Painted Dutch Oven?

[R Miller]

Got this Griswold #9 Dutch Oven and even though the bottom says Cast Iron, I've never seen one with a finish like this. The inside is smooth with some staining, same as the bottom and the side's are kind of rough and silver. Along the rim of the dutch oven its polished and you see you reflection in it.

No signs of rust and seems to be extremely clean. Not sure if the outside is maybe painted and if i should strip it and start from scratch or maybe it just isn't seasoned (but if thats the case why no rust).

Sorry if some of these are basic questions, I've only recently started getting old cast iron after falling in love in cooking on modern day Lodge stuff.

 

[Doug D.]

It's not paint, but plating. Plated ware was first done in nickel, then later in chrome. Various finishes from matte to mirror polish were made, sometimes in combination. Yours looks to be in fairly good condition, from what I can see in the photos. Plated pieces command a premium as collectibles over bare iron only if the plating is not worn or damaged.

 

[R Miller]

It's not paint, but plating. Plated ware was first done in nickel, then later in chrome. Various finishes from matte to mirror polish were made, sometimes in combination. Yours looks to be in fairly good condition, from what I can see in the photos. Plated pieces command a premium as collectibles over bare iron only if the plating is not worn or damaged.

I took a real good look at it, and on one of the handles i do see a very tiny spot where the plating has been chipped off. The lid looks perfect all over, no discoloration at all and the sides of the dutch oven are also perfect. Only discoloring are on the bottom and inside (attached picture).

I bought this piece for $80 with the intentions of using it. How would i go about cleaning up the bottom and inside? Given my intentions would it be best to keep it and use or maybe sell and get a bare iron version to cook in and pocket some extra cash for more cast iron.

 

[Doug D.]

Your best option would be lye, either a lye bath or the oven cleaner spray and bag technique. There is no real seasoning to be done on plated pieces, except on those spots where plating has worn as a rust preventative, or on areas that were never plated to begin with.

Sell or keep? Hard to say. You'll be hard pressed to find a bare iron Griswold in VG to EX condition for $80.

 

[R Miller]

Sell or keep? Hard to say. You'll be hard pressed to find a bare iron Griswold in VG to EX condition for $80.

I am more looking for just usable condition, but from what i've been seeing yeah a #9 Dutch Oven is a hard find and even harder without spending double to triple what i spent on this plated version. Unfortunately where i live flea markets are more people sending NIB cheap knockoff's then actual used items.

What would you say the value of a Griswold plated #9 Dutch Oven with lid and trivet would be. It sits completely flat, no pitting and only one tiny part where the plating flaked off and thats on the handle that the bail wire attaches to, about the size of a pen tip.