Made in Portland Oregon. Spendy but most things of quality are. I have one nice old 12" Griswold skillet and 2 old smaller Wagners and a old hammered cast iron chicken fryer with no markings. I think it's a cheapie as it is chipping away on the inside but is still functional.

These look damn nice. Tempted to pick up a piece and see if they are as advertised.
Anyone here have one?

Finex

Now I got the bug. Going to break out the Griswold and make me a potato onion tart in it today to go with my apple cider brined wood grilled pork steaks!

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
potato onion tart

That sounds great. Are you gonna just tease us, or are you gonna be a responsible member of this forum and give us pictures and a recipe?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
potato onion tart

That sounds great. Are you gonna just tease us, or are you gonna be a responsible member of this forum and give us pictures and a recipe?

Pictures and method will follow! Been a long time since I made one these going back in the archives a bit.

It's good to see an American company making quality cast iron again. But $270 for one skillet?

I've got 12 pieces of vintage cast iron and I didn't pay that much for all of them combined.

Another American made option is StarGazer. They're a newer company, but I know a guy who really likes his.

I, too, have Griswolds and Wagners for a lot of my cooking; skillets and Dutch ovens. Everyone should have at least one!

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
It's good to see an American company making quality cast iron again. But $270 for one skillet?

I've got 12 pieces of vintage cast iron and I didn't pay that much for all of them combined.

I have a set of Griswold cast iron that was handed down from my grandmother.
You usually get what you pay for and if it's good quality, it'll cost.

I have both a Finex 12" skillet and a Stargazer 10" skillet. Both are outstanding cast iron pans.

I do like the Stargazers design a bit better.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:
I have both a Finex 12" skillet and a Stargazer 10" skillet. Both are outstanding cast iron pans.

I do like the Stargazers design a bit better.

I had to google up Stargazers. Considerably cheaper but from what I seen the only product they offer is the 10.5" skillet? Looks like a new company maybe just trying to get off the ground before diving into more production. I'm sure casts aren't a minor investment.

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:

I do like the Stargazers design a bit better.

Could you be more specific?


http://www.stargazercastiron.com/products/ Their 15% military discount is nice.

quote:

Originally posted by joatmonv:
You usually get what you pay for and if it's good quality, it'll cost.

Well, if someone wanted to give me one I'd take it, use it, and likely enjoy it. But, there's not a chance in hell that I'd spend $270 on a skillet when I can go down the local thrift store and pick one up that's as good or better for $10. And this is coming from someone who's been know to piss away money with the best of them.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by LBTRS:

I do like the Stargazers design a bit better.

Could you be more specific?


http://www.stargazercastiron.com/products/ Their 15% military discount is nice.

I'm not really sold on the Finex octagon shape, it looks odd to me. The handle on the Stargazer is more comfortable. The Finex has a really small helper "handle" on the opposite side of the real handle, the Stargazers helper handle is huge.

Stargazer is MUCH cheaper.

The Finex is a very nice skillet and the workmanship is outstanding. The Stargazer design is a bit more user friendly in my opinion.

We leave them both on the top of our gas range and people always comment on the Finex and how "nice" it looks.

Can't see spending that much scratch when I can go buy several used Griswold items and have money left over for a tub o lard. And chicken. And flour.

Thanks LBTRS!

I'd love to find an old well cared for Griswold or Wagner but in this area that's not a likely event.

Been using a Lodge Signature 10" cast iron pan (paid $48 NIB on sale in 2010) that features a stainless steel primary and assist handles. Biggest nit has been the 2.25" sides that are a royal PITA when pouring excess grease off. Some always gets on the sides and eventually underneath which makes a mess to clean up on both the pan and glass top stove.


So the lip design on the Stargazer looks like a big step up.

I don't like the octagon shape, at all. But they seem very nice, otherwise, though a bit expensive.

And I get Gustofer's rant, I do, but all of the vintage Griswold I've seen is much more than $10, and rarely ever found at local thrift stores. That ship sailed years ago, IME. A two second search for Griswold 12" shows prices ranging from $80-250, for instance.

Just about all of my pieces were found at thrift/antique stores. Now, granted, I've been at it for 30 years, but I still find them. Last fall I picked up a beautiful little #5 at a flea market in Chicago. Gave the guy $5. He wanted $20.

Mind you, most of them don't look all that great on first glance as most of them have decades of crap caked onto them. But, if they sit flat and are crack free I'll take them and strip them down and clean them up. Good as new. Just a few years ago I found one with so much crud on it I couldn't tell what brand it was. A few days in a lye bath presented me with a gorgeous #8 skillet. Yep...$10.

Another good American made cast iron cookware place:

https://smitheyironware.com/pr...2-cast-iron-skillet/


Made in Charleston, SC.

Dereliction of duty on my part. I did make the potato onion tart last night along with my wood fired grilled peach mango brined pork steaks. What was supposed to be a leisurely day doing things on my time got interrupted by unexpected company. Seems to happen when I cook which is why I always cook for a family of 8.
So no pictures but everything turned out great!
The potato onion tart was fantastic! The original recipe is from Tyler Florence but that's just the base. I added other spices a little herb de provence and yes bacon. Lots of ways to go with this recipe.
I will add you really need to do this with a cast iron pan. My 12" Griswold did this without breaking a sweat! Once assembled I put the pan directly over the fire for about 10 minutes moving it around every couple of minutes. This starts the caramelization of the potatoes. I then moved it off to the side where the temp was about 375 dropped the cover and let it sit for about 45 minutes.
If you don't have a large enough grill do this in your oven at about 375 for close to a hour.

Caramelized potato pie

When seeking a Griswold, I have found SearchTempest and ebay to be my best friends. Got my no. 8 for around $20, then resurfaced it (which I'd have done anyhow).

I looked for you, and there's one that is around $25, but it has some pitting. Coupla really SWEET ones that are fiddyish.

Just ordered the seasoned Stargazer pan with the military discount. Told to expect late September / early October shipping.

Congrats on your new cast iron. Apparently they've selling a lot of these frying pans, based on stated delivery times. The drip-resistant rim is a very nice feature.