My grandpa handed me his 1970s cast iron skillet on Sunday and said "this pan has fed four kids and two wars, don't you dare put it in the dishwasher"

Nora Park · 2026-09-13T12:30:04.071624+00:00

He's 88 and finally moving into a smaller place near my aunt in Reno. Whole kitchen got divided up between the family and he saved this one thing for me. Thing weighs a ton. Handle's worn smooth from decades of his hands. I sat at his table eating eggs out of it while he told me his mom gave it to him when he got his first apartment in 1971. Fifty plus years of bacon grease and cornbread. He said the secret is you never really clean it, you just keep adding to it. Never let soap touch it, never scrub it hard. I figured I knew all that already but hearing him say it made me want to actually take care of the thing instead of shoving it in a cabinet. First thing I'm making in it is his cornbread recipe but he doesn't measure anything so this is going to be interesting. Anybody here inherit cookware from family? How did you keep it going without messing it up?

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My grandpa handed me his 1970s cast iron skillet on Sunday and said "this pan has fed four kids and two wars, don't you dare put it in the dishwasher" | Buy It For Keeps - Rigidtalk