Griswold #9
 

So I have a question for all you smart people out there. I found a griswold #9 cast iron skillet today at a local antiques shop buried in the corner. It was marked $75. They were having an "everything on sale" at the store and when I questioned the store keeper about it she told me I could take it for $54. I declined and said I wanted to think about it. I'm pretty sure I could talk her down to $45-50 if I tried.

So my question is, should I go pick it up for that price? Or do you think that is way over priced, even though they don't make them anymore.

Please Help!!


PS - That was a NICE skillet. It was SOOOOO smooth, way more smooth then my lodge pans!

Re: Griswold #9
 

I'd say that google is your best friend in times like these....

Re: Griswold #9
 

Look at flea bay.
http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=griswold+9&_armrs=1

Re: Griswold #9
 

doh thanks....sometimes I don't think about all my resources :(

I guess I could find this out on my own :-P

Sorry for the dumb question

Re: Griswold #9
 

Surely Mtnman could tell you all about it.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Are you into 'collectible' cast iron?

If not, then just buy a regular one for $18.99.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Re: Griswold #9
 

I'd offer 25 bucks for it, the owner would be stupid not to take it, or else have it sit in the corner for another 5 years. Antique (junk) store people can be really bullheaded, though. They have rigid, preconceived ideas of an objects worth, not for what the market will bear. Many of them have really pisspoor business sense.

Re: Griswold #9
 

WagnerWare and Griswold were the Ford and Chevrolet of cast iron cookware in their day, and the processes used then were a bit different. The casting molds were better, the casting sand was finer, and the iron was different than what is made now. Iron has a wide range of properties affected by composition, cooling methods, and cooling times, to name a few. Today's cast iron cookware is made in China and Mexico and is much coarser; the pores in the metal are much bigger. So they don't season as well, heating is uneven, and they look like crap.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Imo Griswold is over rated, and over priced. Most Of our "good" cast iron is Wagnerware. And at about half the price of griz I just cant see it other than just buying the name.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Lodge is still made in the USA.

Re: Griswold #9
 

My 10" Lodge is my favorite and most often used pan in the house.
Available locally for $25.00.
Just looked online at Lodge website @$23.95
Very well seasoned from years of use. Slicker than teflon.
Be sure to buy the lid.

Re: Griswold #9
 

alright, thanks guys. My gut told me it was too much, but I knew you guys were the "experts" :36_1_32v:

I'll look on ebay for some deals on the older wagner or griswold cast iron.

After seeing how nice and smooth that pan was, it makes my new lodge look like feces. I've been using the lodge every chance I get and it still was no where close to as smooth as that griswold (which looked UNSEASONED) to me...I know what I'm missing now and I'm going to end up with something from ebay or craigslist I think.

I looked at ebay though the the quality varied greatly (from heavy pitting and rust..to what looked like decent cookware still)

Re: Griswold #9
 

If you really want one just to have, pick one up at a flea market or better yet a yard sale. The rusted ones can be had for a few bucks. Little elbow grease and some sweat and your good to go.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Interesting I use a Griswold No. 9 Griddle Daily. I admired one my uncle was using that had been his mothers and bought one off ebay several years ago. I think for around $20. It is machined flat and well seasoned nothing sticks to it. We have my wife's grandmothers skillet which was well used for 50 years. Its so carboned up the handle actually looks lumpy. Its very smooth inside compared to a few Lodge skillets we have. I thought about polishing a lodge using a hocky puck sized rare earth magnet stuck to a chuck and my bowl lathe and then seasoning to see if I could cut 50 years off the process--but never did it (that magnent is too hard to get unstuck) Incidentally, low carb diets are great for seasoning skillets. Two months of daily bacon and sausage frying does wonders.

Re: Griswold #9
 

i have seen older people in my family build a fire with wood an burn there skillets for a long time in the fire an this clean them up , mtm would know more about this . an i have seen them put lard in the pans to season them up

