skillet, I hope I find one some day. I'd love to make pizza in cast iron. I found a skillet in the thrift shop last week that I was sure was going to be a "BSR Red Mountain" based on the handle ,heat ring, and verry smooth cooking surface. After removing the thick layer of crud from the bottom it's marked "10-Chef" it looks to be a number 8 to me, I guess it's probably 10 inches. Anyone know if this is actually BSR and what era? The heat ring is very worn leading me to think it's older.
That sounds like a great find. I think that a century chef skillet is more desirable than a #8 RM. They are a little harder to find and I think maybe worth a little more too.
Hi Stephen, I usually cook with olive oil at a lower temperature. Is there any problem using the Buzzy Wax to season a cleaned up skillet then using the olive oil to cook with? Thanks for your previous advice!
No, there is no problem at all. You can use any combination that you would like when it comes to seasoning oil and cooking oil. Want your seasoning layer polymerizes oh, it's not considered oil anymore but a polymer layer on your cast-iron. Any kind of oil that you would like to use to cook with is up to you.
Please stop calling restoration. Cast iron people make this so much more difficult than it needs to be... Cast iron people try to get pans cheap because "they are going to require so much work to clean them up". Bullsh#t!
when making an electrolysis tank and using a barrel,,, could you use a piece of concrete wire mesh and let it go all the way around the barrel as your anode? thanks jerry strickland Arkansas
That will work great. Just make sure that it is not coated or galvanized with some unknown material. It might not last long but it would be a cheap I used to replace.
Since the making of this video I have learned a technique to avoid flash rust. I hand dry the piece as soon as possible and immediately apply my seasoning oil. I do not wait until it is bone dry. I have a new video on how to avoid flash rust. Please check it out when you get time because it goes more into detail. This technique has saved me a lot of trouble and completely avoids the problem of flash rust. Here is a link to the Flash Rust video. th-cam.com/video/brl7RrgHBzE/w-d-xo.html
Cast Iron Cookware ..... makes sense when you think about it.....just never have thought about doing it that way
I just did a lodge #10 ingot from the Goodwill. I washed it in cold water but I put ice in the skillet and let it cool and then hand dried it pretty well and stuck in the 200 degree oven. Very little of any flash rust came about.
Cast Iron Cookware l
Congratulations on your find and at such an incredible price
I enjoy watching you video's and the fact that there's so much we agree on when it comes to taken care or cast iron. There are somethings i have learned new materials to use. Crisco was what my great-grandmother and everyone else used when i was a kid growing up but i was never stuck on there was no other oil to use. I'm waiting on my easy beezy to come through the mail
This is a great tutorial for a newbie. Thank you so much for the addiction of saving Cast Iron you have started
You are so welcome!
@@castIroncookware I'll be in Alabama outside Huntsville in January, would love to meet up if able?
Enjoyed this Video
Thank you so much and I do really appreciate you watching.
What does a lye tank do that an e-tank won't do?
Most collectors use a Lye Tank for pieces that are waiting there turn in the E-Tank. Giving them a head start.
What does electrolysis do? Thx. Greatvideo
Cold water closes the pores of the cast iron just as hot water opens the pores, just as our pores do lol
I finally purchased my first BS&R skillet a century series #10 at $55. It's in great condition, sits flat and i can see every milled or ground line on the inside of it. I still stripped it and reseasoned it. I have to or i feel creepy using them. I buy them for cooking more than just a collection piece.
Please explain what the various treatments do.
The lye tank removes organics (old seasoning) and the electrolysis removes organics and rust.
I thought you used vinegar and water 50/50
I try to show as many methods as a possibly can that is safe for cast iron cookware. My preferred method is electrolysis but everyone does not have the ability to setup thatkindofa system. A vinegar water solution only works for rust while a lye tank only works for organics. The electrolysis system works for both.
Somebody should put a chart of seasoning products together in scientific order of efficiency and desirability. Maybe it has already been done? It's obvious there are a few items that are top notch for the job with a whole string of things that do work, but with less efficiency.
If you use an 18 gal tub and switch to a 36 gal tub to do two pieces do you have to double the amperage?
I get the best results when I just do one piece at a time. It seems like it goes twice as fast with one piece. A few times that I have tried to do multiple pieces, I spend more time adjusting them. Of course if you have them separated so they get the same amount of exposure fan you would probably be okay with increasing amperage. Only one at a time works best.
Do you ever sell any of your collection?
Not very often. Only when I have duplicates.
Beautiful. Great sharing.
Well done! I recently got reacquainted with cast iron cookware after mother mother got rid of some pieces she had bought. I cannot remember why exactly as she was a southerner. The pieces as I remember rusted. It is vague. In any event, I bout several Lodge pieces which I like very much. Watching various videos from the cast iron community, I am slowly learning about vintage pieces. Watching this restoration was wonderful; but I would be afraid to try this myself.
Restoring a piece of cast iron can seem a little intimidatingly but not as hard when you get started on the right foot. A little research goes a long way.
that's a happy collector right there, you would have thought he was WWE champ displaying his Belt holding those pans. good man.
