My wife said all she knows is that this was her grandmother’s. I was just curious if any experts here could tell us anything more based on this pic (other than it’s a Griswald) I haven’t used it myself, no idea of the quality or if my wife might appreciate a newer one that might be better? Think I’m going to grill breakfast on it tomorrow...
Thanks for tagging the experts Troutman it’d be cool to know anything really. Apparently there was a 6†and a 10†that my wife did not take when her grandma passed and they probably went in a yard sale. I have no clue if it’s a gem we should work on or if we should put it in with the camping gear!
Oh yea Griswold is one of the old standards. You can pass that along to your grandchildren and they to theirs. Clean it up and re-season it if necessary and that will be a go to pan, especially for searing !!!
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Nice find! DO NOT put it with the camper gear......well you can and it will perform wonderfully./
You should absolutely use this skillet. Griswolds' are priced for the light weight and smooth cooking surface.
There are many options to clean the pan. Check out my thread on cleaning cast iron. Here! It has a ton of information on how to strip, clean and season anything cast iron. IF you don't want to use electrolysis, there are other methods mentioned in the thread as well.
WOW took me a while to get to this as well! Sorry Brother. Things are happening! Spinaker check me on this brother. Looks like a Block/Erie. 1930-1939 era. I would like to see this baby cleaned up! I would also like to see a pic of the underside of the handle.
Well, SWMBO was ready to use her skillet again so I did the best I could given all the great info here on AR to clean it up. The "before" pics can be found above. I had 2 goals:
Do not destroy, ruin, or otherwise deface this Griswold that belonged to my wife’s grandma. Lord help me if I screw it up, and I’ve never done this, so...
If #1 is achieved, see if I can actually make it better. (It had some really sticky trouble spots)
The electrolysis bath was beyond me at this point, so I tried several things including good old fashioned elbow grease, 4-5 vinegar & baking soda baths, nylon brushes on my drill, but nothing was working well until SWMBO pulled out this pumice stick labeled for cleaning CI and that did the trick. I attached pics of the post-elbow grease portion of the process too. Huge thank you to Spinaker who was kinda enough to drop some knowledge on me along this journey (oh, that’s called "flash rust"?) and most importantly stop me before I utterly screwed up goal #1!
Once cleaned, I used the flax seed oil to reseason it per the instructions... warm up in oven at 200F for 15 min, put on silicone glove, rub in oil with shop rag all over, wipe it off with a fresh shop rag, into the oven again upside down at 450F for an hour, let cool down slowly in oven for 2 hours... repeat a total of 6X.
I’m sure it could be better, but I’m hopeful I reached both my goals. SWMBO is thrilled with the final product and is anxious to show her dad. And I’m anxious for SWMBO to cook up some bacon!
Can you all set me straight on how to care for this thing after each cook? I ordered one of those "ringers", I believe that and hot water are all we should use? Do you heat it up after cleaning to help dry it? Do you oil it after it’s dry? If so - what kind, more flax seed? Does it get "baked in" again, or just leave a thin coat on it and store it?
Very nice. You have to pay top dollar these days to get fancy new pans that can even come close to that. Too bad you didn’t get the whole set.
I use the ringer as well as it helps get stuck food off. For light work I use a "non-scratch" nylon scrubsponge. I use soap when necessary since most of my pans have years of good hard seasoning on them. When I’m done cleaning it completely smooth, I rinse well and toss it on a high burner until all the water is long evaporated. Then wipe with a small amount of oil (carefully,it is very hot) and leave it on the stove to cool and so you can use it the next meal, and the next...
John "JR"
Minnesota/ United States of America
******************************************** Grills/Smokers/Fryers Big Green Egg (Large) X3
Blackstone 36" Outdoor Griddle 4-Burner
Burch Barrel V-1 Karubeque C-60 Kamado Joe Jr. (Black) Lodge L410 Hibachi Pit Barrel Cooker Pit Barrel Cooker 2.0
Pit Barrel PBX
R&V Works FF2-R-ST 4-Gallon Fryer *******************************************. Thermometers
FireBoard (Base Package)
Thermoworks ThermaPen (Red)
Thermoworks MK4 (Orange)
********************************* Accessories Big Green Egg Plate Setter
Benzomatic TS800 High Temp Torch X 2 Bayou Classic 44 qt Stainless Stock Pot
Bayou Classic 35K BTU Burner Eggspander Kit X2 Finex Cat Iron Line FireBoard Drive Lots and Lots of Griswold Cast Iron Grill Grates Joule Water Circulator
KBQ Fire Grate Kick Ash Basket (KAB) X4 Lots of Lodge Cast Iron Husky 6 Drawer BBQ Equipment Cabinet Large Vortex Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum Marquette Castings No. 13 (First Run) Smithey No. 12 Smokeware Chimney Cap X 3 Stargazer No.10, 12 ******************************** Fuel FOGO Priemium Lump Charcoal Kingsford Blue and White B&B Charcoal Apple, Cherry & Oak Log splits for the C-60 ************************************************* Cutlery Buck 119 Special
Cuda 7' Fillet Knife Dexter 12" Brisket Sword Global Shun Wusthof ********** Next Major Purchase Lone Star Grillz 24 X 48 Offset
Absolutely Gorgeous, my friend. Great work. Patience and persistence pays off!
