Steve's Seasoned Classics Glossary

Welcome to the SSC Cast Iron Glossary — a curated reference guide for collectors, restorers, historians, and enthusiasts. These terms are used throughout our museum documentation and exhibit archives to describe common features, marks, and restoration elements found in vintage cast iron cookware.

🔤 A–Z Glossary of Terms

  • Assist Handle: A small handle opposite the main handle, often for two-handed lifting of heavy pieces.
  • Bail Handle: A wire or metal loop handle often found on Dutch ovens or camp cookware.
  • Branding Ghost: A faint outline of a previous manufacturer’s name, often visible under the current logo — typically seen in recast molds.
  • Camp Oven: A type of Dutch oven with legs and a flanged lid, designed to sit over coals.
  • Cast-on Pour Spout: Integrated spouts on the side of a skillet to allow liquid draining.
  • Catalog Number: A model number or foundry-issued designation for a piece, typically cast into the bottom.
  • Fire Ring: See “Heat Ring.”
  • Ghost Mark: A visual remnant of earlier lettering or logo — often appears faintly after cleaning or seasoning.
  • Griswold Cross: A cross-style logo used on Griswold skillets from the 1910s–1940s.
  • Hamburger Logo: Nickname for the oval “Martin Stove & Range Co.” mark resembling a hamburger bun.
  • Heat Ring: A raised ring around the base of older skillets that helped stabilize them on wood-burning stoves.
  • Hollow Ware: General term for pots, kettles, and other cast vessels used in kitchens.
  • Inset Heat Ring: A recessed heat ring set inside the base perimeter.
  • Lug Handle: Small horizontal tab or grip, typically for stabilization during pouring or two-handed lifting.
  • National Recovery Administration (NRA) Mark: Found on cookware from the early 1930s, indicating compliance with New Deal labor standards.
  • Pour Spouts: See “Cast-on Pour Spout.”
  • Raised Lettering: Foundry or model information cast in relief, rather than inset.
  • Restoration Process: The SSC Museum Process includes iron neutralization, stabilization, archival seasoning, and documentation.
  • Seasoning: The polymerized oil layer that creates a nonstick surface and protects the metal from rust.
  • Skillet Size Number: A traditional number referring to stove eye compatibility, not diameter — e.g., No. 8 fits an 8-inch stove eye.
  • Smooth Bottom: A skillet without a heat ring — typical of later 20th-century pieces.
  • Spinner: A warped skillet that spins when placed on a flat surface — undesirable for cooking or collecting.
  • Stove Eye: Circular burner opening on a wood or coal stove, often corresponding to skillet size numbers.
  • Swirl Mark: Common circular marks from grinding or machining the interior surface of a skillet at the foundry.
  • Wobble: Unevenness that causes a skillet to rock — see also “Spinner.”
Glossary of Cast Iron Terms

🛠️ Glossary of Cast Iron Terms

A practical reference guide for identifying, understanding, and describing vintage American cast iron cookware.

🔍 Key Terminology

  • Heat Ring: A raised circular ridge on the bottom of older pans designed to sit securely on wood or coal stoves.
  • Pour Spout: V-shaped lips on the sides of a skillet for pouring liquids.
  • Helper Tab / Assist Handle: A small secondary handle opposite the main one for lifting heavy pans.
  • Gate Mark: A raised line or scar on the bottom of 19th-century pans caused by sand casting molds.
  • Raised Logo: A logo cast in relief on the bottom surface, common in early cookware (e.g., Martin’s “hamburger logo”).
  • Inset Logo / Stylized Logo: Recessed lettering or refined branding, often seen in later Wagner Ware and Griswold pieces.
  • Bail Handle: A wire loop handle, usually found on Dutch ovens or bean pots.
  • Spider: A skillet or pan with short legs for standing over coals in an open hearth.
  • Wobble / Spin: When a skillet does not sit flat on a surface — important in evaluating restoration quality.
  • Casting Flash: A thin line of excess metal left from the mold seam; sometimes visible in older pieces.
  • Seasoning: The polymerized layer of oil that protects cast iron and provides a non-stick surface.

🧪 Restoration & Identification

  • Stripping: The removal of old seasoning and rust, using either lye, electrolysis, or other neutral methods.
  • Pitting: Small craters or imperfections often caused by rust damage.
  • Machined Finish: A smooth interior achieved through factory milling; often a sign of high-quality vintage iron.
  • Unmarked Ware: Cookware without branding—sometimes sold as store brands, or produced by foundries like Wagner and Griswold for private labels.
  • Ghost Marks: Faint remnants of previous logo patterns that appear on recast or reused molds.

This glossary is maintained by Steve’s Seasoned Classics as part of our educational mission. Terms are added and refined regularly to reflect the evolving understanding of collectors and historians.