What's your favorite user?

J

John E

Member
I'm curious to see if those of you with huge collections can narrow this down to a handful :)

My newbie collection is small, but the best piece I've come across so far is my #8 Iron Mountain. It makes breakfast every morning and the cooking surface is in almost perfect condition.

I have a WWSO handled griddle that I've got mostly cleaned up and just needs final touches and seasoning. The surface on it is so polished with perfect mill marks, I'm almost certain it's never been used. Can't wait to see how that one performs.
 
I only have a few dozen pieces, all users so far, and I cannot narrow it down to any particular favorite. I like them all but it often depends on what I'm cooking.
 
I was saying just last night (probably repeating myself), as I was drying my 1950s #10 Lodge skillet, that it was the best $10 I ever spent on a cast iron pan. A fine casting, not too heavy but heavy enough to be a good heat retainer, and a smooth-as-glass cooking surface. That one and my Grandma's #8 LBL Griswold, which was, of course, free. I also like to use a 1950s BSR chicken fryer as an impromptu wok.
 
I like the sound of that #10 Lodge. You might remember I was complaining a few weeks back about being unable to find any larger skillets. I finally ran across a #10 Lodge for $15 that I picked up, so you beat me on price :). It appears to be a later 3-notch though, with a thicker casting and smaller pour spouts. It's been in the lye for almost two weeks now. I finally broke down and decided to put together an electro setup, and my battery charger just arrived in the mail an hour ago. Within a couple of days hopefully I have some nice after pictures. Here it is before:

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Out of necessity it'll have to do as my "large" user until I can find something else. Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love.
 
That's a simple question but I am not going to give a short answer. I think my favorite user changes over time as I rotate pans though my "favorite" one(s). Currently I am enjoying using my two Vose & Co. skillets made in Albany during the time period 1848-61 which is when that stove company was using that exact name although Samuel C. Vose was in business since 1845 under his own name. I have an 1853 catalog reprint of Vose stoves and no cookware is shown so I would think my skillets came after 1853 but no later than 1861. The first pan I got had the "V" missing and read OSE & Co. so it took me a while to figure out what the first letter of the name was. Eventually I got the second Vose skillet, the No.7, on ebay which showed me the full name that I had already found in some old stove industry info on the net. Only a few months ago did I dig out the "lost" No.9 Vose that I could not fine anywhere and started to use it. It has seasoned up beautifully with nothing but just cooking in it. The lost pan was buried in my piles of old skillets. These two pans make a wonderful pair.

I have a few other favorites: No.9 ERIE deep skillet with no pattern number. The casting quality and condition are exceptional.
A No.10 unmarked early skillet that came from a camp in Norway Maine via ebay. The seller got it from a family in Norway who said they have a photo of their grandfather cooking pancakes on the pan c.1891. I've never seen another like it.

The No.9 as in use cooking dinner last Monday-



And some more photos of the two pans. Although I have seen photos of one or two other Vose pots I have not seen another Vose skillet. These are nicely cast pans weighing 2-3/4 and 3-5/8 pounds.






 
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Steve, those are fascinating. Thanks for sharing! I find myself drawn much more to pieces like that than I am to the usual foundries. I love the character and relative uniqueness. I haven't come across anything like that yet personally, but it keeps me excited to keep the hunt going.
 
98% of my pieces are WWSO. The 1053 is used for eggs almost every morning. Dinner probably winds up most often in Grandma's 1058, but there are often 2 or 3 pieces in use at the same time, depending on what I'm making.
 
Steve, those are beautiful.

I think my favorite, at least the one I use most, is a nickel plated WWSO #6 with heat ring that was among the pans given to SWMBO by her mother when she got her first apartment. They were her grandmothers.

I also really like using an unknown #8 gate marked griddle.
 
Gorgeous piece you have there, Steve!!! Personally, My go to skillet is my Griswold #8. I use many of my others depending on what and how much I am cooking :D
 
my favorite is my griswold #7.I have to say that this pan is just right for almost everything that I do. It has found a spot a semi-perm on my stove. (whenever my wife does not notice it,that is). larry
 
I have a #7 small block Griswold that is gaining ground on my #8 Iron Mountain as my go-to user. The seasoning is really starting to build up quite nicely on that one.
 
Until just a couple days ago, I only had my Griswold #8 and a corn stick pan. I have used the skillet for nearly everything from frying up an egg to deep frying chicken. I think no matter what I get, this will always be my go-to favourite, as it was my great-grandfather's and passed down through the family.
 
This is my daily user. It's pretty nice. The cooking surface is slick and works great. I don't know who makes it but I'm glad they did. It's half the weight of my Lodge skillets.
 

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Cool thread. I'm surprised so many are using #7 and #8's as their primary, go-to. I really need to kick my "bigger is better" mentality and start using the middle sizes (7,8,9,) more often.
 
My daily skillet is a National/Wagner Sidney 1359E No.9 that was the second pan my Mother gave me. It's just the right size.

I've got many older, many nicer, but only one other that came from Mom, and it's an old No.6 3-notch Lodge. I find it too small to work in.

The No.9 never leaves the stove top.
 
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