Re-polishing the Cooking Surface of a Griswold #8?

[Brennan O'Connor]

Ok, hear me out,
I am pretty new to this. I recently picked up a skillet with some rust pitting in a corner between the bottom cooking surface and the inside of the wall. I think the skillet may have sat at an angle with a bit of water in it for some considerable time. I want the interior of this skillet to be smooth, and obviously the only way to achieve that would be to remove some of the original surface to even it up with the pitted corner. I understand that this is generally discouraged, especially on older pieces. That said, there is already very noticeable damage to the original surface, in the form of pitting.

I saw this video, and I though I might try it out, seeing as how it doesn't involve power tools and may result in a finish not too different that what would have been produced at the factory when the skillet was new.

What do you all think about this? Is this a reasonable way to address pitting on an otherwise very nice Slant EPU?

 

[Doug D.]

Hard to say without a photo, but I have a user pan that sounds like that. I just cooked in it until the pitting filled in with seasoning. The pitting has already removed some iron, doesn't seem to be much point in removing more.

 

[SeanD]

I agree with not doing it. I have a pan that's pitted pretty bad, but after about 2 years of fairly regular use, the pits are less then half as deep already, and they were deep pits, not little ones. Just give it time, cook in it, and maintain the seasoning, you'll be fine.

 

[Ty L.]

I tried grinding the pitting out of a #7 skillet. Took hours, couldn't get the inner sidewalls without gouging the heck out of it so they're still pitted, couldn't completely get the swirl marks from the grinder off the cooking surface either. At first, and likely because it was as smooth and shiny as stainless steel (despite me using nothing finer than 60 grit!), I couldn't get seasoning to hold. Eventually I dunked the pan into a stock pot full of boiling water for 15 minutes or so, pulled it out long enough for it's own heat to evaporate the water on it, admired the bluish tint the iron was beginning to take, ignored the flash rust, and then dunked again. I did that a few times, always ignoring the flash rust and then immediately went on to seasoning it. The seasoning held, but what a waste of time!

I have a pair of 3-notch Lodge #10's. Bought them last summer, about a month apart. One has pitting on about a third of the cooking surface, all in the same general area. The other doesn't. Both had rust and were restored the same way: the e-tank, scrubbing with soapy water, and 2 rounds of manual seasoning. They're both my go-to #10 pans so they're getting used reguarly. Most of the time when I grab for one I don't care which. They're both equally nonstick and being the same brand and style cook exactly the same. The only exception: I'll always take the pitted one when camping or cooking over a wood fire simply because the cosmetic flaw gives it a lower dollar value.

 

[Brennan O'Connor]

Ok,
Thanks for the perspective everyone. I have decided just to use it and not worry about the pitting.

Mostly I was just disappointed that my new (to me) #8 didn't end up looking the way I had imagined it. That's ok, though. It wont be long until the next one comes along.