My mother recently gave me a small skillet and a griddle that had belonged to her maternal grandmother.  She found them in in storage in our old dairy barn.  I have no idea how long they were there, but it was most likely 30 years or so.

Here are a few before pictures of the skillet:




and the griddle:




I washed them as best as I could with detergent and then washed them with Coke a few times.  I put them in my gas grill at full blast (around 700 degrees) and burned all of the old seasoning off of them and washed them some more with some of the Camp Chef cast iron cleaner.  I also used a flexible putty knife to get off stubborn little bits of the old seasoning.  I coated them with the Camp Chef conditioner and seasoned them.  The griddle has received a second seasoning with Crisco.

After:








I don't know who manufactured them.  The "3A" mark on the skillet is the only mark on either of them.

This square skillet was my maternal grandmothers and is the skillet in which she always made cornbread for me.  It was unused for many until my mother gave it to me.  The seasoning was beginning to flake off, and it was beginning to rust.  I decided that it needed to be cleaned and re-seasoned.  I used the same procedure as outlined above.  It is seasoned with Crisco.  Nothing on it indicates the manufacturer.

Before:





After:




They will all probably need to be seasoned more, but they are in much better shape now.

You have done a wonderful job.  I tried the coke on the gem iron but it wasnt as bad as yours to start with and I am happy enough with the result.  About to go try it.

Little_Kopit wrote on Mar 4^th, 2008 at 8:06pm:


Folks

I know a lot of people use it but not everyone is able to see photos hosted on photobucket.  It isn't anything to do with the forum as many other sites are the same.

Sorry LK but thats where they are.

Cheers


Derek

Update:

All of the pieces above have now been identified as having been made by Birmingham Stove and Range in Birmingham, AL.  My grandmother lived in an city near there until she was 13.

It is my understanding that the rings on the bottom of the small skillet and griddle that were in the barn are designed for use on a wood/coal buring stove. The ring lifted them up just enough that they did not have full direct contact with the stove surface.