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Personally, I am a collector of cast iron skillets and I prefer the old Wagners. ... I love a lot of pieces from the 1700's to the mid 1800's, but the ones predescribed are true works of art!
I had no idea Wagner made their skillets & other cookware that far back. My maternal grandmother had a boatload of them. I have a few, and often wondered how old they may be. Very interesting history ~ I'll keep an eye out now for Griswold as well as Wagner.
I looked on my mothers back porch and got two dutch ovens, skillets 3,5,6,7,8,12 by wagner ware sydney -0- made in usa. I also got a griswold 5,7,&8 skillets and a dutch oven. There is also a pan for corn bread sticks by wagner ware. Mom does not cook any more. The cast iron belonged to my grand father who died in 1970 at the age of 100. I have been cooking on them for 5 years and all the teflon is in the trash can. Since my wife dosent want to cook and I enjoy it there was know break in period for her.
I live in north Alabama and am an hours drive from where they make the Lodge cast iron products. It's good stuff - all made right here in the USA by good Americans. And I wouldn't say Alabama folks are better than others but there's surely no place in the USA where the people are better. The Lodge stuff is very heavy - too heavy for daily use. Also the cooking surface is not machined - matters to some folks and doesn't to others. Did I say it's VERY HEAVY? I have a complete set of collectible cast iron of both Wagner and Griswold manufacture. Wonderful stuff - the surfaces are machined smooth and will cook as stick free as teflon. It's heavy enough to give good heat distribution but light enough to comfortably manage during serious cooking events. Did I say Griswold was the best? I've paid over $200 for several of my skillets and consider them absolutely worth the price - both as wall hangers and as daily cookers. Just nothing better in my opinion.
If you can't afford Griswold then buy Lodge and good luck to you.
....but don't think that a $150 Griswold is not worth the money 'cause you can get a Lodge for $30. It's all about how much you cook, how good you want your cooking to be, and how hard you have to work at cooking. If you just want to say you use cast iron and if you just want to have a little skillet to cook some bacon and eggs then Lodge is OK. I have several Lodge dutch ovens for campouts and such. They're good because you don't have to manage a dutch oven. But a skillet cooking a bunch of bacon over a gas range or open fire and you'll be cursing that Lodge stuff and wishing you had a Griswold.
So just please be understanding of what you're saying when you say that somebody that pays $100 for a Griswold is just paying for ego - I would offer that to say that you have no idea what you're talking about. Thanks for considering these thoughts.
You bumped a 5 year-old thread to tell an utter novice s/he is slumming if s/he chooses to buy a $30 vs a $180 skillet? Seriously?
I have two antique Griswold pieces in my collection, one skillet with the old fire ring. If a good CI skillet is well seasoned you can't tell the difference in fluffy scrambled eggs or bacon cooked in either skillet. Griswold is lighter, sides are thinner. If you know how to make a proper campfire for cooking you will not need to move a skillet much other than to slide it on the grate.
Nope, you don't need a $200.00 cast iron skillet . . .beside's, your old grandmother might think you're a fool if you did.
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