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Craft Cast Iron

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MaskedMarvel
MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,148
edited November 2016 in EggHead Forum
greetings ffriends

 I have my opinion, but I'd appreciate yours...

anyone have any any cast iron from these small craft foundries?  Some of this stuff looks so fantastic.  Expensive, but fantastic. 


Thanks
8-damien
 
Large BGE and Medium BGE
36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,920
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    can you elaborate on what "cast iron from these small craft foundries" you are referring to? 
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited November 2016
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    Until the nonsustainable black gold(Wags and Gris, and their unmarked) dries up, I can't drop that kind of coin on one.  My parameters for pricepoint on them has gone up recently due to demand.  They're getting harder and harder to spot.

    I'm sure it's worth it, and they're heirloom quality, but those cheap pans have made an impact through the years.  My first one was a #8 Griswold EPU, 5 bucks....absolutely beautiful shiney, jet black, mirrored, pan.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited November 2016
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    RRP said:
    can you elaborate on what "cast iron from these small craft foundries" you are referring to? 
    Ron,
    He's referring to foundries like Finex, Field Company, Stargazer...who put a new spin on the traditional loose pattern molding, and surface finishing.

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    I haven't looked in a while as I don't need any more CI, but I was getting Wagner, sometimes Griswold at about $20-25 a piece. I'm not really familiar with the products you mention, except I have seen the Finex line (pics anyway). I don't care for the look of their stuff - or the pricing! A 10" Finex skillet for $165? Yeah, right. If that is typical, I'll pass. Give me an old Gris any day.

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • JohnH12
    JohnH12 Posts: 213
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    It's hard to beat a Lodge or Camp Chef for us common folk.
    Leaves a bunch of $$ for the food.
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
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    JohnH12 said:
    It's hard to beat a Lodge or Camp Chef for us common folk.
    Leaves a bunch of $$ for the food.
    Wagner and Griswold beat them by orders of magnitude and you can find them cheap if you know where to look. If you can machine a new one down to a Wag or Gris specs it would be close. The Fenix et al, look nice, but nah.
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    Just found Borough Furnace out of Syracuse NY - even more expensive than Finex! $300 for a 10.5" skillet! At least it's not octagonal. Made in Syracuse though, not "imported". 

    Finex is made in US too. But it's still weird looking. 

    And Fenix is a flashlight. =)


    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,367
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    I have a Finex 10" with lid. I have the Stargazer and Field skillet arriving "any day now" (Kickstarter - you know how that works :) ).

    The Finex is, to me, a gorgeous piece. I'm sure it's design doesn't appeal to everyone but I dig it. The interior bottom surface of the skillet arrives as smooth as glass. The coil spring handle stays cool, however, that lovely brass end cap of the handle does get hot and has bitten me a couple of times. If they had made the coil spring just a skosh longer all would be well.

    Does it cook better than any of my other cast iron? No. Nor did I expect it to. I bought it mainly because it makes a nice presentation going from stovetop/oven to tabletop - remove the lid et voila!

    Just as important was that I like supporting small manufacturers creating useful objects that will last a lifetime. Some people are into craft beers and like supporting all these micro-brewers popping up (when is that bubble going to burst?) but since I'm not a beer drinker I'll spend my "beer money" on skillets, knives, etc.

    I'm also guessing that one day, likely long after I'm gone, these small production run items may be rather collectible. Or not, I'm guessing that the whole cast iron craze will likely cool down as the pendulum swings the other way. Who knows.

    I also have a couple of the SolidTeknics Aus-Ion steel skillets. I love those and they get near daily use. In case you are not aware of them SolidTeknics is an Australian manufacturer. They also make some cast iron items. I have not yet bought any of their cast iron stuff yet but once I get the Stargazer and Field skillets I will probably also pick up a couple of the Ausfonte cast iron pieces. Here's a link - http://www.solidteknics.com/solid-products2/

    I was going to get one of the Borough Furnace skillets when they first came out a few years ago but they were always sold out and that company just fell off my radar. Looking at their site now I see they have quite a few more pieces in their collection and only one item is currently listed as "sold out". Hmmmm...Xmas is right around the corner. :)

    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • BilZol
    BilZol Posts: 698
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    I bought a couple of pieces of what is I'm sure is Chinese made Utopia for little to nothing. Cooks the same as my lodge pieces and much better bang for the buck then small batch CI. 
    Bill   Denver, CO
    XL, 2L's, and MM
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    Here is a data point. I have a mid 1920's Griswold 10. Absolute flat bottom, but no lid. Weighs 4 lb 10 oz. Just a tad lighter than a Stargazer.  I had to buff away some rust, and my re-seasoning wasn't so good. If I paid myself minimum wage, it was less expensive than new.

