Help! I Bought a Griswold on Ebay!

[Peg Schmid]

I bought a griswold skillet on ebay. It was supposedly restored , and when i received it , it was very clean and looked smooth, and somewhat polished. However it had a brown/copper hue. And when i wiped it, it left a rusty residue on the paper towel. I should have returned it! But, i decided to keep it and reseason. I washed it, and then washed in 50/50 vinegar /water solution, and it was returned to a silver color. I then reseasoned...with heat, crisco, heat and wipe and then heat for a couple of hours. When the pan came out..it again had a copper/browish color . Is this right? So i called the ebay seller and he tells me it is normal and that the black color will come with time and use.Is this correct? the bottom has a griswold stamp,.with a 10 on the handle, but a mark of 11 3/4 in on the bottom with Made in USA. I am thinking maybe it is a fake??hope not..but on the other hand, i have not cooked it in, so i am not that attached.. i just wanted a pan like my grandma used..so i am the fool?

Thank you for any info or direction. Maybe the pan needs love and cooking!

 

[Doug D.]

The seller is correct. Polymerized but not carbonized oil will have a bronze caste unless it has been taken sufficiently past its smoke point and begun to thermally break down and leave a carbon residue. Foods cooked will also contribute carbon to the polymerized matrix. So, yes, in time, with usage, it will become the black you expect.

Your Griswold was actually made by Wagner in their Ohio plant, sometime in the late 60s most likely, from a rebranded Wagner pattern. Most collectors don't consider Griswolds not made in and marked Erie, PA to be true Griswolds. Hopefully, it was not priced like a true, vintage Griswold.

See: http://www.castironcollector.com/griswold.php and http://www.castironcollector.com/noncollectible.php