Patina of a cast iron skillet

MStark

New member
Hello from a newbie to the forum. I have a collection of cast iron skillets that I use daily for cooking and I'm looking to add to my collection with different size skillets. There are these cast iron skillets at the antique store the patina looks like a pewter color not the classic black patina I'm use to seeing. Can you all tell me about why these skillets might look as they do and if it affects the the temperature and/or quality of cooking with these skillets.
 
Clean bare iron is gray. The pans have probably been stripped and only had one round of a basic manual seasoning applied, just to ward off rust. Many sellers find going further to be time-consuming and not cost-effective. There may also be the expectation that a prospective buyer may just strip the pan themselves and start over using their own preferred method, anyway. Any pan with seasoning built up from a modicum of regular use will outperform a newly-seasoned one.

Another possibility is the the use of a wire wheel on a bench grinder to remove build-up, which leaves a distinctive overall appearance. Traces of carbonized build-up are left in crevices and incised markings that the wheel just can't completely remove like electrolysis or lye can. This cleaning method, not recommended for collectible CI, also has the potential to change the original as-cast patina of the metal itself.
 
I think I know what you mean. I have a #8 that just doesnt look like my others. And it is SMOOTH inside, not sure if its due to the different color or just from being seasoned good? I thought at first it was nickle plated, but its not, just a slightly different look.
 
The other thing is that some do is hit the surface of the piece with a disk sander and take away the original cast surface and old iron color and end up putting a shine to the iron. Not something I would recommend, without an already damaged piece. Like heavy utensil marks, heavy rust pitting. You can not take them out but smooth / even out the cooking surface. Only because it is a damaged piece anyway. In line with Doug wrote above.
 
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