I have found a cast iron grill manufactured by the French company Le Creuset. This cookware is probably around 20 years old and you can see a picture of the same model below.
I'm wondering if this grill is enameled cast iron or raw cast iron. Indeed, if it's raw cast iron, I will strip of the former seasoning and create a new one. If it's enameled cast iron, I'm not sure how to deeply clean it but I will not put it in my self-cleaning oven.
Today, all cast iron products from Le Creuset are enameled but I don't know if that was the case 20 years ago. The cookware is black and has been used a lot, so I don't know if the (quite) smooth aspect of the top is enameled or not.
Do you have any tricks to recognize if cast iron cookware is enameled or not?*
Photos (click for full-size)
On this last one, you can see "Le Creuset * Made in France* D2" but I didn't find anything about D2 grill model on the internet.
Best Answer
Enamel is a ceramic coating applied to the metal - it will typically be colorful and glossy-smooth to the touch. Raw cast iron will be black and matte in appearance, the unseasoned surfaces rough to the touch, the seasoned cooking surface will be smooth and a tiny bit greasy. Complicating things is the "black satin" enamel some manufacturers (including Le Creuset) apply to some of their pans to mimic a well-seasoned raw cast iron pan.
From the photo, you have a raw cast iron grill pan - we can tell, as it has been misused and the seasoning mostly removed. The coloration, going from black to grey, almost white, indicates the early stages of oxidation and rough scrubbing, and parts of the raised grill-ridges have likewise been polished from rough use.
While enamel can stain and discolor from use (Le Creuset calls this a "patina"), it's failure state does not include a metallic shine in places, and does include cracking or flaking. The glossy black bits stuck to the ridges are seasoning, and ideally should cover most of the cooking surface - if it were uniform across the surface of the pan, it could be enamel. As is, it's a great raw cast-iron pan begging to be restored with a good cleaning and re-season.