Is it a sin to modify an antique cast iron griddle?

[mkirsch]

I was given this old cast iron griddle a few years back. It has these little handles on the ends that make it that much too long to fit on my grill. Without them it would be a perfect fit.

10 seconds with an angle grinder would make it useful, but I hesitate because its an old piece of cast iron. I doubt its valuable. Nobody would miss it. Yet, I still hesitate...

So will I rot in hell for cutting the handles off this thing? I'd probably use it weekly if not daily. Right now it just sits against the wall behind my stove at home.

[jeremy_kirby]

Not a sin.
But yes. I understand the responsibility. On the other hand - an iron griddle shouldn't be collecting dust just because you don't want to ruin it. Modify it if you want to. It's only a handle after all.

[Bemota]

In regards to Some cast iron cookware , most are sold as “pre-seasoned” which keeps them from rusting in storage and shipping. My brother has a Lodge frying pan, washed and took care of it per instructions, everything stuck, was going to throw it out on my scrap-iron pile. I put it in an old gas stove oven and set it to self-clean, hours later when the would open,we removed it washed it and began the seasoning process. Took a while, now he says it’s the pan in the kitchen. Sometime the old ways work better! Dan

[Geeze]

I inherited a cast iron griddle that was my Grandmothers. It had four spots fairly clean where she made pancakes and the rest of the cooking surface was a thick black burn on from years of use. Not knowing any better I took it to work and bead blasted it back to bare metal. Even though I seasoned it again it wouldn't cook worth a darn for a long time. I learned my lesson!

[Diamond_c]

I did that this summer to several pieces that I had picked up at a yard sale.

[noteven]

Cowboy Kent Rollins' cowboy cooking channel on youtube has some cast iron care and feeding information.

You can re season rusted cast iron cookware by throwing it in the campfire to burn off all previous seasoning and start a re-season.

[propchef]

Reader1 wrote:
I don't know if modifying a cast iron griddle is a sin. I found out many years ago that scrubbing a cast iron skillet is a major sin. Yikes! What a ruckus!!

I scrub my cast iron every time I use it. Hot water and soap. It's still the best non-stick pan I have.

The key is to DRY the pan thoroughly after cleaning.

You cannot remove the seasoning through normal* washing.

*NOT the dish machine. Yikes.

[Diamond_c]

I picked up a few pieces a while back and after they sat around for about a year I finally got to working on them this past summer. I had to use a Sadie pad on my drill and take them down to bare metal and reseason them from scratch. They’re just lodge brand nothing special but one of them is a 14” Dutch oven that new is close to $100, and I gave only $20 for all 3 pieces.

[Reader1]

I don't know if modifying a cast iron griddle is a sin. I found out many years ago that scrubbing a cast iron skillet is a major sin. Yikes! What a ruckus!!

[Old-Biscuit]

DO IT!

[Ron3rd]

TravelinDog wrote:

GDS-3950BH wrote:

Naio wrote:
I understand the feeling of responsibility to preserve something. One question in my mind would be, can you make it beautiful, if you change it?

Its a chunk of metal and nothing more. It does not have to be "beautiful" to grill up a pancake but it does need to fit on the stove.

^^This^^
It belong to you so you should do as you please. If it doesn't fit on your stove or grill you're not going to use it so there would be not point in even having it. Grind away!

X2. There's nothing magical about cast iron regardless of the brand name. Modify it to your liking.

[TravelinDog]

GDS-3950BH wrote:

Naio wrote:
I understand the feeling of responsibility to preserve something. One question in my mind would be, can you make it beautiful, if you change it?

Its a chunk of metal and nothing more. It does not have to be "beautiful" to grill up a pancake but it does need to fit on the stove.

^^This^^
It belong to you so you should do as you please. If it doesn't fit on your stove or grill you're not going to use it so there would be not point in even having it. Grind away!

[Diamond_c]

Daniel Boone cooked his squirrels and o possums on a stick he didn’t want to carry the weight of the cast iron.

[GDS-3950BH]

time2roll wrote:
No sin unless it has historical significance. Did Abraham Lincoln personally use this pan? I don't think so.

Daniel Boone may have fried up a squirrel or possum on it.

[GDS-3950BH]

Naio wrote:
I understand the feeling of responsibility to preserve something. One question in my mind would be, can you make it beautiful, if you change it?

Its a chunk of metal and nothing more. It does not have to be "beautiful" to grill up a pancake but it does need to fit on the stove.