Wow. What a great find. Can't beat a Griswold.

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Originally posted by gearhounds:

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Originally posted by PASig:
I have one identical to that size and era!

It was my grandmother’s and was passed on to her so it may be even older.

Why are the old ones so nice and smooth while the new pans are rough?

I haven’t seen smooth pans since Wagner and I’ve no idea why not. It would just take a minute long (or less) smoothing step. It truly makes all the difference in the world.

I put the Griswold to the test and cooked my deer meat burrito mix. It did great and cleaned up with warm water and a paper towel. I’m tempted to follow the above vid to the letter. That black gloss look is so much better looking.

I love my Smithey. https://smitheyironware.com/

EXCELLENT find !!! WoW !!!
Love some Griswold, but my everyday iron skillet is a Stargazer 10.5". Smooth inside and the handle design stays cooler than most cast iron pan handles. It seldom gets so hot I can't handle it bare-handed but depends on cooking time. They have a military discount too ... but still costs a little more than six bucks LOL. http://www.stargazercastiron.com/

i just have lodge. It gets a bad wrap by some. Mine is working great. USA made. I rarely do anything to it other than scrape a bit and wipe it out with a paper towel with a bit of oil while warm.

That is a real nice find at your GW. Congrats

I have had some great Griswold finds in second hand stores, flea markets, etc.... I found a rare #3 some years back for $8. Looked like crap until I stripped and seasoned it. Good as new after that and I made a couple hundred bucks on it. Kind of wish I still had it.

Regarding your's though, I noticed a couple of things from your pics.

First, I've not seen a Griswold with the cavitation on the underside of the handle like that. I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I've not seen it.

Second, there's something off about the engraving on the back. The "8" is somewhat canted to the right and the "4" in the 704 sits above the 7 and the 0. (The "8" on the top of the handle looks legit though.)

These lead me to think that this might be a counterfeit. Yes, there are people who counterfeit old cast iron cookware, believe it or not.

I'm no expert mind you, just an amateur Griswold collector and I could most certainly be wrong on this. The underside of the handle though just rubs me wrong. I've not seen that style before. Usually there's a spine there rather than a recess.

Either way, it looks like a fine skillet with minimal pitting. If it sits flat, and cooks well, you definitely got your $6 worth. Good find!

There's several #8s on eBay right now. Some have the cavitated handles, some do not. However, they all have the engraving eccentricities you noticed. Maybe that suggests that gearhound's Goodwill find is genuine?

When I did my research to see when it was made, I did find that they were made with 3 different handle types.

The grooved handles were produced later, probably after 1944, but before 1957. Also, the thickness of the sidewalls is appparently a big indicator. Authentic Griswold pans have thinner metal than both counterfeit and modern pans like Lodge.

The fakes typically are heavy, poorly cast, and warped or warp quickly with use. Given the extreme use this pan clearly had been given, I’m supremely confident it’s the real deal.

Nice find! Goodwill is becoming more computer-savy I've too noticed. When I turned in a box of vintage Boonton Ware "Melmac" melamine dishes I noticed a spike on my blog's Boonton page ... A "spike" is going from zero hits for months and months to two or three clicks in a day.

My nicest score was in Goodwill Rehoboth Beach . . . $2

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
When I did my research to see when it was made, I did find that they were made with 3 different handle types.

The grooved handles were produced later, probably after 1944, but before 1957. Also, the thickness of the sidewalls is appparently a big indicator. Authentic Griswold pans have thinner metal than both counterfeit and modern pans like Lodge.

The fakes typically are heavy, poorly cast, and warped or warp quickly with use. Given the extreme use this pan clearly had been given, I’m supremely confident it’s the real deal.

That's good info to have on the handles. I wasn't aware. And you are absolutely correct on the thinner metal aspect. My aunt is a self-described expert and flea market queen. She told me that this is one of the best ways to discern counterfeit from real. Real Griswolds are much thinner and lighter.

You can usually tell just by picking it up. I have one #9 with impeccable markings on it. But, it's equal in weight and thickness to a Lodge. A very well done fake. It still works fine, but it ain't the real deal.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
When I did my research to see when it was made, I did find that they were made with 3 different handle types.

The grooved handles were produced later, probably after 1944, but before 1957. Also, the thickness of the sidewalls is appparently a big indicator. Authentic Griswold pans have thinner metal than both counterfeit and modern pans like Lodge.

The fakes typically are heavy, poorly cast, and warped or warp quickly with use. Given the extreme use this pan clearly had been given, I’m supremely confident it’s the real deal.

That's good info to have on the handles. I wasn't aware. And you are absolutely correct on the thinner metal aspect. My aunt is a self-described expert and flea market queen. She told me that this is one of the best ways to discern counterfeit from real. Real Griswolds are much thinner and lighter.

You can usually tell just by picking it up. I have one #9 with impeccable markings on it. But, it's equal in weight and thickness to a Lodge. A very well done fake. It still works fine, but it ain't the real deal.

As I said, I cooked with it last night and was amazed at the short heat up and even heat distribution. I'm used to using a much more robust Wagner or USA marked pan and the Griswold seemed to fry at the edges as quickly and thoroughly as in the center. It is easy to see why they are so keenly sought after. This pan is in such good shape with years of dings and other marks on the cooking surface. If only these things could talk.

Old and new cast iron might differ in the quality of the iron. Older iron was often of better quality. IE old cast iron heating stoves were exceptionally well done with thin wall castings. Iron pours beautifully when casting and would do this typically without a problem.

Still, in current production any failed casting is profit out the window, so the goal is zero loss. If the casting can be made a little thicker and come out 100% of the time, that is zero loss. The cost of the additional iron involved is so small as to be imperceptible on the accounting sheet.
Thicker = more profit.

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Originally posted by sigmonkey:
I'll give you $10 for it. Cash money.

plus $36.50 for shipping

Beautiful Restore

Looks like the frying pan that Wishbone had tied to the side of his chuck wagon on Rawhide.

Can't imagine the meals that were cooked on this pan. Great find!

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Old and new cast iron might differ in the quality of the iron. Older iron was often of better quality. IE old cast iron heating stoves were exceptionally well done with thin wall castings. Iron pours beautifully when casting and would do this typically without a problem.
<snip>

Speaking of thin walls, I’ve never seen any cast iron fry pan with walls as thin as my Japanese Komin. That thinness is possible because the material is ductile cast iron, which is much less brittle than ordinary cast iron.

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/cook/item/ld2707/

Thicker walls just add unnecessary weight and conduct more heat to the handle. The comfortable handle of my Komin stays relatively cool. The walls don’t appear to be thin in the photos in my link above, but that’s because there’s a broad, thin lip on each side of the rim that makes pouring a dripless operation.

quote:

Originally posted by Hobbs:
EXCELLENT find !!! WoW !!!
Love some Griswold, but my everyday iron skillet is a Stargazer 10.5". Smooth inside and the handle design stays cooler than most cast iron pan handles. It seldom gets so hot I can't handle it bare-handed but depends on cooking time. <snip>

Hobbs, what’s the explanation for the bronze-like color of the Stargazer, as seen in this link…

http://www.stargazercastiron.com/products/

An anti stick coating? Or perhaps an anti rust coating?

Thrift stores near me never have Griswold iron, but years ago eBay was very very good to me.

One of my favorite's is my No.8 waffle iron, I use it every Sunday.

Right now My pot roast for dinner is in the oven in a Griswold #9 Tite Top Dutch oven.

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Griswold #9 Tite Top Dutch oven.

The complete package of pot, lid, and original handle is the grail find.

When using the self clean oven method is it supposed to smoke up the kitchen to the point of setting off the smoke alarms. I thought the oven was on fire to the point I discontinued the process, I mean it got bad. Had to open windows, turn on fans etc... and yes the range vent was on.
Wife said it was just the heat burning off the old residue when I called her and she laughed for five minutes . So for those who have done this, is this normal and to be expected. The funny thing is not one of the videos mentioned this.