Foster Stove Company No. 8 Chicken Fryer
SSC MUSEUM COLLECTION
Catalog No. SSC-FOSTER-FRY-8-1935-001
“Chicken Fryer No. 8” | Deep Skillet | Ironton, Ohio
Circa 1930s–1940s • Foster Stove Company
Bottom view showing “CHICKEN FRYER” and “NO.8” cast into the base. Smooth bottom with no heat ring. The piece carries no explicit Foster company name marking—attribution is based on the casting style, handle geometry, and construction characteristics consistent with documented Foster Stove Company production from Ironton, Ohio.
The chicken fryer is the deep-sided cousin of the skillet—built for the same stovetop but designed for a different kind of cooking. Where a standard skillet is shallow and wide, optimized for searing and sautéing, the chicken fryer adds two to three inches of sidewall depth to contain the oil needed for deep frying and the splatter that comes with it. The No. 8 chicken fryer was the working-kitchen essential for fried chicken, the dish that defined home cooking across the American South and Midwest for generations. If a household owned one piece of cast iron specifically for frying chicken, it was almost certainly a piece like this one.
This No. 8 Chicken Fryer is attributed to the Foster Stove Company of Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio—a stove and range manufacturer that operated on the banks of the Ohio River from 1882 to 1946. Foster is a significant name in the SSC collection’s Favorite corporate lineage: when the Favorite Stove & Range Company of Piqua closed permanently in 1935, Foster acquired Favorite’s range patents, tooling, and trademarks. The cookware patterns went separately to the Chicago Hardware Foundry, but Foster’s acquisition of the stove and range line made it the direct corporate successor to Favorite in the heating and cooking appliance market. Foster also produced its own line of cast iron cookware—skillets, deep skillets, chicken fryers, and tea kettles—under “The Foster Line” and “Iron Age” brand names.
The base marking on this piece reads simply “CHICKEN FRYER / NO.8” with no company name cast into the iron. Attribution to Foster is based on the casting style, the handle geometry—a distinctive narrow teardrop profile that collectors have documented as borrowing from both Wagner and Griswold Iron Mountain designs—and the overall construction characteristics that are consistent with known Foster production. Collector literature notes that Foster pieces appear in sufficient variety and quantity to indicate genuine foundry production rather than promotional items cast by a third party.
Piece Details
Profile view showing the deep sidewalls that distinguish a chicken fryer from a standard skillet. The additional depth—approximately 3 inches—provided the oil capacity needed for deep frying while containing splatter. Smooth base sits flat. Teardrop hanging loop handle visible at right.
Manufacturer
Foster Stove Company (attributed)
Piece Type
Chicken Fryer (deep skillet)
Size Number
No. 8
Base Marking
“CHICKEN FRYER” / “NO.8” (no company name cast)
Bottom Configuration
Smooth base, no heat ring
Pour Spouts
Two opposing spouts
Handle Style
Narrow teardrop hanging loop; consistent with Foster production
Sidewall Depth
Approximately 3” (deep fryer configuration)
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1930s–1940s
Place of Manufacture
Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio (attributed)
Condition
Very Good — legible markings; sits flat; no cracks or chips; clean seasoned surface inside and out; display and use ready
Acquisition Date
November 28, 2025
Acquisition Source
eBay — Seller: timscastiron
eBay Item Number
326792132839
Order Number
12-13894-06840
Purchase Price
$75.00 item + $12.00 shipping + $7.37 tax = $94.37 total
SSC Catalog Number
SSC-FOSTER-FRY-8-1935-001
Top view showing the deep cooking well of the No. 8 chicken fryer. The interior surface is clean and evenly seasoned. Dual opposing pour spouts at the rim. The depth of the sidewalls is clearly visible from this angle—substantially deeper than a standard No. 8 skillet.
Foster and the Favorite Lineage
The Foster Stove Company’s place in the Favorite corporate lineage is specific and well-documented. When Favorite Stove & Range of Piqua ceased operations in 1935, its assets were divided: Foster Stove Company of Ironton acquired the stove and range patents, tooling, and trademarks, while the Chicago Hardware Foundry of North Chicago acquired the cookware line patterns. This division means that Foster carried forward the heating and cooking appliance side of Favorite’s business, while the Favorite Piqua Ware, Miami, and Puritan cookware patterns continued production under the Chicago Hardware Foundry’s ownership as “Favorite Cook Ware.”