Re: Griswold #9
 

It is recommended that you do not clean your good cast iron in the fire. That being said, I clean it in the fire of my wood stove. First I get a good deep pile of coals in the stove. I use a pair of blacksmith tongs to hold the piece. Then I shove it down in the hot coals covering it completely. Leave it about 3 minutes and pull it out. Let it cool by the stove. When it's cool enough you can pick it up bare handed, wash it with a Scotch-Brite pad and clear water, no soap. It will look brand new. This also takes rust off but sometimes you might have to fire it a little longer. I like to use lard for seasoning. Put the freshly cleaned iron in the oven, heat to 300 degrees, take it out and wipe generously with lard on a clean cloth. Put it back in the oven and turn the oven off. Let it sit until it�s cool, wipe it off again with a clean rag. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
This has only been done by me to Griswold, Wagner and other vintage cast iron items. I don�t know how it will work on Lodge. That rough inside surface of a Lodge is the WORST thing you could ever cook on. It�s a cheap casting. Griswold and as other here have pointed out, Wagner is available at any antique store and most flea markets for not much money. There are lots of other brands of vintage cast iron also, it�s all good. Just as long it is soooooth inside and not cracked. The �no name� stuff is cheap at the markets.
I only do this to �new to me� cast iron coming into my kitchen, just because I don�t know where it�s been and fire cleanses everything. Once it�s cleaned and seasoned once, if you take proper care of it, it�s good forever.

Re: Griswold #9
 

I think production was moved to Mexico a few years ago, and their cookware is not as good as it was 10 years ago.

Re: Griswold #9
 

I had a drink with one of their operations guys this April. They are still running their foundry in TN and are pouring more iron than ever. He told me that Walmart is now selling their cookware. Their enameled cookware is made in China.

Re: Griswold #9
 

I've seen lodge at walmart. I actaully just saw it there about 2 weeks ago back in the "camping" section. I remember this because I was suprised to see lodge at walmart :-)

nevertheless after seeing what good cast iron is supposed to be, lodge looks cheap :-( Even though I love my lodge dutch oven

Re: Griswold #9
 

I have some lodge as well as some griswold cast iron. Smoothness aside, one thing for sure is that the lodge is a much heavier pan. For comparison my 12 inch griswold is thin and easy to pick up with one hand and maneuver, where as the lodge is easier with two hands. It has a handle on the other side of the pan and needs its because of its weight. The 12 inch Lodge pan weighs a little over 7 pounds, but the 12 inch Griswold weighs only a little under 5 pounds. Its about a 2.5 lb difference which makes the Lodge pan a whopping 50% heavier. Thats gotta count for something. :smile:

Re: Griswold #9
 

I picked this one up at a garage sale this past Friday. It was a bit rusty and greasy, but I got it for 3 bucks.

Re: Griswold #9
 

aybesee123, That's nice. Did you clean it up or did it come in that condition?

You could make some nice dishes in that, your lid has ridging for even distribution of water droplets.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Good to know, Ag Man; I won't have a problem buying from them. But their cast iron cookware still isn't as good as the old stuff.

Re: Griswold #9
 

It had the pantena but it also had some hardened bumps of old grease overall and some rust patches. The guy had it sitting in wet grass at the yard sale to boot. Nothing to deep however. I scrubbed it down to a smooth surface and removed any rust. I then rubbed the whole thing down with Crisco and placed in the oven at 375 for and hour. I let it cool to room temp and repeated the process three times. In the photo the surfaces look a bit dirty and greasy when in fact they are smooth and feel like glass. It is kinda like firing a glaze on pottery.

Re: Griswold #9
 

I've a no-name skillet with '8' on the handle and on the back it says '10 1/2 INCH SKILLET' and there is an 'H'. It looks quite old. Anyone have any ideas?

Re: Griswold #9
 

Pics.......

Re: Griswold #9
 

GOODWILL!!!
Ebay? Sure, if you want.
I have scads of old cast pans, bought ahead for the kinder. Never thought about a collectible skillet, just hate using most anything else.
There was apparently a fad centering around long handled cast pots of smallish size shaped like a cone with the point lopped off. Super duper for melting down lead over a turkey burner. I cast in handles made of old 10 gauge wire with nuts or bolts tied to the end....have to hold them down until the metal cools. Just weigh and mark weight and source on them, then chuck them in the corner for a nice autumn day of casting.

Re: Griswold #9
 

No argument there! Everyone seems to agree on that and I told that to the guy from Lodge. He looked at me and said. "Really, I've never heard that before". My take on it is the molding methods; they went from horizontal parted cope and drag molds, to vertically parted molds when they put in their DISA molding machines sometime in the 1980's. I can't prove or explain this, just a gut feeling. They also quit using lake sand in the 1990's when it got really expensive.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Lodge sells some pieces I'm unlikely to find from the old makers, but there is so much good old cast iron out there that for pans and dutch ovens there isn't a need.

Re: Griswold #9
 

I have a similar skillet. It has a '8' on the top of the handle near the rim and a lip on the bottom. No other markings though. It has been in my family for many years.

Re: Griswold #9
 

Found this vid on Lodge Foundry: