3 ms·

That's great, thanks for sharing! I'm fascinated by cast iron cookware, the durable nature of it seems to contrast with so much of the rest of our lives. Take

by Nux 12y ago

That's great, thanks for sharing! I'm fascinated by cast iron cookware, the durable nature of it seems to contrast with so much of the rest of our lives. Take good care of it and it will last generations!

fsloth 12y ago
It's not only the durability. As cookware my cast iron pans outfry every other pan I have. Their only downside is that they are not very large and since they are kinda needy when it comes to care I'm not sure I would like to have bigger ones anyhow. My cast iron pans are awesome. They cook the best steak and they have been in the family for generations. I remember eating some good steaks as a kid that were made in those pans and now I use them myself.
- baldeagle 12y ago
  I once found a cast iron skillet on the back of a hillside and cleaned it up. Honestly the hardest part was getting the rust off. After that, it's worked like a champ. BTW, the article links to a prior entry about rust removal that was way easier than what I did.
  - fsloth 12y ago
    Yeah, those cast iron wonders are like some legendary swords in various works of fiction. Just give them a good rub and they're as good as new :)
ensignavenger 12y ago
My wife's grandmother recently gave her a cast iron skillet that was allegedly owned by her grandmother! Awesome cookware :)
stinos 12y ago
This. The older I get, the more I care about purchasing or preferrably re-using proper durable tools of all kinds. Cast iron cookware is one of those. Another thing I love: the scythe. Belonged to my grandmother's father and because of genes I happen to have his posture making the scythe a pretty good fit for me. This handmade tool, now being close to hundred years old but with a new blade outperforms any motorized tool I've tried for mowing our grass. Cuts faster, less tiring, non-polluting, doesn't throw grass or rocks in your face and so on.
giardini 12y ago
The reason it lasts generations is that the previous generations didn't use it! They put it up in the attic and used an aluminum or stainless, porcelain or copper cookware instead.
- inyourtenement 12y ago
  You're a riot.
VLM 12y ago
I've been cooking for a long time and over the decades I've noticed non-stick has become better "value engineered" over time such that no matter how much you pay or how much you baby the pan, you'll be buying a new one every couple months. When I was a kid my mom's non-stick lasted for years, until the handle breaks off or something, but they've done a lot of coating engineering work to increase repeat sales for non-stick. So maybe a decade ago I switched to cast iron in a rage at my latest pan only lasting a couple months. I was shocked at the cost, I was trying to buy upscale to get non-stick pans that don't suck, and instead of paying $100+ for a six month lifetime non-stick I was paying like $15 for a lifetime grade CI pan. I do understand how non-stick pan mfgrs stay in business, because they're guaranteed about two sales per year due to amazingly low product durability. I have no idea how Lodge and the others stay in the CI business because the pans last forever. Its a mysterious business model. One more point to add is I have CI grates on my charcoal BBQ and a similar seasoning mindset applies to CI grill as to frying pans. Dump the coals, scrape/scrub the grates, apply some oil/crisco while it'll still smoke a little but not too much, you're good. Another non-stick alternative I cook with a lot is stainless steel. If you're generous with the oil and keep the temps very high but not too high and start with a surgically clean pan, you can fry in stainless. "Barkeepers friend" is the best thing I can find for cleaning stainless. Stainless is also basically eternal. Unlike CI, if you're used to spending $50 at Target for a non-stick pot or pan, a CI equivalent will be like $15 but a large stainless pot could be maybe $100 to $150 for all-clad? I'm in the "all-clad or nothing" tribe of stainless users, there are cheaper alternatives. I like a steak in a nice near red hot stainless pan. You'll need the "barkeepers friend" cleaning powder after that. I could imagine that powder would strip a CI pan pretty well, given how well it strips baked on stuff off stainless pans.

by Nux 12y ago

fsloth 12y ago

It's not only the durability. As cookware my cast iron pans outfry every other pan I have. Their only downside is that they are not very large and since they are kinda needy when it comes to care I'm not sure I would like to have bigger ones anyhow. My cast iron pans are awesome. They cook the best steak and they have been in the family for generations. I remember eating some good steaks as a kid that were made in those pans and now I use them myself.

baldeagle 12y ago
I once found a cast iron skillet on the back of a hillside and cleaned it up. Honestly the hardest part was getting the rust off. After that, it's worked like a champ. BTW, the article links to a prior entry about rust removal that was way easier than what I did.
- fsloth 12y ago
  Yeah, those cast iron wonders are like some legendary swords in various works of fiction. Just give them a good rub and they're as good as new :)

ensignavenger 12y ago

My wife's grandmother recently gave her a cast iron skillet that was allegedly owned by her grandmother! Awesome cookware :)

stinos 12y ago

This. The older I get, the more I care about purchasing or preferrably re-using proper durable tools of all kinds. Cast iron cookware is one of those. Another thing I love: the scythe. Belonged to my grandmother's father and because of genes I happen to have his posture making the scythe a pretty good fit for me. This handmade tool, now being close to hundred years old but with a new blade outperforms any motorized tool I've tried for mowing our grass. Cuts faster, less tiring, non-polluting, doesn't throw grass or rocks in your face and so on.

giardini 12y ago

The reason it lasts generations is that the previous generations didn't use it! They put it up in the attic and used an aluminum or stainless, porcelain or copper cookware instead.

inyourtenement 12y ago
You're a riot.

VLM 12y ago

I've been cooking for a long time and over the decades I've noticed non-stick has become better "value engineered" over time such that no matter how much you pay or how much you baby the pan, you'll be buying a new one every couple months. When I was a kid my mom's non-stick lasted for years, until the handle breaks off or something, but they've done a lot of coating engineering work to increase repeat sales for non-stick. So maybe a decade ago I switched to cast iron in a rage at my latest pan only lasting a couple months. I was shocked at the cost, I was trying to buy upscale to get non-stick pans that don't suck, and instead of paying $100+ for a six month lifetime non-stick I was paying like $15 for a lifetime grade CI pan. I do understand how non-stick pan mfgrs stay in business, because they're guaranteed about two sales per year due to amazingly low product durability. I have no idea how Lodge and the others stay in the CI business because the pans last forever. Its a mysterious business model. One more point to add is I have CI grates on my charcoal BBQ and a similar seasoning mindset applies to CI grill as to frying pans. Dump the coals, scrape/scrub the grates, apply some oil/crisco while it'll still smoke a little but not too much, you're good. Another non-stick alternative I cook with a lot is stainless steel. If you're generous with the oil and keep the temps very high but not too high and start with a surgically clean pan, you can fry in stainless. "Barkeepers friend" is the best thing I can find for cleaning stainless. Stainless is also basically eternal. Unlike CI, if you're used to spending $50 at Target for a non-stick pot or pan, a CI equivalent will be like $15 but a large stainless pot could be maybe $100 to $150 for all-clad? I'm in the "all-clad or nothing" tribe of stainless users, there are cheaper alternatives. I like a steak in a nice near red hot stainless pan. You'll need the "barkeepers friend" cleaning powder after that. I could imagine that powder would strip a CI pan pretty well, given how well it strips baked on stuff off stainless pans.