After each cook, clean the pan with hot water to help lift any stuck on food and dry completely. Do not allow the pan to air dry, or you will have rust droplets on the pan. The hot water at this point will not be a huge issue because we have a layer of seasoning down and the iron is not bare. (So not as much of a chance of flash rust, but it is still possible)
Once the pan is dry, warm the pan in a 300 F oven, or over a stove. Apply a light coating of oil and then wipe it all off with a dry, unused rag. (I love to use these blue shop towels, they are tough, they suck up excess oil and they don't leave lint fibers on the surface. I used to use these at the farm all the time and they worked there, so why not your kitchen?)
If you have some baked on food, use some poly scrapers from Lodge to get rid of it. DO NOT USE CHAIN-MAIL scrubbers. Especially on a vintage pan. I know they look cool and they are fun to use. However, they can scour your seasoning which leads to flaking, or worse, you can scratch or scour the surface of the pan. This will only lead to more sticking as the seasoning must now fill those little scratch marks. (Plus your wife won't be happy that her Grizzy is all mucked up.)
Now, once you have the oil applied, leave it on the stove and heat until it smokes. In the oven, crank up the oven to 450 F until it smokes. Then let it cool on the stove or leave it in the oven. The oven is the best way to go, but also the most energy and labor intensive. The oven is the best way to go because the slower the pan cools, the more time the polymer lattice will have to align and bond to the iron. This is why I use my kamaods to manually season all my pans for the first rounds. I can get a 12 hour cooling period which gives me an unbelievable layer of seasoning. If I am cooking a lot on a certain pan, I don't use Flax oil, I only use that for initial manual seasoning rounds. A really great product is Crisbee. They have all kinds of different scents too, so your house smells nice. ​ It is a blend of beeswax and some other oils that really help to keep your pan nice. Flax oil is great because of its high lignin content, which leads to bullet proof layers of seasoning, but it really is not necessary for every day use.
Once you have applied the oil of your choice, make sure there is no pooling of the oil, then store or hang the pan. (Hanging is the best option, plus it looks cool! ​
Great job man! Congrats on bringing back a piece a American history right in your kitchen! Your wife should be proud!
Thanks once again for the help Spinaker - the details are gonna help us keep it going! Canceled my order for the ringer last night and ordered the lodge scrapers and crisbees. Found a huge box of those blue shop towels at Sam’s club a while back. Finally feeling like we got this, and I have to admit I’ll be keeping an eye out at flea markets and stuff for new future CI projects! 👍ðŸ»
Flea Markets are a great spot to find vintage iron. You will be amazed at what you will find. Estate sales and garage sales are sales great. (Most people don't realize what they have.) FishTalesNC I bought a stack of Griswold pans that were all rusted, for about $20. I was amazed they let them go for that!
Well, nice job. Got me wondering what that nice smooth 8" or so cast iron skillet my Mom had - I loved to fry eggs in it; she had a lid that fit perfectly and was shaped such that the steam gathered on it and then dripped back into the pan. This made perfectly steamed eggs, just like over medium, but without turning. Led me to this interesting link...
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
That restoration job is a work of art! Looks GREAT!
I guess I need to read up on care of CI more. I've got a 12" CI pan (Lodge I think) that I alone use, as my wife prefers her non-stick pans, and its mostly my steak searing pan for when its winter and I don't want to go fire up a grill. I just scrape it out under running hot water, with a plastic scraper, then wipe it out good with a kitchen rag, get it dry, then lightly oil with some vegetable oil, and back into the cabinet it goes. If I use a pan on the grills, its usually that or the DNG.
I know nothing about my CI skillet
I haven’t used it myself, no idea of the quality or if my wife might appreciate a newer one that might be better? Think I’m going to grill breakfast on it tomorrow...
​ It is a blend of beeswax and some other oils that really help to keep your pan nice. Flax oil is great because of its high lignin content, which leads to bullet proof layers of seasoning, but it really is not necessary for every day use.
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