What's with all the number 3 skillets?

[billz]

It sure seems that there is an abundance of number 3's out there. I'm not sure why they made so many... what do you do with them? It'll fit about 1 egg, or 1 slice of bacon (cut in half), a quarter serving of hash browns. The only thing I've used mine for is to bloom spices.

I'm wondering if they were used for something else in the old days. Something that was common back then, but not so much now?

Or maybe they were sold as sets - buy two number 8's and get a number 3 for free!

Any ideas?

[Jeff Seago]

I have thought about your question as well.  My opinion is that they made an abundance of them, just like the 8's.  They are so small that they were often not used.  They probably don't break when you drop them, at least not as often as the bigger ones, and not very many people use them today.  This leads to a larger supply of these # 3's IMO.

[C. B. Williams]

I'm going to take a stab at the first question. First, think about the size of the top of a typical old wood or coal stove. It was very limited on room and there were no microwaves back then. Next, there are a lot of uses for a small skillet, melting butter, making a sauce, or just warming up a serving of something already cooked. If you had a couple of skillets on the stove and needed something heated to add to one of your dishes then there was room for a small skillet to do the chore. Even now, I use a small skillet for doing this sometime, although the microwave usually does it.

[miniwoodworker]

CB, I've got a feeling that you're probably on the right track with this. Ever see one of those tiny 4 burner appartment sized gas stoves. Even then, small pans were needed.

Also, the tiny 2 burner gas stove in our first camper had the same problem. I've often cooked 4 sausage patties and scrambled eggs for 2 in that size frying pan. Suspect that camping helped keep the demand up for this size & weight.

Even today, when oven space is tight, it's usually easy to find just enough space for a small pan of cornbread. It's also the right size for a couple of rashers of fatback to render for seasoning. And, don't forget pot pies and cobblers for 1 or 2 servings.

I'd miss them if I didn't have a couple hanging in the pantry.

[Ray Benash]

What CB says. I use my small gris stuff -  #3 skillet (with a lid even), #0 skillet, #0 service kettle, square egg skillet for all kinds of little stuff like that. No need to get that big pan out if you only want to melt some butter, saute some garlic and shallot, etc. Lot's of uses.

I do lot's of BBQ (I am not one of those guy like Charlee describes though). Grill, smoker space can be a premium. Small items like these work great from keeping glaze or sauce warm, etc. to keeping those small parts like gizzard hearts and livers from dropping through while you are keeping them as a seperate "snack" when Q'n up some chickens.

And I like what Al does with his #3  :o

[stepper]

You can fry two eggs in a #3, then flop them over on toast for a fried egg sandwich, nice & neat.  

[Jeff Seago]

The #3 works great for 2 eggs.  I like mine sunny side up and if you have hashbrowns in a #5 you can put the hot #5 right on top of the eggs for a minute and they turn out perfectly!  Try it.

[Mike Shonfield]

Well I use mine to make the Spanish dish Gambas de Pil Pil which is shrimp, lots of garlic, olive oil, and chili peppers.  Bring it hot to the table....one for each person.

I also use it to make the fried Jalapeno and cheese rather than buy the pepper pan for sale on this site.

[livens]

Use my #3 almost every weekend... perfect size for sausage links for 2 people. Also it fits perfectly over those small burners on my electric flattop stove.

[Sam Roberts]

I wasn't even on the WAGS Website about 30 minutes ago and just like that a light went off. Now this is just my $0.02 worth and even I think I'm a penny short at times.

Back when the majority of these #3's were made didn't just about all people who worked, take their lunch bucket to work. What would be better than a small skillet to fry up/scramble up a couple of eggs, or maybe a sausage pattie and have them come out the right size to fit between a couple pieces of bread. Instant sandwitch, easy to make and not much of a mess to clean up.

[Jeff Seago]

You're on the right track Ray.  I personally don't like it when the bottom of my eggs gets hard.  I like to mix them up with my biscuits and gravy or hashbrowns.  So I found that if you put a larger hot skillet of the smaller ones the heat from the larger skillet cook the runny white part of the egg from the top.  This cooks them much quicker than if you just put a cover on the pan.  You have to be very careful not to cook them too long or you will end up with eggs over easy.

[Ray Benash]

You're on the right track Ray.  I personally don't like it when the bottom of my eggs gets hard.  I like to mix them up with my biscuits and gravy or hashbrowns.  So I found that if you put a larger hot skillet of the smaller ones the heat from the larger skillet cook the runny white part of the egg from the top.  This cooks them much quicker than if you just put a cover on the pan.  You have to be very careful not to cook them too long or you will end up with eggs over easy.

This is a great idea. I do the same thing if I am working two pans (have another larger one hot), if not the #3 lid is in the 350 deg oven and the hot lid serves the same purpose. Using a cold lid creates more condensation than it does to help cook the top of the eggs.

[Jeff Seago]

I actually never thought about using the hot lid.  Thanks for the idea Ray!  ;)

[maloney108]

Aside from eggs, my favorite use for a #3 is to carmelize some onions and/or fry up some mushrooms (one small can fits perfectly) for a garnish on my grilled steaks.