I wandered into my favorite thrift store earlier in the week and in the 3+ years that I’ve been going there, I’ve never seen cast iron there.
The store is located in a pretty hip part of town and I don’t think I’m the only one hip to the thrifting game.
I surmise as fast as old cast iron comes in, it flies off the messy shelves.
Except this week because I found two pieces.
I think I can make eggs muffins or who knows what in this piece.
Whatever it’s intended use, I could stop a burglar with it. Theft protection for $10 bucks.
Updated to add: This is an ebelskiver pan for making puffy little filled pancakes. I remember when there was a craze a few years back on blogs about making ebelskivers but I tuned it out because I didn’t have a pan. Well, now I do and can play around.
This piece is small but must literally weigh about 8 to 10 pounds.
Who needs dumbbells? Just get your three sets in with the muffin pan.
And vintage Le Creueset for $6
Or maybe not vintage, just well-used.
I’m fairly certain what I picked up at the thrift store is this 9-inch iron handle skillet, which retails for $110
The pricing structure at thrift stores and antique stores is always amusing. Sometimes true junk is truly expensive.
And sometimes true gems are dirt cheap.
Maybe because this gem is as dirty as dirt is the reason it was $6 bucks.
I found a short and sweet helpful article on how to clean and refurbish cast iron.
A quick google search turns up tens of thousands of hits.
But I really didn’t purchase the cast iron to cook with, but instead to use as photography props. If I can actually cook something in either of them, bonus.
Collecting dishes and filling up my new cabinet is my favorite pastime.
Favorite pastime other than eating Baked Cinnamon Bun Donuts with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze, which I intend to make Saturday morning.
I wonder if I could make donuts-muffins in the cast iron? Doubtful. I think I’d end up with the worst stuck-on mess ever. Donuts and muffins aren’t supposed to sear.
Do you have any cast iron? Tips on taking care of it or cleaning it?
Are you a thrift store person? Do you like antiques or collectibles?
The last thrift store round for me was 8 pieces of vintage silverware for $2 bucks and a vintage sifter
I found these thrifty dishes
These dishes and old Corningware
I used to live literally just a few blocks from it and walked in at least once a week. For five bucks, you can really feel like a kid like a queen in a candy store.
I could troll around all day on Ebay, Etsy, and Pinterest looking at vintage dishes, old wood boards, old kitchen utensils and bakeware. Something about it all really speaks to me and I wish I knew the stories behind the pieces.
My parents collect antiques of all kinds and as a child, I used to think my mom with her canning and sewing, my dad with his gardening, their antique collecting, and all their hobbies were boring and used to wonder why on earth anyone could think going into a dirty antique shop was fun.
But I have officially turned into my parents when I get excited about dirty cast iron.
And this store is the creme de la creme for antique furniture shopping that I’ve come across in San Diego, or anywhere. I got my 150 year old+ photography table there (item #5) and could spend days (years) wandering the aisles.
The winner of the Cascadian Farms Cereal coupons is Paula
Thanks for the Zoku Single Quick Pop Maker and Chocolate Station Giveaway entries
Have a great weekend!
Scott, Skylar, and I are going to the Pride Block Party and the Pride Parade. We’re going to have the best time people-watching and soaking it all in.
Hi Averie, I made those little balls again and posted the recipe (I hope you don’t mind me changing it a …bit..:)
Now, cast iron… Limit me, please, to a few sentences of the subject before I start singing to it! Yes, I do use cast iron, and most of my frying pans, pots, dutch ovens are cast iron, Lodge, Staub and Le Creuset. All my skillets are Lodge, and well seasoned by now. Here’s how I take care of it: I never use soap to wash it, instead I pre-soak it in hot water and usually anything sticky would come out. For a stubborn stains I use salt. Then I put the skillet on the stove, turn the heat to high and let it dry. Then the hot skillet gets a oily “massage” with a piece of pork or duck fat. I know you may not like this part, but I tried other oils and it doesn’t work as well as fat. Then I turn the heat off, and let it cool. Before I store the skillet I wipe out all excess of fat. It may sound like it’s labor intensive process or time consuming, but it’s not.
This way all my Lodge skillets and bread forms (also cast iron) are like the day they were bought. There is another recommended way to treat cast iron: in the oven, but I haven’t done it yet.
Have fun this weekend! :)
Thanks for the great tips. The baking in oven situation – I’ve heard it can release tons of fumes and that you really have to run your air or open the windows. I’ve heard to put your oven on self-clean, put the pan in it, maybe with a smidge of oil, and let it self-clean. But that sounds so…toxic & stinky!
I wonder if coconut oil would do the same thing as duck fat or pork fat. I haven’t eaten pork since I was 5 years old! I wonder what other kind of fat would be good…olive oil, coconut oil? I realize they could impart a flavor though so may have to be careful with the coconut oil, especially.
Basically water, soak, wipe, smidge of oil, heat on stovetop to dry, wipe, done. That’s easy!
I have tried all other oils and if you don’t use your skillet every day, it gets rancid and food tastes bad. I guess if you use oil, rinse and wipe the skillet before cooking in it. Coconut oil maybe your option, it doesn’t get rancid as fast as other vegetable oils. Try it to see how it works. As of fats, I am not a big meat eater, but pork fat works the best and food doesn’t smell or taste like pork or anything (I do wipe out the skillet before I put it away). Although, for you it maybe too much, I understand.
