What is my pan made of?

[kimbwired]

I received an old frying pan from my mother-in-law. She said it is cast-iron, but it is so smooth (unlike my other cast iron pan), that I'm wondering if it's carbon steel. How would I be able to tell what it's actually made of? The back says Wagner Ware Sidney.

Thanks, kb

[kimbwired]

Thanks everyone, I'm excited to learn that it is a good piece! It was covered in cobwebs and some rust when she gave it to me, so I really wasn't too sure about it.
I've mulled over trying to smooth out my only other pan many times because it's so rough...but I just can't bear the thought of starting over w/ the seasoning process!! In retrospect, I wish that I would've either bought an old/used pan or that i would have ground it down before beginning this lengthy seasoning process. Live-n-learn I guess.

[cannibal]

Experience is what you get only after you need it ;)

Resurfacing a newer pan can be a pain anyway, there are plenty of good, old, cast iron pans that need a new home.

[kaleokahu]

A Wagner. Thank your mom twice.

[Chemicalkinetics]

:) You will get a lot of responses and they will tell you the same things with various levels of details. The short answer is: Yes, it is cast iron.

[cannibal]

Definitely cast iron, and old too. They dont make them like they used to. Yours likely has a machined surface, hence the smoothness. Make sure to thank your mom, that is quite the usefull piece of cookware :)

[athanasius]

Yes -- the smooth finish is likely due to machining. Most cast iron that has been manufactured more recently tends to have a "pebbled" finish (due to the unevenness in the casting). In olden times, manufacturers tended to grind down the surface to make it very smooth.

By the way, if you find you like the smoother surface on your mother-in-law's pan, you can recreate it on your other pan. Relatively coarse sandpaper will do the trick, or some power tool if you prefer. The pan will then require reseasoning.

You'll probably get mixed opinions around here about whether such a step is worth it. Years of use with a modern pan will also build up layers of seasoning that create a smooth surface. (I've inherited machined pans, I've sanded a couple down, and I've also cooked on a few forever so they have smooth surfaces; all perform well.) I personally find a smooth surface to be essential for getting sticky things (like eggs) to slide out of the pan easily, so an underlying smooth metal surface can be a bit of a shortcut to get such a surface.

Anyhow, congrats on the pan -- if you've never had a smooth surface on cast iron, this may surprise you with its versatility.