So do you prefer buzzywax or crisbee ? I've been using crisbee and it's been good. I'm not sure they're worth it though. Peanut oil seems to work pretty well anyway
My personal preference is BuzzyWaxx but tjey are both great products. The only thing is Crisbee recommends a seasoning temperature that is less than the smoke point. I think that this makes the seasoning not cure as well.
Thanks for sharing
You are so very welcome.
How often does one need to replace water/lye in lye tank. Will the lye eventually eat through the tank? After emptying tank, shd I wash out the tank or just refill? How bad does the cast iron have to be to use the lye tank? New to all of this
Newbie, and new sub here. I just learned from your video that I found a Century series #14 just like yours!.. It was part of a Craig's List find of a lot of 4 including a Made in USA in center #10 DO (dutch oven?) with a D at bottom otherwise unmarked... a #10 three notch Lodge with no made in us or SK that I can find (although still pretty cruddy)...and a 6 1/2 inch that's too cruddy to tell any markings right now.......... All for.............Get this!.................$20.00!!!.............SCORE!!!!!
AWESOME! All of that together sounds like a $200 find. Great haul.
@@castIroncookware Cool Thanks! I sold my Bass a while back too. I guess I have a new hobby now. Thanks for all your videos!
@@craftsman673 Mine was a transparent green quilted maple 6 Carvin string. I miss it occasionally but bass is not my main instrument. I have a cheaper backup bass though. It's a Yamaha and not so pretty. The Carvin was a beautiful.
@@castIroncookware I've bought and sold a few over the years, but my main go to was a 4 string Ibanez in pearl white that I had almost 20 years. The only thing I have now is a electric blue Ibanez acoustic that I got for H.S. graduation. I picked it up yesterday for the first time in months...boy have I gotten rustier than a #8 Griswold left out in the rain for days. Lol.
@@craftsman673 I know what you mean. It's bad when you have forgotten more than you remember.
I have a large skillet I think might be a Lodge I’ve had it for 30 yrs now. It has typed style markings: at 12 o’clock opposite side of handle 14 then right under is bold type: S K in the center of the skillet is typed in bold MADE IN THE USA a ring around the bottom 3/8” from the side with 3 notches at 9 12 3 o’clock.
The other skillet type style: 8 next to it H on the same side of the handle. No ring around the bottom.
May I ask what these skillets are please. Thank you.
The first one sounds like a Lodge. They were the only manufacturer that I know of to use SK (short for skillet) on their pieces. The other one is almost impossible without a picture. 8 would be the skillet size, and H is generally just the mold run indicator. Many manufacturers used both of those.
After watching a few more of your in the wild videos I’ve learned the 8 H might be a BSR. The handle has a tear drop hanging hole. The back side of the tear drop is bevel shaped. There is a ridge (pyramid shape) from the point of the tear drop to the side of the skillet. It’s been in my Wife’s family for more then 80 years. My wife is 61 and can remember it as a child at 6yrs old.
May have been bought through either Montgomery Wards or J C Penny’s. Also a NO. 9 HANDLE GRIDDLE GRISWOLD ERIE PA.
609 G probably about the same age. Neither of these have made in USA so as you stated pre ‘64
Thank you for your response. Oh FYI after watching your how to biscuit recipe I’ve finally got the ataboy from all family member. I’m 63 been married 42 yrs and been making either hockey pucks or very dry n crumbly so called biscuits. The family appreciates you for my biscuits. Lol and so do I.
Many thanks to you and your videos. I’ve been a subscriber for a while now. Look forward to your next video! 🤙🏻👍🏻🤟🏻👌🏻
I learned so much lately from your videos and really appreciate what you are sharing of amply experiences and techniques. I have a question from this video about the coloring of the pan after it is water down with Dawn and left try. How long should I let it try out on its own? Also, if it starts to show the yellow colors, these are not rust, are they? what should I do? just apply buzzywaxx on it and then oven bake? thanks!
Since the making of this video I have learned a technique to avoid flash rust. I hand dry the piece as soon as possible and immediately apply my seasoning oil. I do not wait until it is bone dry. I have a new video on how to avoid flash rust. Please check it out when you get time because it goes more into detail. This technique has saved me a lot of trouble and completely avoids the problem of flash rust.
@@castIroncookware thanks for the great information. I will watch it again.
Here is a link to the Flash Rust video. th-cam.com/video/brl7RrgHBzE/w-d-xo.html
Good job
Thank you
Hey another Great video! Thanks for doing these! One idea for using BIG skillets is to preheat in oven, then transfer to stovetop. Then no warping. Keep up great work sir!
+Not By Sight thank you, I really do appreciate the encouragement.
As a precaution some drain openers do contain Sodium Hydroxide (lye), but may contain other ingredients as well. Make sure that you purchase 100% Sodium Hydroxide. Red Devil is a good brand that is 100% lye.
that's great information. Thank you for sharing. I will pass this information Along on future videos.
