FAVORITE No. 1 ENAMELED SKILLET

[lrac]

I recently purchased a FAVORITE No. 1 skillet. It has painted black over what appears to be an original brown enamel finish. Is this considered to be the porcelain TOY SKILLET on page 294 of the BLUE BOOK, or is it a different animal altogether?  Also what is the difference between a TOY SKILLET and a REGULAR No. 1 SKILLET as listed on page 286?
One last question - does anyone have any idea as to value? The skillet has a heat ring. There is some pitting on the pan surface and there might be 2 chips in the original finish on the bottom.
Thanks,
Carl Watkins

[Harry Riva]

Page 218 in the Blue Book has good pictures of the porcelained Favorite skillets in four colors. Book gives a value of $75 and I think the only difference between the # 1 Favorite and a toy Favorite is the venacular, although there are two handle lengths that I know of.
Harry

[Steve_Stephens]

Both the zero sized and the No.1 Favorite were toys.  The zero size had a shorter handle much like the Wagner and Griswold toy skillets.  The No.1 Favorite may be from a different time period than their size zero pan which was not marked with a size and was probably part of a toy set whereas the No.1 seems to have been offered by itself without other toy pieces.

Steve

[lrac]

Thanks for the input. When I purchased the skillet I had only had a quick look at it before it went on the block. I was quite surprised to see the brown porcelain finish when I scratched the surface with my thumbnail. The general consensus on cleaning is to use a lye bath. I will let you know how it turns out.
Carl

[Steve_Stephens]

Carl,
DON'T use lye to clean porcelained pieces.  Lye will etch and dull the porcelain.

Steve

[lrac]

Steve,
What is your recommendation for cleaning?
Carl

[Steve_Stephens]

If the black stuff on the pan IS paint you can try paint remover.  Lye should be ok but for a short time only.  What a "short" time is I don't know-maybe several hours?  Carburator cleaner should work but I don't know its effect on porcelain.  Or do what I did to my mahogany porcelain skillet like yours that was fairly pitted on the inside.  Get rid of the porcelain.  I used a body pick hammer to pick away at the porcelain and it only took me several hours to do the job.  Ended up with a great looking black iron No.1 Favorite but it was still pitted on the inside.  A good wall hanger.

Steve

[miniwoodworker]

Here's a thought....... FWIW

The best cleaner that I've found for my oven is household ammonia. Here's how I do it.

Heat the oven to around 250*F. Turn it off. Place a non-reactive pan in the oven that has a mixture of ammonia and water. Leave it over night. The next day, all but the most stubborn spots will simply wipe off. Even those stubborn spots will yield with a second treatment. Works beautifully on the glass in the door.

Try putting warm to hot water in your pan. Add a generous amount of ammonia. Slip the pan in a plastic bag and seal. Leave it overnight. Or, if you have a large non-reactive container, just put the pan in the solution and let it soak. (A water bath canner may be large enough.) Do this outside to keep the fumes to a minimum.

Ammonia will etch aluminum, but I've never had any problems with it in my oven. I've also used it for stove burner drip pans with no ill effects. Planning to do this soon to some Corning Ware to clean up the bottoms.

You may want to give this a try. If it doesn't work, it's only cost a few cents and a little time.

Hope this helps, a bit. Good luck with your skillet.
Lee

[lrac]

Hey Everyone,
Thanks for the input.
I finally opted to go the Easy Off oven cleaner route on the skillet. I sprayued it and zipped up in a baggie overnight. The next morning I washed it clean and all the black paint was removed. The cooking surface was black iron - not porcelain and it took quite a bit of sanding with 360 and 100 grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove the rust. I ended up with a nice brown porcelain skillet - there are a few chips in the porcelain and some pitting in the cooking surface but still makes a decent display piece. Steve I was wondering if the porcelain pans all had black iron cooking surfaces or if someone had attempted to remove the porcelain as you had suggested and gave up deciding to paint it black instead.
Thanks again,
Carl

[C. Perry Rapier]

Lee, I like the easy clean oven with ammonia. You say water and ammonia. What is the mixture ratio for the water and ammonia. That sounds like a wonderful idea.

[miniwoodworker]

For cleaning the oven I used a large rectangular glass baking dish to hold the solution. Added about a cup of household ammonia to the dish filled about 3/4 full of warm water. Put the top rack in the middle of the oven and set the dish on that. I usually heat the oven, turn it off, and place the solution in it late in the evening. Next day, most of the burned on stuff just wipes off.

Another cleaning solution that I like to use for glassware is 1 cup ammonia, 1 cup alchol, and a good dash of Dawn dish detergent to a sink full of hot water. Put in the glassware and soak for a few minutes. This works great for display pieces that tend to get a greasy film if kept in the kitchen. I also like it for cleaning kerosene lamps (another passion of mine, BTW.) Rinse well, and the glass will sparkle!

Lee

[Steve_Stephens]

I was wondering if the porcelain pans all had black iron cooking surfaces or if someone had attempted to remove the porcelain as you had suggested and gave up deciding to paint it black instead.

Carl,
I think the insides of the skillets were black iron.  That is the way Favorite made all there regular sized porcelainized skillets.  

Steve

[C. Perry Rapier]

Lee, you said you like kerosene lamps. I do too. When I was a child kerosene lamps were the source of light for our house, during the day the windows. And when you went out at night to use the no flush toilet, you used the kerosene flashlight.

[miniwoodworker]

I've got a few of those kero flashlights, too. Filled with skeeter oil, they are perfect for the deck in the summer time.

Who made the treck outback at night? We had that enameled pot under the bed. Still have one of those. Works, too! Can't say the same for the modern stuff when an ice storm takes down the power lines. No electric. No water. No flush.

See, I'm not too far off topic. Managed to bring our side discussion back around to enameled ware.  ;)

Lee

[C. Perry Rapier]

Lee, do you know what the difference is between a rich girl and a poor girl?

A rich girl has a canopy over her bed and a poor girl has a can a pea under her bed.