coalmine canary

I used to race straight to electronics when I went to thrift stores. Thanks to Griswold however, I now race straight to housewares.

The two things I am looking for are, of course, any cast iron that looks smooth - but just as important - flat fronted spatulas.

My first cast iron experiences were terrible and I believe the spatula was the reason. Plastic ones are useless, and a rounded front edge will make you crazy.

My advice would be to get whatever flat front steel spatula you can right away, and don't fret the corner shape nor the handle design. You can then spend time looking for one with nice rounded corners that match the pan's corners and if you're lucky a wood handle. But in the meantime, you want to be scraping with a flat edge immediately.

Go to any kitchen supply store - every moderate sized city usually has at least one. Don't be afraid of it looking like it's for "professionals only". They will happily sell you a stainless steel flipper. Get a flexible one, it will likely be under five bucks. I tend to avoid the ones with thicker blads that won't bend. THey will work but not as nicely as the flexy ones.

You can scrape as hard as you want with the flat front without worrying about pan damage. Even on a barely seasoned pan, you can use sheer flipper force to get an egg up off the iron with minimal sticking. And it will just get easier over time.

I never give or lend any of my surplus CI without passing along a flat-fronted-flexy-flipper to go with it.

I grabbed another CI pan yesterday at a thrift store for $4... it was a bit crusty but I could tell it was a smooth cooker. The bottom appeared to be Eaton's brand which probably doesn't mean much to anyone out there who isn't Canadian.

As with all the crusty iron I pick up, I gave it 40 minutes in the self clean to get the old goop off and see what I'm working with.

Well what a gem. This pan is stamped "The T. Eaton Co. Limited Housewares Department". Side by side comparison with my Griswold 8 shows that it is so close in shape that it could be from the same foundry. I believe however that it was likely cast in Canada and was meant to be a very close knock off of the Griswold, down to the handle dimensions and the font used for the size numbering. It is about 10% heavier - not noticeable in hand but it shows on the scale.

My advice to anyone looking for their first pan is to splurge on a known good one - griswold or wagner, or at least spend some time handling one at a flea market (if you can find any there). Once you see the difference and feel it in your hands you will know what you're looking for at the thrift stores and you'll soon find your collection growing.

The cooking surface is significantly different on the better pans, and on some you can even see the machining marks (My barely used wagner has very obvious machining marks - I believe griswold must have performed further polishing to achieve their super smooth surface).

Don't be snooty about brand. I have seen some unbranded pans with a stamp that says "Taiwan" which have great surfaces. They may not be quite up to griswold standard but they are going to become good cookers faster than any modern pan made from melted down engine blocks.

I have found so many (mostly smaller) pans at thrift stores that I usually pass them up now. I have been giving cast iron out to friends too, but it's getting to the point where I can't justify it unless it's a large pan under 10 bucks.

The more of us who know what we're looking for, the better - once these things get thrown to the curb and eventually scrapped, they'll never come back. I'd rather blow $10 on a pan and pass it to a friend (with good instructions) and know it's going to be appreciated than pass it by and risk it disappearing forever.

I believe that there should be laws forbidding scrapping of cast iron pans and bicycles