To keep the wife happy and for me to have a nice clean kitchen to cook I have a dedicated large thick bath towel I cover the stove top when I season and a plastic tub in the sink to avoid defacing the enamel. when the cast Iron does scratch or stain it I use Barkeepers Friend to clean and a 50/50 water/bleach mix to help whiten it again!
Maybe a mineral gets lost in hot water and kept in cold? Just a guess
That's an interesting thought. Very possible.
I just acquired one of these monsters in the wild. Unfortunately, mine has some cooking surface pitting and a casting flaw along the right side that is not handsome but not serious. It also has what could either be a utensil/tool gouge line or (gulp) a crack. I've posted some closeup photos on the Facebook group, asking for opinions. If you could look at those and weigh in, I would be most appreciative. I'm hopeful but prepared for the worst so...
I will definitely take a look at it when I get a chance today.
Hey- The flash rust probably occours because the iron is reacting to the minerals and metals collected in your hot water tank- from heating and evaporation over the years- those impurities are higher in your hot water line and come out in the water- cold water is fresh and so no concentration.
Nice big pair of skillets you there!
Thank you. BSR is my favorite.
Cast Iron Cookware I have passed on many BSR skillets in the past, not knowing what they were. After a few of your videos, I might pick up some BSR when I see them!
Your enthusiasm for BSR is infectious!
@@BrianGay57 the fact that they are unmarked has held back their popularity but people are beginning to discover they're collectability.
Looks great you cook something fantastic
nice big skillet.i have a bsr cornbread skillet
with no usa stamped on the bottom. does that make it a red mountain series? keep great videos coming.
I think that the cornbread skillet was in a class of its own. The cornbread skillet Pat. Pending was made from 1967-1969 and the Made in USA from 1970-1980’s.
Here is some information that I got from the Cast Iron Chaos webpage:
The story of the cornbread skillet, according to retired Birmingham Stove & Range President Saunders Jones, went: "Billy Washburn was the guy in charge of the production line [Foundry Foreman], and his wife wanted that cornbread skillet for a long time but no one ever listened. Finally, one day they decided to indulge him and the thing took off! They couldn't make enough of them!" Mrs. Washburn wanted a "cornbread skillet" that would cook cornbread with a crust on all sides of each piece, so her husband used his position as one of the Foundry's Foremen and made a handmade pattern. He experimented with it in 1967, and it became their best seller.
The cornbread skillet was initially produced with a PAT. PENDING ("patent pending") mark, and not a MADE IN USA mark. This was done in an attempt to prevent other companies from producing their own imitation versions of this pan; though the attempt was unsuccessful. 1967 to 1968 were record-setting years for BS&R, largely due to the sales of this skillet. The popularity of the cornbread skillet soon enticed rival Lodge Manufacturing to produce their own sectioned "wedge pan" in imitation of the cornbread skillet, which was introduced "only three to four months" (Saunders) after BS&R began producing the cornbread skillet. The Lodge skillet had a hole in the middle, which made it lighter than the BS&R pan. When BS&R saw their skillet being imitated, they removed the PAT. PENDING mark and replaced it with the standard MADE IN USA mark, in the early 1970s.
Thanks. It does have the pat. pending mark on it. It makes great cornbread. All I had to do to it was to wash this one.
+Mike Jones aweaome, the pat. pending are the most collectible.
I love watching his videos but couldn’t help cringing a little as he scraped and banged the pan on the glass top of his stove. 😆
It has been a really tough stove. Lol
Great skillet, I hope I find one some day. I'd love to make pizza in cast iron. I found a skillet in the thrift shop last week that I was sure was going to be a "BSR Red Mountain" based on the handle ,heat ring, and verry smooth cooking surface. After removing the thick layer of crud from the bottom it's marked "10-Chef" it looks to be a number 8 to me, I guess it's probably 10 inches. Anyone know if this is actually BSR and what era? The heat ring is very worn leading me to think it's older.
That sounds like a great find. I think that a century chef skillet is more desirable than a #8 RM. They are a little harder to find and I think maybe worth a little more too.
That's actually not a good way to season the pans.
looks like that 14 sits dead flat....very nice pan
I was very happy to pick this one up. A lot of the oversized pieces have a little bit of wobble to them but this one sits dead flat.
Hi Stephen, I usually cook with olive oil at a lower temperature. Is there any problem using the Buzzy Wax to season a cleaned up skillet then using the olive oil to cook with? Thanks for your previous advice!
No, there is no problem at all. You can use any combination that you would like when it comes to seasoning oil and cooking oil. Want your seasoning layer polymerizes oh, it's not considered oil anymore but a polymer layer on your cast-iron. Any kind of oil that you would like to use to cook with is up to you.
Please stop calling restoration. Cast iron people make this so much more difficult than it needs to be... Cast iron people try to get pans cheap because "they are going to require so much work to clean them up". Bullsh#t!
)
when making an electrolysis tank and using a barrel,,, could you use a piece of concrete wire mesh and let it go all the way around the barrel as your anode? thanks jerry strickland Arkansas
That will work great. Just make sure that it is not coated or galvanized with some unknown material. It might not last long but it would be a cheap I used to replace.