Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I need your help and opinions. I am tired of the mess our outdoor grill makes. I would like to buy a grill/griddle that I can use outside on my camp stove and also inside during rainy days or cold weather.
What are the pros and cons of cast iron and non stick? I am leaning towards cast iron but I have no idea how to clean and season it.
Lisa that looks like it would do the job to me . are you still living in the motor home ? or is your house finished ? I would die to see new pics of the house . wow . but anyways that grill looks like it would work for what you want it for . good luck and happy grilling .
Lisa that looks like it would do the job to me . are you still living in the motor home ? or is your house finished ? I would die to see new pics of the house . wow . but anyways that grill looks like it would work for what you want it for . good luck and happy grilling .
I tried to find the inside house pictures. Here is the page for the furniture but I haven't found the bathroom pics yet. They are on one of the pages, lol.
If you buy the Logic brand, get the pre-seasoned kind, then all you need to do to clean it is while it is still hot, run some hot water in it, and a stiff brush, then wipe dry.
Cast iron is my personal fave, much superior to the nonstick stuff!
I got the Emerilware reversable grill/griddle because it was on sale. I paid about $15 for it, and I love it. Only problem is grilling inside gets a bit smoky. I'd go for cast iron, whatever you do. All it needs is a wipe down to be clean. Very low upkeep.
But not the Lodge stuff, their iron doesn't conduct heat as well as an old griswold or wagner ware.
Check on ebay for griswold cast iron ... there's usually a lot of pieces available at reasonable prices, and you can find a lot of the different sizes and shapes or griddles. Since we use this as well as collect it, I can say that the round griddles (sized for one burner) are just as good as the rectangular griddles (sized to go over two gas burners on your stovetop).
You do have to be a little knowledgeable about what you're buying ... as there are a number of "fakes" out there. Generally, they have the wrong casting numbers or the wrong size or weight associated with a given piece. It helps to buy (or check online) a reference guide to griswold which gives the pattern numbers and casting numbers of the various series of cookware. I know that this may not be as convenient as simply buying new stuff from a known source, but the product is so far superior that you'll appreciate the difference when you cook with it. It helps to know what you're buying and to ask the seller for a guarantee that the item is genuine ... I've had a few fakes shipped to me by supposedly knowledgeable sellers and they've refunded my money (and didn't even want the item shipped back!). Generally, the fakes are made of the rarer, larger and more expensive models which attract collectors, so it's not as likely to make a mistake with the griddles ... I've seen more #11 fakes, which are huge commercial cookware sized griddles, than anything else.
Perhaps you have a flea market or antique mall near you, where you can see some old cast iron cookware ... maybe even a griswold griddle. You'll see the very fine grain of the iron and when you pick it up, you'll notice it's rather lightweight compared to a new lodge griddle. It's all about the quality of the cast iron, and the finishing details in the manufacture. A reasonable price for a typical two-burner rectangular griddle in good condition would be in the $35-65 range ... the less expensive ones being the more common size/shapes. Since you are looking for cookware instead of collector items, go for the lesser cost griddles ....
Cleaning a well-seasoned griddle should be easy if you remember to grease the griddle lightly before use, pre-heat it before putting food on it ... and clean it promptly after use, then spray it with PAM or lightly oil it again before storing it away. 99% of the time, a quick rinse with hot water on the griddle while it's still warm from cooking will completely clean it ... sometimes, you'll need to sponge off the surface. If food sticks, you can generally clean the griddle by simply putting some water on it and putting the griddle back on the heat ... as the water boils away, the stuck food will come loose. You do not need to "scour" a cast iron piece, nor should you unless you want to re-season it.
Seasoning the griddle is easy ... stir-fry some collard greens on it. Another way is to put it in your oven at around 250F, and spray it from time to time with PAM, or oil it with crisco or other vegetable oil. Over the space of a few hours, the oil will create the seasoned surface you're looking for as a solid coating on the iron. The more you use the griddle with proper oiling at each use, the better the seasoning will become over time. I know that others on the forum have their favorite ways of seasoning a griddle, too ... which work just as well (maybe better!) than mine. The point is that it's easy to do, it's durable, and there's so many ways that work well that it's really hard to go wrong .... it's simply not somehting that you need to be that concerned about. Plus, if you buy a used griddle, it's most likely going to be well seasoned before you get it .....
Good luck with your purchase and enjoy cooking with it.
Just for grins, I looked at ebay's "griswold cast iron griddle" listings today.
It's a pretty good primer on how many fakes ... and good values ... there are in the marketplace today.
Take a very good look at the backs of the many griddles. You'll see a bunch of them with very tight grained and smooth casting work, and a number of them that have pinholes, little drop-outs, or lots of little "pimples" or "bumps" on the surface.
The ones with the smooth casting work are from griswold's molds, and properly cast with their proprietary iron formula. The ones with all the little imperfections, especially little pinholes or little bumps on the surface ... are sand casting reproductions (I call them "fakes") ... made by using an original piece as the sand casting pattern piece.
Another tip-off of a suspect piece is the additional markings on the bottom of the piece. If you look at enough genuine griswold pieces, you'll notice that they were very proud of their Erie PA foundry and other casting ID marks ... which are typically (not absolutely always, but most of the time) well sized and very pronounced as part of the good casting work, as is the various sized and styled "griswold cross" logo, very carefully cast and well defined, not "fuzzy" from a sand casting. Also, if a "made in USA" or Erie, PA, or mold or casting numbers looks like it's been stamped with a machinist's number and alphabet stamp in a small size, say 3/8" high ... it's a real tip-off to a likely fake.
Absent a hands-on inspection and comparison for weight and casting quality and known correct casting numbers, I cannot say for certain that a piece is a fake ... but there's several on auction today that are very suspect to my eye. Just because it looks used and seasoned is no factor, either. Or the fact that it's getting some pretty good bids or has a high price on it is an indication, either. Again, I'm generalizing a bit on identifying correct genuine griswold pieces, as there are exceptions and older pieces and such that will be a little different than an absolute description ... but these exceptions tend to be in collector pieces, either specialty items or very early pieces or rare items which griswold collectors will know about. For the sake of this thread, my guidelines are a good starting point to avoid the junk in the marketplace ... you may make a mistake and pass up a piece that's otherwise good, but you'll err on the side of getting good stuff instead of questionable stuff.
There are some very good deals on #8 griddles listed there today, as an example. Look carefully at the pictures to see the differences I mention ... some are (well) under $20 at this point, and the shipping costs are reasonable. I'm not in the market for these as I have plenty already ... but this is a wonderful size for a rectangular griddle that fits on two burners on your stovetop. Also great for under the broiler, in the oven, or on a campstove or cookfire. Some of the round griddles appear to be a good bargain, also ....
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