    I have 9" Wagoner and Griswold, and an 8" other brand. Got them for a couple bucks at 2nd hand stores. They did take a lot of work to get them back to near original quality. Pro'ly more economic to go w. a new Lodge on those.
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  • JohnH12
    JohnH12 Posts: 213
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    Eggcelsior said:
    JohnH12 said:
    It's hard to beat a Lodge or Camp Chef for us common folk.
    Leaves a bunch of $$ for the food.
    Wagner and Griswold beat them by orders of magnitude and you can find them cheap if you know where to look. If you can machine a new one down to a Wag or Gris specs it would be close. The Fenix et al, look nice, but nah.
    Guess I haven't been looking in the right places but would probably jump at something less that $50. Most around here are asking $100+ for a Griswold 10" skillet.
    Question though: By machining down do you mean sanding the cook surface smooth and then re-seasoning?
    I might try that if you think it'll improve the non-stick capabilities.
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
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    JohnH12 said:
    Eggcelsior said:
    JohnH12 said:
    It's hard to beat a Lodge or Camp Chef for us common folk.
    Leaves a bunch of $$ for the food.
    Wagner and Griswold beat them by orders of magnitude and you can find them cheap if you know where to look. If you can machine a new one down to a Wag or Gris specs it would be close. The Fenix et al, look nice, but nah.
    Guess I haven't been looking in the right places but would probably jump at something less that $50. Most around here are asking $100+ for a Griswold 10" skillet.
    Question though: By machining down do you mean sanding the cook surface smooth and then re-seasoning?
    I might try that if you think it'll improve the non-stick capabilities.
    Exactly. I have a lodge 12 and inherited some Wagner from my grandmother along with some Griswold griddles I bought second-hand. The lodge is rough and has a muffled dong when you tap it. The Wagner and Griswold are glass-smooth and ring like a bell when tapped. They heat up much faster and seem more evenly heated across the surface than my lodge. Flea shops and antique places are your friend, the latter especially if it needs elbow grease to renew.
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  • HeavyG
    HeavyG Posts: 10,367
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    gdenby said:
    Here is a data point. I have a mid 1920's Griswold 10. Absolute flat bottom, but no lid. Weighs 4 lb 10 oz. Just a tad lighter than a Stargazer.  I had to buff away some rust, and my re-seasoning wasn't so good. If I paid myself minimum wage, it was less expensive than new.

    I have 9" Wagoner and Griswold, and an 8" other brand. Got them for a couple bucks at 2nd hand stores. They did take a lot of work to get them back to near original quality. Pro'ly more economic to go w. a new Lodge on those.
    I'm not a hard core cast iron aficianado but the folks that I know/read that are clearly tell us that there is a big difference in the quality of the CI skillets made before WWII and after.

    The stuff people frequently find selling for less than $50 is almost always the lower quality stuff made in the 50's. Is that stuff still better than a new Lodge? Maybe.

    I've seen quite a few videos in the past year or so of folks taking Lodge and other recently made brands and power sanding the surface with a few different grits until they get a really smooth surface. Not a difficult task, certainly a messy one, but the results are impressive. Worth the trouble? Probably not but might be fun to do that to one just to see.
    “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk




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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    HeavyG said:

    The stuff people frequently find selling for less than $50 is almost always the lower quality stuff made in the 50's. Is that stuff still better than a new Lodge? Maybe.

    I've seen quite a few videos in the past year or so of folks taking Lodge and other recently made brands and power sanding the surface with a few different grits until they get a really smooth surface. Not a difficult task, certainly a messy one, but the results are impressive. Worth the trouble? Probably not but might be fun to do that to one just to see.
    I haven't bothered to look up any dating info about my lesser old CI. The small one that is not a high quality brand has iron crystals that are visible when buffed. Clearly, nothing like the Griswolds or Wagoner that can be made mirror smooth.

