Vintage kitchenware--from jelly molds and rolling pins to cher ry pitters and butter churns--constitutes one of the hottest fields in antiques.

These collectibles owe their popularity to their availability and a nostalgic desire to personalize modern kitchens.

Kitchenware collectors tend to fall into two categories. At the grass-roots level there are casual collectors more concerned with the look of a gadget than with its patent date, manufacturer or problems posed by reproductions.

Serious collectors can distinguish an 1890 Griswold muffin pan from one manufactured 50 years later.

Fortunately there are enough canister sets and cookie cutters around to satisfy everyone.

Many collections begin with items found in a relative's basement or garage. Some collectors search for unusual examples of a particular device, while others try to duplicate a typical 19th-Century kitchen, seeking one example of each of the most popular utensils.

Advanced collectors often will specialize in a particular device or manufacturer.

As prices for the rarest objects have risen, so have the number of reproductions. Many have been commissioned from foreign factories using inexpensive labor. Others have remained in production to fill a demand by rural families for non-electric utensils.

As a rule, the higher the price, the more closely an item should be scrutinized.

Old cast iron is almost always heavier, darker and smoother than new cast iron, which has a grayish color and a grainy texture. All antiques should exhibit ample evidence of wear.

While nearly every item used in 19th-Century kitchens has a collector, certain items have attracted large followings.

Cast-iron hollowware made by the Griswold Manufacturing Co., of Erie, Pa., dates to the firm's beginnings in 1884. For several decades, Griswold manufactured a high-quality line of baking pans inscribed with either the word "Griswold" or "Erie" or a three-digit pattern number.

The apple parer has long had the most collectors as well as a newsletter published by the International Society of Apple Parer Enthusiasts. Early 19th-Century models are priced between $150 and $200, while the mass-produced cast-iron varieties from the late 1800s are more apt to be priced in the $40-$80 range.