[Fedorandbjpenn]

Ive seen some awesome shiny Griswold skillets on ebay. All of them have some form of little pits or divots in them. IS it safe to use still if there are a few tiny little chips? Am i being paranoid? Does it matter if cast iron is chipped? Im talking like those little holes you can see in the finish.

 

[TDN]

I would google this question. If it is solid cast iron I don't know why there would be a problem as the tiny chips would just be exposing more cast iron.....

 

[CookieLee]

Is it safe? Except if you're in danger of iron overload, cast iron pans are safe. However, I would seriously suspect an investment in any cast iron pan that might have been damaged through rough handling - simply because cast iron pans do crack. Yes, they can break catastrophically.

As to the "finish" that is a patina that you're going to build up on the pan yourself through use and occasional "seasoning".

 

[Spirit Deer]

I wouldn't buy cast iron that had a lot of pits. I've never seen any with chips, except for enameled cast iron.

As for buying vintage cast iron, most of what I use at home came to me looking like this:



And now looks like this:



So you can see I don't have any fear about buying vintage iron.

 

[frugalfranny]

Ive seen some awesome shiny Griswold skillets on ebay. All of them have some form of little pits or divots in them. IS it safe to use still if there are a few tiny little chips? Am i being paranoid? Does it matter if cast iron is chipped? Im talking like those little holes you can see in the finish.

Cast iron went through a period "back in the 70's" that it fell out of favor........due to a link they thought was having a casual factor for Alzheimer's......and think there is still some debate about it today.............plus other kitchenware came on the market. Iron overload is not good for the body..........doesn't matter where it comes from..........since they don't know--for sure--- what causes Alz.-- it has grown in popularity again. (the same thing happened with 'aluminum cookware' a few years later........)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast-iron_cookware

Alzheimer's disease: What you eat influences your risk factor - CBS News in this article, the guy is "selling his book"..........but there are lots of articles out there about it....................and the debate goes on...........

If you are "uncomfortable" in using it.............don't buy it..........pretty simple.

 

[Brat]

most of mine came to me looking like SD but it cooks just fine..We have had no problems with health from them..Mine seems to have grown legs lately and no longer in the cabient..I think someone else has found it cooks good..lol

 

[MaxBetta]

I'd venture to bet it's safer than teflon coated nonstick skillets...those things give off fumes! I've been cooking with old cast iron for a long time now and haven't had any issues...in fact this is the first time I've ever heard this question

 

[mrsfoamy]

This video is fascinating. I refer it to anyone discussing cast iron - Eat The Weeds: Episode: 114: Cast Iron and Pig Weed - YouTube

 

[Spirit Deer]

I always use electrolysis for de-rusting cast iron. The Pie Irons I pictured above were cleaned up with that method. It couldn't be easier. I've never seen anything take more than a couple days though. He left out of the video to wash the piece between the electrolysis bath and applying the new seasoning, but maybe it's so obviously anyone should know that. Electrolysis rust reduction is self-limiting which is nice, because it won't hurt anything if the piece is left in there a day or two longer.

I liked his method for seasoning, using a one-burner stove outside and applying multiple coats in a short time. I'm going to have to try that.

I have some frying pans that have thin sidewalls but heavy bottoms. I have to disagree that you should only look for the ones that are heavy throughout. Sometimes it's nice to use the thinner-walled ones because they're lighter. They will also heat faster. Most of the heat during stovetop cooking is on the bottom of the pan, so thinner sidewalls don't make much difference in the cooking.

I just got a new Lodge grill pan yesterday. New cast iron toys are such fun.

 

[mrsfoamy]

The scrap yard near me won't sell anything. Hard to believe they won't take more money for something than they will get in scrap.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Our local waste transfer station lets us salvage anything we want from their scrap metal pile for free. I've never seen any cast iron cookware there, but we've found other things. The best thing we found out there was the cast iron base from an antique sewing machine. Amazing! I dragged it home and made a table from it using an antique oak table top we weren't using. We just love it. The sewing machine base was in perfect condition, but even if it wasn't, I would have refurbished it. Quite a find. I still can't believe we were there at just the right time. It almost makes me think it was meant to be mine.