Cooking surface of nickel & chrome skillets

J

Jeffrey R.

Well-known member
I have 2 nickel and 2 chrome Griswold skillets. After cleaning them, One nickel skillet looks like it never had nickel all the way down the sides and the bottom (inside) See Photo. The 2 chrome, and 1 nickel skillets look like some on the chrome has worn off from use.

My question is were both nickel and chrome skillets completed plated inside like the outside?

3 photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/114772661409714296598/JeffreyR#5985620845010786850

Thank you.
 
Chromed Griswold skillets were plated all over, in and out but nickel I am not certain of. From what I have seen the nickel Griswold skillets were plated all over but the inside only the top 1/4 to 3/4". Roy Meadows who collects just nickel and chrome disagrees with me and says they were nickeled on the whole insides. Possibly but why are the pans we see with a level line around the top of the inside? Wear would probably be uneven or did cooking eat away at the nickel much easier than chrome? I've never figured this all out to a definite answer and have never seen a NOS nickel plated Griswold skillet. Someone must have one since there are a number of chromed NOS skillets and even a few NOS slant/E black iron skillets. I can't tell from your photos if your plated skillet is chrome or nickel. My block ™ smooth bottom No.4 was nickeled and unpolished, also with a mostly black inside. I would guess your pan is chromed.
 
Hi Steve Stephens,

Could of it been that Griswold plated some nickel skillets all the way and others 1/4 of the way inside? My photo is of a nickel not chrome, and after the lye bath there was no hint of plating on the bottom 3/4 of the inside. My other nickel skillet shows plating that has wear The lighting on the day I took the photo was not the best. With the chrome and nickel sitting next to each other, the nickel is a bit on the yellow side, and the chrome is on the blue side.

"Wear would probably be uneven or did cooking eat away at the nickel much easier than chrome?"

No one cooks at the same food level every time, if the cooking were to eat away at the nickel. You are ether right or left handed when cooking. I would think it would show more wear on one side than the other.

What is NOS?
 
Right or left handed, cooking liquids in a skillet the "ring" of wear would be even all around. CLEANING a skillet is another story with one's handedness making a difference and how they held and scoured the pan. Whey do nickel plated Griswolds always have the plating "level" even all around the pan? I never see plating below that level though I think I was shown a pan with a small hint of plating.

I have no problem determining nickel from chrome in real life but photos can through me especially as I don't usually see nickel on poised 1930s Griswold skillets. Griswold was nickeling up until WWII on many pieces as well as chroming others or the same ones.
 
"Right or left handed, cooking liquids in a skillet the "ring" of wear would be even all around."

Yes, but do you cook at the same level every time to have that even wear ring, I do not? Also that is a high level for a small skillet, with a little heat you will have food all over the place.

I wrote that I have 2 nickel skillets. The other skillet was used by someone who was right handed. What makes me think this you ask. Picture this, hold the skillet with your left hand and with a cooking tool in your right hand now stir. The nickel on the right side is worn more that the left side. Thinking to hard. :shootself:

It is not your eyes Steve, it was the photo.
 
I like history. But I am trying to think how they would plate the skillet, but not the cooking surface. I have had things re-plated nickel, they dip the item completely.

Maybe they plated the skillet then polished the cooking surface.
 
The skillet could have had a coating of something to resist the deposition of plating on the inside. Wax? It would have to be something easy to remove.
 
Sounds good. Question, if you cook with a chrome or nickel skillet do you get shiny insides, or just some glitter on your food.

I was going to sell the nickel skillet, maybe not, no glitter on my food. :laughup:
 
I'll always choose nickel over chrome and used to pick up some nice early Griswold and ERIE plus Wagner nickel skillets on ebay, etc. The bonus was that they were polished all over and some even had most of the nickel worn off leaving nearly a black iron but polished pan.
 
Do you know of anyone re-plating a skillet? Like I said that I have had plating done in the past. When I was building one of my homes, I used old cast iron claw foot tubs(re-finnished), with all the original hardware. I had all the hardware, plumbing, tub legs all nickeled. Looked real nice.
 
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