Griswold vs Wagner

[gadzooks]

I had never heard that. My Wagner is "made in USA". BTW, my grandfather once showed me how to steel a carbon-bladed knife on the bottom of a cast iron frying pan.

[Bigjim68]

I have Griswold, Wagner, and my favorite skillet is one that is only marked SK. I don't know if this is a maker mark, or simply designates skillet. I would buy anything I thought was old, was priced right, I needed or wanted, and didn't say ROK. China or Lodge on it.

[PanchoHambre]

I have 3 griswold pans and only one wager as well as 2 no name old dutch ovens and an older lodge grill plan. I have to say the griswolds are lovely but the wager is pretty nice too.

Wagner should bear a "Sidney" mark and Griswold and "Erie" so you know they are authentic and from the good ol days when we made things right

I think the cost of a large Griswold can be high and you can get a better deal on a Wagner that will be just as good.

There are lots of beautiful nameless antique pans too just pick em up and feel them and see if they are ground smoothe and nicely balanced.

Love that old cast iron there is just nothing like it

[Bigjim68]

What he said

[Maverick2272]

I have one stamped "5A", one stamped "Made in USA", and the other is stamped "Wagner 1891 Original Cast Iron Cookware" followed by "seasoning instructions" followed by "10 1/2 inch skillet Made In USA".
I never knew it had the instructions on the bottom, LOL. Thanks for making me look!

[Wart]

I have Griswold, Wagner, No Name, even have a Wopak. Their all old and all work fine. I lost track of which ones have fire rings and which are flat bottoms.

The same size pans from Griswold will have different weights. Unlike the fancy French stuff this is by design.

Out in the garage I have two stacks of iron, couple of them even have chrome.

I should put them on eBay and see if they move.

[Bigjim68]

Originally Posted by Maverick2272

I have one stamped "5A", one stamped "Made in USA", and the other is stamped "Wagner 1891 Original Cast Iron Cookware" followed by "seasoning instructions" followed by "10 1/2 inch skillet Made In USA".
I never knew it had the instructions on the bottom, LOL. Thanks for making me look!

I have never seen CI with seasoning instructions on the bottom. That would be interesting. What does it say?

[Wart]

Originally Posted by Bigjim68

I have never seen CI with seasoning instructions on the bottom. That would be interesting. What does it say?

I've seen this, IIRC only on Lodge, which, Thank God I don't even have to consider owning.

Some like the stipple surface, to me it's just a crud gatherer.

And I have issues with the quality of metal.

[Maverick2272]

These instructions are on a Wagner, but I would have to clean up the bottom of it a little in order to read them, LOL. I have to head out now, but later I will try and clean it up a little from its last use and post a picture of it if you like.

[Michael in FtW]

Griswold and Wagner were both good foundries - and made comparable quality CI products. You can't go wrong with either one.

FWIW: Some Griswold pans were made by Wagner - Wagner bought the molds from Griswold.

You might want to read this and this.

I didn't vote because I think both are comparable in quality.