Griswold Cast Iron

Scott805

Hey All-  Was at the cabin this weekend and went to a local swap shop and found a Griswold 710C for $40.  Was in pretty bad shape with a lot of really hard gunk on the sides and bottom of the pan.  How is the best way to get rid of that?  Did i get a good deal?

Thanks!

SGH

There are a gazillion different ways to clean the old iron. When I have a piece that is in pretty foul shape, the first thing I do is build a fire 🔥 and throw the iron in it. Let it burn a good hour or so. This will remove all of the gunk and grime. 

After a good burn out you can clean it up either by sand blasting, wire wheel, wire brush, sander/polisher or one of many other methods. Some folks will say that you shouldn’t put them in a fire. But it has always worked great for me with no issues. 

1voyager

Job well done. You got a GREAT deal. 

I use electrolysis to clean my cast iron cookware. 

GregW

I've heard that the self cleaning cycle of an electric oven is hot enough to clean cast iron cookware.

GrateEggspectations

I would page @DoubleEgger, but it would seem that he, like me, hasn’t been around that much as of late. 

mEGG_My_Day

You can thrown them in the egg while doing a clean burn.  Some people worry those high temps will burn their gasket, so beware.  I don’t worry about the gasket and have never had a problem.  

BigGreenKev

What makes old Griswold better than other brands or lodge today for example?  I don't know much about cast iron

Photo Egg

It takes a little time but a safe way is EZ OFF oven cleaner.
Spray it good and put in a 2 gallon seal bag or kitchen plastic bag. Let it sit in bag overnight. Placing in the sunlight also helps. Wash it off and scrape off the loose stuff. Repeat as needed.
It will take 5-6 hits but it does not give the pan the shinny, buffed look you get by using wire wheel or abrasion wheel.

NCSmoky

BigGreenKev said:

What makes old Griswold better than other brands or lodge today for example?  I don't know much about cast iron

Older cast iron pieces tend to have a smoother surface than modern pieces. 

U_tarded

BigGreenKev said:

What makes old Griswold better than other brands or lodge today for example?  I don't know much about cast iron

They were milled smooth versus the rough finish on the preseasoned ones lodge offers today.  Also they then to be a bit lighter, modern equivalents are out there but they are several hundred for a pan (finex and field are a couple of examples.  Plus using the vintage stuff is just cool. 

1voyager

U_tarded said:

BigGreenKev said:

What makes old Griswold better than other brands or lodge today for example?  I don't know much about cast iron

They were milled smooth versus the rough finish on the preseasoned ones lodge offers today.  Also they then to be a bit lighter, modern equivalents are out there but they are several hundred for a pan (finex and field are a couple of examples.  Plus using the vintage stuff is just cool. 

Agree 100%.

Wagner Ware is another great option and is much less expensive than Griswold. 

BigGreenKev

U_tarded said:

BigGreenKev said:

What makes old Griswold better than other brands or lodge today for example?  I don't know much about cast iron

They were milled smooth versus the rough finish on the preseasoned ones lodge offers today.  Also they then to be a bit lighter, modern equivalents are out there but they are several hundred for a pan (finex and field are a couple of examples.  Plus using the vintage stuff is just cool. 

Thanks!  That makes a lot of sense why people seek them out.  10 years ago I lived off ramen and frozen pizza.  I had probably only grilled burgers or chicken less than 10 times.  I've learned a lot but keep learning.  Now I can look for the old cast iron and the wife rolls her eyes I have a "legit" reason to get it 😇😂

Photo Egg

Small Cast Iron potatoes are bomb.
Butter, good olive oil, salt and pepper.
Crispy goodness!

chzplz

so, you’ve got a mix of advice here, some better than others. I’m actually a moderator of a group of almost 200,000 cast iron collectors and fans ( http://www.reddit.com/r/castiron ), so I can pretty much guarantee I’ve seen it all, and I spend quite a bit of time dealing with vintage cast iron when I’m not doing egg cooks.

Heat (clean burn in BGE, campfire, oven self-clean, etc) will often work, but sometimes it will also warp your pan making it useless. For a Griswold, which is an excellent and highly collectible pan, it is simply not worth the risk. And yes, you got a screaming good deal. You also don’t need to sand or wire wheel it. It’s just baked on crud - it’ll come off. 

Take Photo Egg’s advice and go the yellow cap oven cleaner route. The yellow one has lye, the blue one doesn’t. You need the lye. Use the detailed instructions here: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/c4ntam/how_to_strip_and_restore_cast_iron_faq_post/
If you were going to do a lot of pans, 1voyager’s electrolysis tank is the way to go, but for just one, go yellow cap. 

And to re-season it, do this: 
https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/c4nqtr/my_personal_seasoning_process_faq_post_summer_2019/
Where most people go wrong is they skip step 5 and leave way too much oil on the pan, leaving a mottled irregular surface. Don’t skip step 5. 

Yeah, I’m a cast iron pan nerd.