But Foster also produced its own cast iron cookware—independently of the Favorite acquisition. “The Foster Line” and “Iron Age” branded pieces were manufactured at the Ironton foundry throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s. Collector discussion on the Cast Iron Collector forums notes that Foster appears to have borrowed pattern design elements from both Wagner Manufacturing and Griswold’s Iron Mountain line, creating pieces with a distinctive character that is recognizably Ohio but not easily mistaken for any other foundry’s production. The handle profile is notably narrow compared to Wagner or Griswold pieces of the same era.
This chicken fryer—marked only with “CHICKEN FRYER NO.8” and carrying no explicit Foster company name—represents a category of Foster production that is identified by style rather than marking. The smooth base without heat ring, the handle geometry, and the overall casting character are consistent with the body of documented Foster pieces. It may have been sold as part of a stove package—a chicken fryer included with the purchase of a Foster range—or sold independently as part of The Foster Line cookware offerings.
Corporate Timeline: Foster Stove Company
1882
Foster Stove Company founded in Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio by J.D. Foster and H.A. Marting. The foundry is established on the banks of the Ohio River in the iron-producing region of southern Ohio.
1882–1930s
Foster manufactures steel and cast iron ranges, cook and heating stoves for wood, coal, and gas, laundry stoves, and begins producing cast iron cookware under “The Foster Line” and “Iron Age” brand names.
1935
Favorite Stove & Range Co. of Piqua, Ohio ceases operations. Foster acquires Favorite’s range patents, tooling, and trademarks. The cookware line patterns are sold separately to Chicago Hardware Foundry.
1930s–40s
Peak period for Foster cast iron cookware production, including skillets, deep skillets, chicken fryers, and tea kettles. Pieces borrow design elements from Wagner and Griswold Iron Mountain patterns.
1946
Foster Stove Company ceases operations in Ironton, Ohio. The foundry closes permanently. No successor company.
Why This Piece Matters
The Foster Stove Company No. 8 Chicken Fryer adds the final chapter to the Favorite corporate lineage as documented in the SSC collection. The lineage now spans from Columbus Hollow Ware’s “The Favorite” mark (1882–1902), through Favorite Stove & Range’s own Favorite Piqua Ware, Miami, and Puritan brands (1889–1935), to Foster Stove Company of Ironton (1882–1946)—the firm that carried the Favorite stove and range trademarks forward after Piqua’s foundry went dark. Five brand names, three Ohio cities, sixty-four years of continuous production history, and the SSC collection now holds representative pieces from every major thread.
Ironton, Ohio adds a new geographic dimension to the SSC collection’s Ohio map. Where the Favorite Piqua Ware and Wagner pieces represent the Miami-Shelby County corridor of west-central Ohio, and the Cleveland foundries represent the Cuyahoga County industrial base, and the Canton Cake Griddle represents Stark County in the northeast, Foster places a pin in Lawrence County at the southern tip of the state—on the Ohio River, in the iron-producing country that gave the town its name. Ohio’s cast iron heritage was not concentrated in a single region. It was distributed across the state, from the river towns of the south to the industrial cities of the north, and the SSC collection is building the most detailed map of that distribution available in the private collector literature.
The iron endures. The markings tell the truth. The story deserves to be told.
Sources & Further Reading
CastIronCollector.com — Foster Stove Company reference page: Ironton, Lawrence County, Ohio; founded 1882 by J.D. Foster and H.A. Marting; production 1882–1946; products including “The Foster Line” and “Iron Age” cookware.
CastIronCollector.com Forums — “The Foster Line” thread: collector discussion of Foster pattern origins, relationship to Favorite Stove & Range acquisition, handle geometry comparisons to Wagner and Griswold Iron Mountain.
BoonieHicks.com — “Guide to Favorite Piqua Ware”: documents the 1935 closure of Favorite Stove & Range and the division of assets between Foster Stove Company (range patents) and Chicago Hardware Foundry (cookware patterns).
SSC Internal Collection Records — Favorite corporate lineage documentation: Columbus Hollow Ware, Favorite Piqua Ware, Miami, Puritan, and Foster.
About Steve’s Seasoned Classics
Steve’s Seasoned Classics is an online museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the heritage of American cast iron, with a focus on Ohio foundry pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The SSC collection features over 130 pieces with detailed provenance, historical research, and photography for each item.