Le Creuset has lifetime warranty, and you may contact them for help, they maybe able to give you some tips. I did and they provided me with a good information, but it wasn’t the skillet, it was enameled cast iron that I had some concerns…:)
Good luck with cast iron, it’s a great products, I am totally addicted to it! :)
Thanks for the info and I’ve had other friends tell me they use coconut oil, so will probably start with that and see how things go from there…
Love cast-iron. Not just because it’s pretty & has a vintage feel, but because it’s also naturally non-stick.
Congrats on your finds!
I need to get mine to that non-stick point :)
Wow what a great thrift store find Averie. Maybe I need to hit up a store?! I love your dish collection – I do the same. Have a great weekend and fun at the parade!
with all that you cook and bake and photograph, can’t believe you can afford$ to do it any other way but the thrift store dishes…I’d go broke otherwise if I didn’t :)
My secret – I reuse a lot ;) AND I live in a little town with barely any stores = I only go shopping when I travel to the city. Otherwise I WOULD be broke because cooking/home stores are my fave!
Wow – you are a great re-user then! Would have never noticed it unless you said something!
That is a FANTASTIC find. I found an old Le Creuset Pot for like $30 once. It’s HUGE and mint green. I crapped my pants.
huge mint green? That sounds about perfect! and who would have just donated & gotten rid of that? wonders never cease.
Love your new find! They will look amazing in photos, well, all of your photos are incredible so the new pans are a bonus!
That looks like a poffertjes pan! You MUST make some poffertjes. They’re little yeasted Dutch pancakes you brush with melted butter and dust with powdered sugar. I tried them when I was in the Netherlands in 2009 and OH MAN, the heavenliness!
I just updated the post to add that it’s an ebelskiver pan, for making puffy little filled pancakes (remember that blog craze from a few years ago?). And I forgot you were in the Netherlands! Aruba is a Dutch island and there is so much Dutch influence with their baked goods there – just amazing!
Those are awesome thrifting finds. I just love going to thrift stores and seeing what fun things you can find. And I agree with you, the pricing just never seems to make a whole lot of sense. I love to see that you collect fun dishes too:-)
As a blogger, your dish collection just grows, whether you intend to ‘collect’ or not :)
Have fun at the pride parade! I’ll bet it’ll be so fun and definitely excellent people watching! What a great find for you–I’m sure that Le Crueset is probably the same one as that $110 version. It’s so strange how thrift shops price things. I’m always amazed at how I found a vintage, mint condition Betsey tunic for $30 and there were worn out, non-name brand jeans for $25. Their loss! Enjoy it!
The people that work at these places that do the pricing many times have no idea what they’ve got I think is the case….congrats on your Betsey score!
Haha- getting excited about dirty cast iron… I feel your pain- I also love thrift stores!
We have just signed on to a new flat, and we’re moving in a few weeks. Our current place is furnished and the new place is unfurnished, so I see a lot of used furniture stores in my near future! I wish I had that one that you went to a couple of months back- I think you bought an old wooden chinese table there? It would be perfect.
My husband is not so excited about all the shopping in his future, but I can’t wait to decorate our new home!
Oh yes that furniture store was in this post…amazing
https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2012/04/thursday-things-25.html
Great finds there, Averie! The pans are great, they maybe dirty but there quality is good. I am also a fan of thrift stores, you can bought a lot of good stuffs in a bargain price.
What a steal! I just saw those vintage cast irons on a website retailing for at least triple that! I’ve had to clean and refurbish my cast iron repeatedly and it makes the house really smoky, but they are worth every penny, every smokey afternoon, every minute spent cleaning. They are really the best way to cook. I always roast my vegetables in them, because they are easy, the food tastes great coming off them, and NO CLEANING!! Just a wipe with a rag, spray a little more oil on to keep it in top shape, and that’s it.
Can you tell I’m a little jealous?
I wish you could come and give me a personalized cleaning tutorial!
what great finds!! i have a cast iron pan, but to be honest, i have no idea what to do with it other than press my tofu!!! haha
LOL! I don’t know if you eat meat but for cooking meat, they are fabulous and also you can bake in them. Google it. Tons will come up!
I do some thrift store browsing but don’t usually come across too many great finds around here. My timing is probably off. I have a cast iron skillet and I love it because it cooks so evenly. I always use a little oil or butter–but it is becoming well seasoned so I don’t need much. I would probably use the “muffin skillet” in the oven for cornbread– I’ve done it with my regular cast iron and it works well.
Okay I predict more cornbread in our future now :)
i wanna go thrifting with you. and bake with you. i think we need to spend a day together, averie.
If you’re ever in San Diego, look me up. (I never go up to your neck of the woods though)
That first pan looks like an ebelksiver (filled pancake) pan like this one from Williams-Sonoma:
https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/ebelskiver-filled-pancake-pan/
THANK YOU!!!!!! I remember about 2-3 yrs ago in the blogosphere, I used to see so many recipes for ebelskiver and had no idea what they were and just tuned them out. I am tuning in. Thanks!!
I have a cast iron skillet that I adore, but I just cannot seem to get to that non-stick state that everyone raves about! I’ll keep re-seasoning until I get it there though. Persistence and patience are two tasks I do not excel at, haha. What great finds!
LMK if you end up finding any secret tips or tricks b/c what you talk about is what worries me about it!