Is this Cast iron or Aluminum?

[Joel Lehman]

so I bought this #14 griswold skillet lid at an auction and have been trying to clean it up. I noticed that it was a lighter color than the skillet it came with. But it feels the same weight as a regular cast iron lid. I was wondering if it was cast aluminum. and would it affect the way I should go about cleaning it? There seems to be some dark spots that don't want to scrub off. other than that it seems pretty clean.

 

[Doug D.]

474 is the pattern number for a Griswold #14 iron skillet cover. A magnet will also tell if a piece is iron or aluminum. Covers are typically lighter in color, grey like natural iron, because they don't have food cooked on them.

 

[Joel Lehman]

Thanks for the response! There are a few spots that just don't come out. I have ran this through the lye bath to try to get them out but I don't know what to do next. Any suggestions?

 

[Doug D.]

My method would be to spray straight white vinegar on a few spots, let sit a minute or two and then work on them with steel wool or a SS Chore Boy. Rinse well, don't leave vinegar on it longer than when actively working on the spots. You may need to go over the whole top this way, as it may lead to unevenness of color between where you have worked on spots and where you haven't.

Also, if you ran it through the lye bath and it was aluminum, you would have known because it would have dissolved.

 

[SeanD]

I agree about the cover. Did you ever wonder why the old skillets are so bad in shape sometimes? I mean, 1/4 inch of crud....didnt they do dishes back then? Anyways, Im glad they did whatever they did....100+ year old pans that are still in service.

 

[Scott J.]

I've always wondered how the outside of the skillets get so crudy. Dirty/sooty heat source?

 

[Doug D.]

Likely the misguided belief that cast iron pans don't need to be washed, just wiped out. Artifacts of incomplete combustion of heating fuel don't turn into 1/4" thick layers of carbonized greasy crud, at least not on the bottoms of skillets, anyway.

 

[Joel Lehman]

Thank you for the response! I will try that...