Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 2)

Darienne

By Darienne
in Kitchen Consumer

 Share

Recommended Posts

MSRadell

MSRadell

Posted
Posted

would not bacon grease or animal fat go rancid ?

 

rotuts - not a guaranteed accurate answer but wouldn't the break-down and polymerization of the fats disable whatever mechanism allows for going rancid?

I'm not sure exactly why it doesn't become rancid but I've used bacon fat for decades without it ever being a problem.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

All of the skillets and other cast iron pieces I inherited were seasoned with lard.  Once the fat is polymerized it is also stabilized, it does not become rancid.

 

I have two skillets, a Dutch oven and a griddle that I stripped clean and seasoned with vegetable fats and I store them separately because I sometimes cook for friends who observe the kosher and halal dietary laws or are strict vegans and I don't want to offend them.

 

The best results have been with grapeseed oil - you don't want an oil with a super high smoke point for seasoning. 

 

One of my friends who lived in India for many years - seasons her pans with ghee, especiall the steel pans she useds for frying breads, spices, etc. 

All of her steel pans look like they have a non-stick coating, charcoal gray and it is very stable. 

I personally have never tried ghee for this (though I do use it in cooking quite often) but think her method would work well for certain applications. 

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hassouni

Hassouni

Posted
Posted

All of the skillets and other cast iron pieces I inherited were seasoned with lard.  Once the fat is polymerized it is also stabilized, it does not become rancid.

 

I have two skillets, a Dutch oven and a griddle that I stripped clean and seasoned with vegetable fats and I store them separately because I sometimes cook for friends who observe the kosher and halal dietary laws or are strict vegans and I don't want to offend them.

 

The best results have been with grapeseed oil - you don't want an oil with a super high smoke point for seasoning. 

 

One of my friends who lived in India for many years - seasons her pans with ghee, especiall the steel pans she useds for frying breads, spices, etc. 

All of her steel pans look like they have a non-stick coating, charcoal gray and it is very stable. 

I personally have never tried ghee for this (though I do use it in cooking quite often) but think her method would work well for certain applications. 

 

Interesting. So in other words, if you were starting from scratch, you'd go with grapeseed?

Alchemist/mixologist/proprietor at the Green Zone, serving craft cocktails with the flavors of the Middle East

 

my eG foodblog - Beirut and beyond

My occasionally food-related site

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted

So I bought a Lodge pan Friday that by the markings I thought was old enough to not be a sand cast pan. Wrong! I will finish it up but was rather disappointed.

 

But today I bought an unknown pan.It is 8" across the top rim. Any markings on the bottom are covered by the crud.  Based upon how smooth the interior surface is I have high hopes for it. I paid $8.00 for it. It most definitely needs help:

 

Small Cast Iron Pan.jpg

 

Since I really shouldn't be spending money on such things right now I did tell my DW that this will be the last one for a while. This is more for the fun of it since I don't really use CI except for meat browning.  The Griswold pan I finished I will use on Thanksgiving to make my Lemon-garlic green beans.

  • Like 1

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted

I am now holding out a little more hope for the Lodge #10 pan I bought last Friday. I put it through a second "self-cleaning" cycle and it is moderately better. It is a pre-1960 pan. I may be thinking incorrectly. I was thinking that the smooth surface of the Griswolds would be found on the pre-1960 Lodge. The bottom line is that its finish inside and out is rougher, most markedly on the cooking surface. I believe it will be useable after seasoning but it is not nearly as nice as the Griswolds. I am in the midst of seasoning the #5 Griswold I found this weekend. It's a sweet little pan.

  • Like 1

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

Link to comment
Share on other sites
andiesenji

andiesenji

Posted
Posted

I've never found a mid-century Lodge that had the slick surface of the Griswold and Wagner skillets.

 

Decades ago I bought one of the huge footed skillets for camping and ground the inner surfaces smooth with carbide discs and finished with a wet "crocus" disc.

I got a very smooth finish that took seasoning nicely.  The original surface was like sandstone, felt gritty. 

  • Like 1

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yesterday I picked up Deborah Madison's book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone for $1.00 at a garage sale I just happened to stumble upon on my way to the theater in Berkeley.  It had a sticker on it from Half Price Books showing their price to be $8.99.  I've wanted a copy of this, and other books by Madison, for a while, so it was truly a happy moment.  Here's a crappy cell phone pic ...

 

Madison Book.jpg

 

Edited by Shel_B (log)
  • Like 1

 ... Shel


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Okanagancook

Okanagancook

Posted
Posted

Nice find! I love this book. I like her vegetable sections. At the beginning of each vegetable section she talks about the various types. What to look for when buying, how to store them, etc. and then provides a couple of basic recipes.

The Tunisian tomato and pepper stew is just outstanding, especially in the summer when these veggies are at their peak. I think I have most of her books

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Shel_B

Shel_B

Posted
Posted

Nice find! I love this book [...]

The Tunisian tomato and pepper stew is just outstanding, especially in the summer when these veggies are at their peak. I think I have most of her books

 

I'll look for the recipe.  Just perusing the book last night was a real pleasure, and it gave me a few ideas. I like her laid back style and flexible approach.  This book is a keeper ...

  • Like 1

 ... Shel


 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

image.jpg

A little thrift store shopping this week. The four-tart pan has never even been out of its box. It was $4.99. The little labeler is food specific. It will print a label with an icon representing the food, print the date it is stored and print the number of days before it should be used. This little labeler is no longer made and I was unable to find a user manual online but after a couple of hours of fiddling about with buttons I was able to get it to work as it should. I have a bit of an obsession with labellers I confess. Now if I can only find some labels that can survive the freezer….

The two books speak for themselves although Good Food to Share is a Williams-Sonoma book which I am guessing once had a dust jacket.

  • Like 5

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted (edited)

Good deal!

I love Helen Witty.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

Golda's Kitchen has freezer labels. I tried to post the link but for some reason, I couldn't.

They would have to be Brother type M labels to fit the labeler.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

Good deal!

I love Helen Witty.

Yes for $.25 too! The other book was also $.25.
  • Like 2

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...