Cast iron ID?

[simon1]

Just found this at Mom's...SWMBO found it in the cabinet when she was looking for something to cook breakfast in a couple of days ago and used it to fry up some bacon and eggs. She said that it was lighter than the Lodge ones.



If I remember right, this was the one Mom used to cook stuff in when I was a kid and when it got sticky stuff on it after cooking she'd boil a bit of water in it to loosen the gunkus in it so she could clean it out good. It looks like the boiling/simmering water has taken a bit of seasoning off of it where the water line was. It probably hasn't been used in years.



It looks like it has the number 8 on the handle, but it is the size of about a 10 inch skillet.



I took a paper towel and rubbed the bottom of it off a bit to see if I could see a brand name on it, and it looks like it has a C or a G or something as the first letter, then RIS, then what looks like part of a W in the name that has a cross shaped border around the brand name. It also has ERIE PA. on the bottom of the pan.

Anyone have a clue what it may be?

 

[kelbro]

It's a Griswold. Yes, lighter than Lodge. Looks like all that it needs is a good cleaning and to be re-seasoned and it will be good as new.

 

[simon1]

I looked it up last night and it appears to be the small logo one made between 1940 and 1957. I was debating on whether to clean it up or just use it as is. I think I'll use it for awhile until I get another electrolysis tank and then strip it down and re-season it. There are no rust, cracks, or dings in it.

 

[OkieStubble]

I looked it up last night and it appears to be the small logo one made between 1940 and 1957. I was debating on whether to clean it up or just use it as is. I think I'll use it for awhile until I get another electrolysis tank and then strip it down and re-season it. There are no rust, cracks, or dings in it.

Remember, if you strip it down, you strip away all the history it has stored in the patina since you were a boy. I would just keep it and use it as is.

 

[troy]

Nice Griswold!

With no rust, I would probably just use it as is. I'm sure it would clean up beautifully though. You could spray it with easy off oven cleaner and put it in a garbage bag to keep it wet. Let it soak over night, and most should come off, repeat as needed. For seasoning I like Flaxseed oil.

 

[kelbro]

My main skillet is also a small logo and is used almost daily.

 

[langod]

Nice! I have a Griswold that's over 100 years old (was my great grandmother's, she was born in the 1870s)

I use it almost every day.

I agree with Okiestubble and Troy above -- don't strip it. Scrub it well -- no soap! -- use a metal scrubby pad. Then re-season it. If it's still seasoned well, just cook a couple of batches of bacon, or shallow-fry some chicken in it -- easy way to "update" the season and delicious too!

 

[JimmyHAD]

Nice Griswold!

With no rust, I would probably just use it as is. I'm sure it would clean up beautifully though. You could spray it with easy off oven cleaner and put it in a garbage bag to keep it wet. Let it soak over night, and most should come off, repeat as needed. For seasoning I like Flaxseed oil.

+1, I got a grungy # 9 Griswold Erie off of the bay and did the Easy Off in a garbage bag. Make sure you get the one with lye. Rubber gloves when handling. Mine took a couple of sessions to strip down. I seasoned mine by cooking bacon. Ate a lot of bacon for a couple of weeks.

 

[TexLaw]

That's a mighty nice skillet!

I agree that there's no good reason to strip it with heat or chemicals. There's no rust, and the seasoning on there is not so out of whack as to cause trouble. I echo what the others have said: give it a good scrubbing and two or three rounds of reseasoning.

I also agree that flaxseed oil is as good as it gets for seasoning, as it creates a very hard, durable, slick seasoning. Here's how I go about it:

- Wipe on a thin layer with a dishrag or paper towel
- Place the item(s) in a cold oven (face down, to allow any excess oil to drip off rather than puddle up)
- Crank the oven up to 550F (or whatever your oven will go up to for baking)
- Let it sit at that temperature for 10-20 minutes (or until it's done smoking)
- Turn off the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes or so (so that you aren't handling 500+F stuff)
- Remove the item(s) and let them cool for another 20 minutes or so
- Repeat as often as you like or until the rest of the house screams at you for smelling the place up (don't worry about letting the oven cool all the way down)

The whole cycle takes about an hour, and it's worth the time.

 

[Acmemfg]

View attachment 689827
View attachment 689828

Absolutely no need to get Medieval on the Griswold. I have a couple going back to my Grandmother's time. Excellent pieces of cookwear. For sure the Griswolds are much lighter than say, Lodge or Wagner. No idea why. I clean mine with kosher salt or perhaps baking soda. This one pictured I found a couple months back while cleaning out my Dad's house. No idea of the history but I'd suggest it came to be in my Mother's possession after my Grandmother died about 20 years ago.

 

[simon1]

I agree with Okiestubble and Troy above -- don't strip it. Scrub it well -- no soap! -- use a metal scrubby pad. Then re-season it. If it's still seasoned well, just cook a couple of batches of bacon

^This. I scrubbed it good with coarse salt and a plastic scrubby pad, dried it, then heated it up on the stove until it was lightly smoking. Then took a paper towel and put a light coat of Crisco on it and let it cool down. Cooked some bacon and eggs in it and the eggs did not stick at all. Since Dad probably bought it for Mom when he got home from The War I'm just gonna leave it as is...nothing wrong with it and it works great.

From what little I looked up on the brand the small logo ones were not quite as good a metal as the earlier ones, but still great skillets.

As for stripping down iron...my Rubbermaid electrolysis tank finally got a hole in it and I needed to strip down an 8 inch Lodge a month or two ago so I tried the easy-off with lye thing. Left it in a trash bag for 24 hours and after scrubbing it down it still has some spots of old seasoning on it. I need to get a new tank as I like electrolysis much better...it also takes care of any rust and you don't have to do a second step with vinegar like you may have to with the oven cleaner method.

This is the set-up I like to use:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/171936-Yuuuck?highlight=Yuuuck

 

[simon1]

View attachment 689827
View attachment 689828

Absolutely no need to get Medieval on the Griswold. I have a couple going back to my Grandmother's time. Excellent pieces of cookwear. For sure the Griswolds are much lighter than say, Lodge or Wagner. No idea why. I clean mine with kosher salt or perhaps baking soda. This one pictured I found a couple months back while cleaning out my Dad's house. No idea of the history but I'd suggest it came to be in my Mother's possession after my Grandmother died about 20 years ago.

For some reason your attachments aren't showing up for me. ???

 

[Acmemfg]

Let's try once more...

 

[simon1]

Now they show up. Nice. The large logo with the block letters was made in the...1920s and '30s?

The only other one I have that's not a Lodge is a Birmingham Stove and Range one I picked up at a junk store for $4 that had a bit of rust on it (it looked pretty crudy). Ran it through the electrolysis tank and re-seasoned it and it looks just fine. Closest I can date it to is about 1966. It has the heat ring on it. It's a bit small but it cooks great.

 

[Wid]

The large block was made into the 40's. That BSR is a Century series dating in the 50's, later in the 60's they added "Made in the U.S.A".

Although not as highly sought after they make for great users. I strip everything down to bare metal, no matter where it comes from. I like a nice clean pan. Using lye before an etank is how I clean my iron.

 

[simon1]

Thanks Rick!

That's the same thing Mick said in this thread.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/365845-No-name-skillet?highlight=Birmingham

I later found this site and just thought the Century one I have was from the '60s from the info. on there. As you can see I'm a rank amature as far as cast iron goes.

http://www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Birmingham_Stove_and_Range

 

[Wid]

I recall that thread. At that time I had no clue on who made what, where or when. Oh how far three years of obsessiveness can get a person lol.

 

[Wid]

I like this site. http://www.castironcollector.com/trademarks.php