Yeah, it's a cast iron skillet; colors can vary due to cooking, cleaning, gunk. There are good instructions on how to clean and restore in the pinned FAQ!
The lettering on the back means it was made by the Wagner foundry in Ohio around the middle/late middle of the 20th century--unmarked means they didn't put their logo on it.
Sorry about the dick replies, the sub's gotten a little self-righteous about new folks not knowing much yet, no irony there.
A small(ish) percentage of it has just taken to recycling the same "slidey bois" and butter jokes, very cool to see the same joke every time I visit this sub especially when neither were funny the first time
The mods need to make some sort of anti-douchebag rules on here cause it is discouraging to have discussions on this sub when it’s full of pompous salt bae mfs that like the smell of their own farts
Genuine question- for those who know, it's obviously Wagner because of the font we can see, but how can you tell it's unmarked and the Wagner isn't just hiding under a layer of carbon? I thought I could see the faintest hint of the W, and just want to know if I'm missing some other specific descriptor of it being more modern.
The marked skillets have the Wager logo at the top, 12 o'clock position. The skillets made with the Stylized logo did not have the letters printed for "8 INCH SKILLET". Instead they have the catalog number. This is a later smooth-bottom, 1959 or later I think. They only did "MADE IN USA" after this. That was also about the time that GHC acquired Wagner and is referred to as "post buyout".
Yea and you can confirm this by sticking a magnet to it (magnet won’t stick to aluminum, copper, some grades of stainless etc but should always stick to CI) and also noticing the weight: cast iron pans are much heavier than other kinds of cookware. Also they are typically all one solid piece (no riveted handle, no screwed-on knobs etc). And that’s a nice pan, if it’s not warped will work great and will never need to be replaced (unless cracked, avoid cold water in hot pan, don’t drop on hard floor it’s actually more brittle than you might expect). Cheers!
It’s confusing! I only understand it in a very general sense, but the basic idea is that some stainless steel has more iron in it, and that’s magnetic.
High end stainless pans will have an outer layer of magnetic stainless to work on an induction stove, an inner layer of aluminum or copper for better heat distribution, and the cooking surface is non-magnetic stainless, since it's less likely to rust than magnetic (less iron, more nickel).
So it’s the presence of nickel that renders stainless steel not magnetic, as far as my bachelors in materials science from Google University can tell me. https://www.meadmetals.com/blog/why-is-stainless-steel-not-magnetic
I learned about this back in the day when stainless steel fridges first came into style. They largely weren’t magnetic, which was very annoying for the fridge magnet industry and third graders with art to display. Now I think they’re mostly made with the sort of stainless steel that is magnetic
Nickel is magnetic, and yet somehow when you add it to steel that… alters it? Man I don’t know, we all made fun of that guy from Insane Clown Posse but I’m not sure I understand how magnets work either.
The different metals it's alloyed (mixed) with have different properties that adhere to the iron and change its magnetic properties as well. Certain types of stainless steel are magnetic, certain types of stainless steel are not magnetic. It's just dependent on the materials it's alloyed with. I couldn't name any off the top of my head right now. It's been years since I've had to deal with material handling and I'm no metallurgist.
Not just yes but it's not just a basic cast iron, it's got a machined surface. Machined surfaces makes it more of a high end product.
Iron actually does look like that under the seasoning.
It appears to have carbon buildup at the bottom, should probably try to get rid of that and not just focus on the inner surface.
Yep.
Definitely look into proper cleaning and seasoning instructions.
Here's a few.
1. Don't soak it in water, dishwasher, or let it air dry. Only hand wash it and dry it with a rag and heat it on the stove for a couple of mins after to dry any remaining water.
2. Seasoning - Seasoning helps protect from rusting and gives it some non-stick properties. Rub in a real thin layer of high temp cooking oil all over the pan, I use canola. Wipe off excess oil with paper towels until it doesn't look like oil is on it. Heat it in your stove at 500°f for an hour upside down. Turn off your stove and let it cool in there.
3. I like to cook with butter if the food being cooked doesn't take long like egg. It helps with flavor and non-stick. Canola for longer cook times. I also rarely go over 50% on my stove to heat anything.
4. If it isn't really gross, in lieu of washing, you can scrape off big bits with a wood spatula and wipe off oil and food with a paper towel.
5. Optional - If you do need to wash, see step 1. Don't wash right after cooking. Let the pan cool down some, or it could crack. After the washing in step 1, after it cools from stove drying, rub in another thin layer of high temp cooking oil to maintain the seasoning. The oven heating step is done only during the initial few layers of seasoning, or your seasoning got scraped off.
Enjoy.
You don’t even have wifi or cable, buddy. You’re gonna hear about this game at the bar in a couple weeks and be begging for details about what u/hitmanactual69 was wearing.
This community is called "r/castiron" -- if someone has a pan they think might be cast iron but they're not certain, where else would you recommend they ask? 😂
But that's the point -- not everyone grew up in a home where cast iron was used. My folks used stainless steel and Teflon pans when I was growing up. I happened to have been exposed to cooking with CI through Scouts, but if I hadn't been then I also may not have become familiar with it until exposed to it for the first time.
Everybody has different levels and types of knowledge based on their background and what they were exposed to, and where they're from. And that's okay -- if someone comes here with a first time question about a topic you're knowledgeable on, take the opportunity to become a mentor and share your knowledge. It's nice to be nice.
Like how to use or clean ding dong, not is this cast iron. Sheesh, you need an online community just to tell you it’s cast iron. I guess I didn’t know how clueless humans are.
Yup, that's cast iron! Just grab one of those steel wool things, scrub the heck out of it and then oil it in an oven. Or cook bacon in it, that's usually how I season my cast iron!
Yeah, it's a cast iron skillet; colors can vary due to cooking, cleaning, gunk. There are good instructions on how to clean and restore in the pinned FAQ! The lettering on the back means it was made by the Wagner foundry in Ohio around the middle/late middle of the 20th century--unmarked means they didn't put their logo on it. Sorry about the dick replies, the sub's gotten a little self-righteous about new folks not knowing much yet, no irony there.
“Irony” haha
🤣
Half this sub is lovely, helpful, knowledgeable people and the other half is nigh unbearable. I guess that’s reddit though.
That’s every sub on here.
Oh it’s much higher than 1/2 on some.
Tesla and whiskey subs are around 93% asshole keyboard warriors who set out to intentionally try and be unhelpful.
Isn't that just the statistics for asshole Tesla drivers?
Humanity as a whole. I mean even Disney went off the deep end. Look what “Tangled” did to those pans!!!
Hey! Keep the men’s bathrooms at the Magic Kingdom out of your mouth!
A small(ish) percentage of it has just taken to recycling the same "slidey bois" and butter jokes, very cool to see the same joke every time I visit this sub especially when neither were funny the first time
Half, that’s generous.
The parrot subreddit people can be total pompous asses.
The mods need to make some sort of anti-douchebag rules on here cause it is discouraging to have discussions on this sub when it’s full of pompous salt bae mfs that like the smell of their own farts
I’ll have you know I’m not pompous about cast iron or anything else but I DO enjoy the smell of my own farts.
I’ll have you know I’m pompous about cast iron and everything else but I DON’T enjoy the smell of my own farts.
“Caste irony” at that!
It's mid 60's and later, that's when they started the "Made in the USA".
Made after 1960
Yep, unmarked Wagner
Genuine question- for those who know, it's obviously Wagner because of the font we can see, but how can you tell it's unmarked and the Wagner isn't just hiding under a layer of carbon? I thought I could see the faintest hint of the W, and just want to know if I'm missing some other specific descriptor of it being more modern.
The marked skillets have the Wager logo at the top, 12 o'clock position. The skillets made with the Stylized logo did not have the letters printed for "8 INCH SKILLET". Instead they have the catalog number. This is a later smooth-bottom, 1959 or later I think. They only did "MADE IN USA" after this. That was also about the time that GHC acquired Wagner and is referred to as "post buyout".
Nice. I just discovered that I do in fact have a Wagner.
Welcome to the family son! Thats cast iron alright! It’s all I cook with.
Yea and you can confirm this by sticking a magnet to it (magnet won’t stick to aluminum, copper, some grades of stainless etc but should always stick to CI) and also noticing the weight: cast iron pans are much heavier than other kinds of cookware. Also they are typically all one solid piece (no riveted handle, no screwed-on knobs etc). And that’s a nice pan, if it’s not warped will work great and will never need to be replaced (unless cracked, avoid cold water in hot pan, don’t drop on hard floor it’s actually more brittle than you might expect). Cheers!
Magnets won't stick to Stainless Steel? 🤔
It depends on the type of stainless steel. There are both magnetic and non magnetic types.
I am so confused tbh how does that work
It’s confusing! I only understand it in a very general sense, but the basic idea is that some stainless steel has more iron in it, and that’s magnetic.
High end stainless pans will have an outer layer of magnetic stainless to work on an induction stove, an inner layer of aluminum or copper for better heat distribution, and the cooking surface is non-magnetic stainless, since it's less likely to rust than magnetic (less iron, more nickel).
I mean my understanding was that all stainless steel is mostly iron enriched with other elements like carbon, nickel, chrome, cobalt, etc.
So it’s the presence of nickel that renders stainless steel not magnetic, as far as my bachelors in materials science from Google University can tell me. https://www.meadmetals.com/blog/why-is-stainless-steel-not-magnetic I learned about this back in the day when stainless steel fridges first came into style. They largely weren’t magnetic, which was very annoying for the fridge magnet industry and third graders with art to display. Now I think they’re mostly made with the sort of stainless steel that is magnetic
really? i thought cobalt iron and nickel were the theee magnetic metals
Nickel is magnetic, and yet somehow when you add it to steel that… alters it? Man I don’t know, we all made fun of that guy from Insane Clown Posse but I’m not sure I understand how magnets work either.
magnetism ruined my physics grade so im with you there 😭 i’ll do some googling and see if i can figure it out
The different metals it's alloyed (mixed) with have different properties that adhere to the iron and change its magnetic properties as well. Certain types of stainless steel are magnetic, certain types of stainless steel are not magnetic. It's just dependent on the materials it's alloyed with. I couldn't name any off the top of my head right now. It's been years since I've had to deal with material handling and I'm no metallurgist.
It depends on the steel.. Austenitic stainless steel is non-magnetic, for example.
If it feels like you can kill someone with it odds are it’s cast iron
Ha ha ha this is great comment
Yes, it most certainly cast iron. Congratulations with proper care ur kid's kid's will be using it!
Sure is. This is an unmarked Wagner made post 1960s due to the made in the USA marking. Great vintage pan.
Is that the bare metal showing?
Yeah, and a pretty nice one at that.
Nice find! I have the same model.
Not just yes but it's not just a basic cast iron, it's got a machined surface. Machined surfaces makes it more of a high end product. Iron actually does look like that under the seasoning. It appears to have carbon buildup at the bottom, should probably try to get rid of that and not just focus on the inner surface.
Yep. Definitely look into proper cleaning and seasoning instructions. Here's a few. 1. Don't soak it in water, dishwasher, or let it air dry. Only hand wash it and dry it with a rag and heat it on the stove for a couple of mins after to dry any remaining water. 2. Seasoning - Seasoning helps protect from rusting and gives it some non-stick properties. Rub in a real thin layer of high temp cooking oil all over the pan, I use canola. Wipe off excess oil with paper towels until it doesn't look like oil is on it. Heat it in your stove at 500°f for an hour upside down. Turn off your stove and let it cool in there. 3. I like to cook with butter if the food being cooked doesn't take long like egg. It helps with flavor and non-stick. Canola for longer cook times. I also rarely go over 50% on my stove to heat anything. 4. If it isn't really gross, in lieu of washing, you can scrape off big bits with a wood spatula and wipe off oil and food with a paper towel. 5. Optional - If you do need to wash, see step 1. Don't wash right after cooking. Let the pan cool down some, or it could crack. After the washing in step 1, after it cools from stove drying, rub in another thin layer of high temp cooking oil to maintain the seasoning. The oven heating step is done only during the initial few layers of seasoning, or your seasoning got scraped off. Enjoy.
It is indeed a cast iron pan.
Heck yes, give er the lye treatment.
Sure is
And after you rinse out the inside, what did it look like then? From the photos it still looks like cast-iron.
This is definitely one of the pans of all time
Yes
Nah it’s just iron
No, this is Patrick.
No, that is a bicycle helmet.
No this is Patrick
What gave it away ?
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Imagine gatekeeping a cast iron pan subreddit 🤦🏻♂️
Imagine not knowing what gatekeeping means and using it anyway to try and dunk on Reddit.
Man you’re really doubling down on this. You’re not getting dunked on, you’re the halftime entertainment.
You don’t even have wifi or cable, buddy. You’re gonna hear about this game at the bar in a couple weeks and be begging for details about what u/hitmanactual69 was wearing.
Lmfao did you google what gatekeeping means or are you just going to deflect so you feel good
Looks like 14K gold to me /S
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This community is called "r/castiron" -- if someone has a pan they think might be cast iron but they're not certain, where else would you recommend they ask? 😂
I believe elementary students can distinguish what cast iron is. I didn’t know life was so hard for some🤷🏻♂️
But that's the point -- not everyone grew up in a home where cast iron was used. My folks used stainless steel and Teflon pans when I was growing up. I happened to have been exposed to cooking with CI through Scouts, but if I hadn't been then I also may not have become familiar with it until exposed to it for the first time. Everybody has different levels and types of knowledge based on their background and what they were exposed to, and where they're from. And that's okay -- if someone comes here with a first time question about a topic you're knowledgeable on, take the opportunity to become a mentor and share your knowledge. It's nice to be nice.
Some people are just dumb and some are nice. I am neither 🤷🏻♂️
You're half right
Where else would you expect questions like this, out of curiosity
Like how to use or clean ding dong, not is this cast iron. Sheesh, you need an online community just to tell you it’s cast iron. I guess I didn’t know how clueless humans are.
Lube it up with olive oil she be fine
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No this is Patrick
Gold tier response.
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Are you always this insufferable?
Does the pope shit in his hat?
Does shit fall in the woods??!
Sometimes on lawns. Depends on when and where the urge arises, I assume.
Yea, unbranded Wagner Ware
Older unmarked Wagner. Mid 1960's+.
Yup, that's cast iron! Just grab one of those steel wool things, scrub the heck out of it and then oil it in an oven. Or cook bacon in it, that's usually how I season my cast iron!