Should I Have Bought This?

B

Bob P.

Member
Hi all, new here, and new to cast iron.

I was at a flea market earlier today and found a stash of old crusty cast iron pans. Our kitchen has some Staub and some Le Creuset, but no regular old cast iron. I'd heard of Griswold, so I recognized that Griswold logo when I saw it.

In total there was one dutch oven and four pans. The guy wanted $60 for the dutch oven or $75 for everything. That felt like too much for some old pans, but now I think maybe they would have been worth having. Here's what he had:

A Tite Top #8 Griswold dutch oven with the larger no-slant logo. The lid has the 1920 patent text, so this is likely from the 20's-40's I'm guessing. No wire bucket handle on this.
https://i.imgur.com/pv5gih9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/SaNtyW7.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7mVUwQ8.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/oqjslbF.jpg

A Griswold #3 skillet (709). Very crusty, you can't even see the Griswold logo on the bottom.
https://i.imgur.com/uEQM372.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LlWQWLU.jpg

A Wagner Ware 11 Inch Skillet Griddle. It says Made in USA on the bottom, so that's post-1960, right? Also very crusty.
https://i.imgur.com/c3mhD8Z.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/CTXqWTa.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/vPMRIXG.jpg

Two pans, one that says 11 INCH SKILLET Z1 and the other that simply says 8 INCH SKILLET on the bottom. Maybe Wagner unmarked pans?
https://i.imgur.com/0aozlsI.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yeCBK1q.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/J9FlIAq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/CaH9XPZ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zG8r2Ui.jpg?1

I'm not sure I need them. But I'm intrigued. I've done a ton of reading about the history of Griswold and Waring this afternoon, learned a bunch (really glad I took photos). I might go back tomorrow and see if they're still there, but wanted to see what the experts here thought. :)

My wife, she likes our nice enamel cast iron pans. I'm not sure how she'd react to these. Lol.

Thanks!
 
After viewing the top photo, I would have said, "Heck, yeah." The unmarked Wagners are late period, but entirely fine as users. And the #3 Griswold is about $20 by itself these days. But the inside of the DO gave me a bit of hesitation. It appears to have been polished all the way up the side, but there are also what appear to be several voids in the casting. Not sure what's going on there. Many times DOs are pitted from acidity, but doesn't seem to be the case here. The deal for me would depend on how I felt about the DO.
 
Thanks Doug. I was concerned about that pitting in the sides of the dutch oven too, I'd read that acids like tomatoes could cause pitting. This seemed like it had some pretty good sized pits (at least to me). This is the first one of these I've seen, so I didn't have anything to compare to.

Appreciate the info. Guess I'm still on the fence, but at least I'm now better informed.
 
the very mild acids in food won't usually harm the iron, but might eat away at your seasoning... pitting in the iron is either from stronger acids (sulfuric acid from sulfur gas) or from severe rust.

the inside should be smooth (and the bottom flat)
https://i.imgur.com/LcsHPy5.jpg
 
Quite the difference!

Here's the epilogue. The dutch oven was gone when I got there this morning, someone had bought it for $60. The seller said the guy was very excited about it, said it was a 'good pan' (I'd mentioned the pitting yesterday).

The skillets were all still there, including the little Griswold. But his prices had changed, he'd decided that he wanted ten dollars per pan. And he wouldn't budge. I pointed out that he was going to sell me all four for fifteen dollars yesterday, and he pointed out that yesterday was a different day. Lol.

So he wouldn't budge, and the pan wasn't worth ten to me. I was stuck down at five dollars, but he wasn't interested. I walked around the flea market for an hour, then stopped back by his booth. The little pan was gone (but the other three were still there). He said a husband and wife bought it, that the wife was sure she could clean it up.

So, the cast iron collectors get out early and in force! And I came home without a new project. I'll run across some of these pans again, and next time I'll be much better informed. Thanks!
 
Bob P. said:
My wife, she likes our nice enamel cast iron pans. I'm not sure how she'd react to these. Lol.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

My wife hated my cast iron when we got married. Once she learned how to cook in it, she came around. There isnt anything else in the kitchen now thats not iron except the stock pots and sauce pans.
 
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