    I bought an Calphalon omelette pan a couple of years ago, hoping to make omelettes a'la J. Childs. Did not have good results. I saw that her own pan was mirror finished. So I buffed mine down to the level of chromium green rouge. Wow, I can flip an omelette.

    I have to think a Lodge CI made super smooth would be good to have.
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
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    HeavyG said:
    gdenby said:
    Here is a data point. I have a mid 1920's Griswold 10. Absolute flat bottom, but no lid. Weighs 4 lb 10 oz. Just a tad lighter than a Stargazer.  I had to buff away some rust, and my re-seasoning wasn't so good. If I paid myself minimum wage, it was less expensive than new.

    I have 9" Wagoner and Griswold, and an 8" other brand. Got them for a couple bucks at 2nd hand stores. They did take a lot of work to get them back to near original quality. Pro'ly more economic to go w. a new Lodge on those.
    I'm not a hard core cast iron aficianado but the folks that I know/read that are clearly tell us that there is a big difference in the quality of the CI skillets made before WWII and after.

    The stuff people frequently find selling for less than $50 is almost always the lower quality stuff made in the 50's. Is that stuff still better than a new Lodge? Maybe.

    I've seen quite a few videos in the past year or so of folks taking Lodge and other recently made brands and power sanding the surface with a few different grits until they get a really smooth surface. Not a difficult task, certainly a messy one, but the results are impressive. Worth the trouble? Probably not but might be fun to do that to one just to see.
    All my stuff was under 50 except for my 16" Griswold  griddle. Based on the markings, mine is all pre-1920s.
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  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
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    The closest I came to spending $50 on CI was my 4 qt (I think) DO. I went to one of those antique malls with multiple vendors and one cashier. Found a Wagner DO at one stall for $20, but no lid. Kept looking and found a lid at another stall... $20. =) So, for $40, I have a nice DO.

    I have one piece that I've never even used. A gem pan that belonged to Mom's Grandmother! Mom's 100+ years old, so the pan's got some miles on it. 

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
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    Eggcelsior said:
    HeavyG said:
    gdenby said:
    Here is a data point. I have a mid 1920's Griswold 10. Absolute flat bottom, but no lid. Weighs 4 lb 10 oz. Just a tad lighter than a Stargazer.  I had to buff away some rust, and my re-seasoning wasn't so good. If I paid myself minimum wage, it was less expensive than new.

    I have 9" Wagoner and Griswold, and an 8" other brand. Got them for a couple bucks at 2nd hand stores. They did take a lot of work to get them back to near original quality. Pro'ly more economic to go w. a new Lodge on those.
    I'm not a hard core cast iron aficianado but the folks that I know/read that are clearly tell us that there is a big difference in the quality of the CI skillets made before WWII and after.

    The stuff people frequently find selling for less than $50 is almost always the lower quality stuff made in the 50's. Is that stuff still better than a new Lodge? Maybe.

    I've seen quite a few videos in the past year or so of folks taking Lodge and other recently made brands and power sanding the surface with a few different grits until they get a really smooth surface. Not a difficult task, certainly a messy one, but the results are impressive. Worth the trouble? Probably not but might be fun to do that to one just to see.
    All my stuff was under 50 except for my 16" Griswold  griddle. Based on the markings, mine is all pre-1920s.
    Nice.  My 16 griddle slant logo is the most I've paid for a piece, a steal for $60.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • MaskedMarvel
    MaskedMarvel Posts: 3,148
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    My friend in Arlington has the borough stuff. It's amazingly beautiful. I have lodge all day, including the w00t skillet.  But my great grandmother's cast iron is still the best. I'll try and see what the brand is...
    Large BGE and Medium BGE
    36" Blackstone - Greensboro!


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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
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    I understand why people are drawn to the new offerings, but it isn't for me.  New cast iron is like a new antique.  The old stuff has character.  The new lodge looks just like the old lodge.  It's rougher, but that's easily fixed.

    This is one thing I don't need to jump on the trend, I'm kinda partial to my old stuff.
    Phoenix 
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  • bigbadben
    bigbadben Posts: 397
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    If you are looking for smooth surfaces try carbon steel skillets. They have the same seasoning as CI with slightly lighter weight. I have a lodge skillet, and several matfer pieces.  
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  • TN_Egger
    TN_Egger Posts: 1,120
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    Very good resource for identifying, cooking, restoring....

    http://www.castironcollector.com/
    Signal Mountain, TN
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