How to avoid fake cast iron antique cookware

down home wrote:
It's always seemed to me that the old cast iron they tried to make smooth with smaller voids in the iron. All the new stuff is rough. Watching it poured in a foundry It looked like metal with chunks and bits of a harder metal in a mix.
Watching cast iron poured in another foundry not for cookware it poured smoother.
I know the old Griswald skillets and corn bread stick pans do not stick as much.
She has a couple pieces of Wagner I don't know how they do. I bought the others for her and cleaned and seasoned them.

I've sanded a couple of Lodge Skillets and got them slick.
After I seasoned them 4-5 times they are mirror smooth, slick and shiny. I have a small skillet for cornbread, a 10" skillet for a double recipe of cornbread, and a medium skillet I use for frying eggs. (Why buy Teflon?)
I also have an old Griswald I inherited from my Grandmother.
My collection includes two Chicken Cooker skillets with lids, and several sizes of Dutch Ovens. I also have a couple of Lodge skillets that I haven't done anything to. These days after I retired, I don't seem to have the time or inclination to sand more.
None of my Cast Iron are show pieces, I use em all.
It took a couple of years to wean my wife off of modern light weight skillets, but I converted her.