One of the cool things about working in an urban area like Brooklyn, NY is this:
When people want to give away or 'recycle' items from their apartments, they put them out on the sidewalk .
Today, walking down President Street, I found this amazing Lodge cast iron fry pan set out on the sidewalk with a bunch of other kitchen items.
How cool is that? Clean off the rust, re-season it, and you've got a great pan! Here's a GardenFork.TV video we did about how to season cast iron pans.
What neat street finds have you run across lately? tell us below:
Nick Wondra
Wow, that pan looks *huge*! How big is it across? I bet it would work great on the grill.
Tim
I check the free section on craigslist frequently for deals like this and there are usually several "curb alerts" that people post to let others know of the freebies they put on the side of the street.
Good find!
Mandy Swenson
There is no better cornbread than that cooked in a well-seasoned iron skillet. Mmm. Great find!
gina
That is exactly what my parents used to make sausage, peppers and onions in when I was a kid. I dont even think we had pans with non stick coating while I was growing up. I still have my Grandmothers old cast irons but nothing bigger than 8" across. What I do have is a cast iron cover that I remember she would cover up our grilled cheese sandwiches with to make the cheese melt faster -- Yum!
cecedon
Great find!
I do freecycle around here and find it great for things I'd sort of like but think it's wasteful to buy.
did you know you can get a glass lid for your 'new' cast iron pan at the hardware store? I just measured the pan and then found a lid to fit.
Eric Gunnar Rochow
me too. there are local freecycle groups all over, you all can check freecycle.org to find one near you.
Jane Gauch
What an awesome find! [HOW COOL IS THAT?]
My husband is a village emloyee so he often finds useful things curbside & brings them home....the pile of stuff got pretty scary here for awhile so now he is more selective. If we can't use it, sell it or give it away then it goes to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
The last thing he brought home was a cast iron table we are using for our tabletop Chargrill....one leg was bent so he torched it so he could bend it back. Then he topped it with leftover ceramic floor tiles. I'll post a pic on the viewer forum...
admin
i've shown a few friends and they are all saying 'wow' . nice.
Ginger
I love my cast iron - my cheap stuff (on clearance at Tractor Supply Company), my Paula Deens, my Lodge, even my enameled ....
did you see the episode on America's Test Kitchen where they offer a re-seasoning tip for super rusted pans? they didn't have to use the steel wool ... he used oil & salt while he heated it on the stove top ... I can't find the video for it online though - it might be a premium feature (I try not to pay for such things - I'm cheap).
when you think of it - cast iron is the ultimate in Green cookware ... they last forever, they call for minimal chemicals to be used to clean them, and when their non-stick coating (seasoning) wears off instead of having to pitch it you can fix it yourself.
Michelle
Ooh, I'm always on the look out for some new/used cast iron. My newest piece is a dutch over -sans the lid- that I paid 5 bucks for up in the White Mountains of NH. I will have to see if I can find a glass lid (http://www.gardenfork.tv/found-giant-cast-iron-fry-pan-free#comment-3323) for it so I can bake some artisan bread in it : )