What is with this latest craze with cast iron? I've noticed the last year there's been a couple of brands that have come out, marketing their cast iron pans as some revolution. Anybody who has experience with a forge and metalwork can you make-out what these companies are doing?

Butter Pat Industries $300+ for a pan They are pretty but...it's cast iron, comon'.

Stargazer Cast Iron $80 at least it's under $100 but, you can get the same with a Staub or, a Lodge

My wife say the old used ones are getting real hard to find and are costly when you do find them. The new cheap ones are real porous on the cooking surface. They takes a lot of work to season them well.

Some members here have the Stargazer one, it came up in a somewhat recent Cast Iron thread, IIRC.

I like the Stargazer being so well smoothed out on the cooking surface. I've got a Lodge and a No. 8 Griswold, and I abhor the Lodge.

$300-$400 is a ridiculous price that I would never pay despite them being nice pans that your grandchildren will be using.

I guess I don't understand some of these companies. With cast iron coming back into vogue big time, if they dropped the price to $100 they'd sell a metric shit-ton of them. Four times that? Not a chance.

I'm still considering a Stargazer pan.

Member bald1 bought the Stargazer – and likes it.

The last Lodge I bought was so rough I couldn’t do anything with it. Not at all like the vintage pans you see.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

Stargazer Cast Iron $80 at least it's under $100 but, you can get the same with a Staub or, a Lodge

BS! I have an upscale Lodge Signature cast iron pan which was rough interior finished (Winner of the 2008 Fifth Annual Housewares Design Award; Model SS10S MSRP 2008 $100, reduced MSRP to $75 a couple years later, and discontinued it in 2013; and no, I didn't pay MSRP). And have had others like the Emeril by All-Clad (made in China) which was pure crap and warped within weeks. There is NO comparison between these and my new Stargazer! My Stargazer is simply outstanding!

From what others have said these newer well made pans compare favorably with the quality brands of Griswold and Wagner of decades ago which, if you can find them in decent shape on the used market, are usually priced as expensive as my new Stargazer.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Member bald1 bought the Stargazer – and likes it.

Got that right! LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bald1,

I bought the Smithey cast iron pan linked from the last thread about cast iron pans.
It is top shelf and am more than pleased with it.
Certainly right there with my Griswold of the same size.

I bought a Fenix 8" Cast Iron Skillet- It wasn't flat! I just wanted a good cast iron pan and figured a premium $125 American made product would work.

They said they could send me a flat one?

I got a full refund but damn for the money they all should be perfect.

Is expensive cast iron really that offensive? I use a skillet of some sort every single day, and my very modest stable contains a few pieces of lodge but on "hipster" Finex skillet.

I don't see it being any different than buying a Glock vs buying a Legion or a custom 1911. Variety...

Man that Smithey looks nice. The No. 10 may have to show up at my doorstep one day.

I have all Lodge and honestly have no issues after seasoning with Crisbee. Scrambled eggs wipe right out, melted cheese, whatever. A little water and a few strokes with a nylon brush.

I spent about 2.5 hrs with my Dewalt random orbital palm sander on got my Lodge pan smooth as glass, seasoned it and it isms good as my old Griswolds (gave those to daughter)

Staub is not cheap either, my 10qt pot was well over 300

A hipster I definitely am not.

We have a large cast iron skillet of unknown make that I bought 30 years ago. No maker's mark that I can identify, just a imprint '10' and 'SK' on its underside towards the handle, raised 'Made In USA' in the middle, and a imprint capital 'D' over '1' below that. The cooking surface is as smooth as one should expect from a well-made piece of cast iron cookware, not like the small, bumpy faced Lodge camp skillet I bought a few years ago for more convenience with backwoods use. That big one has served our family well; countless flapjacks and steaks have been made to perfection on that cherished piece of metal. Maybe paid $20 to $25 back in the mid 1980s, though I don't remember for certain. Can't imagine myself paying much more for it, since I wasn't exactly rolling in dough back then.

From the website looks like these are available at HEB Central Market here in TX. I'll definitely be on the lookout.

JB

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I bought the Smithey cast iron pan linked from the last thread about cast iron pans.
It is top shelf and am more than pleased with it.
Certainly right there with my Griswold of the same size.

I'm still rocking 2 12" Lodges from Walmart. One I got 15 years ago and the other about 5 years ago. Both very solid and seasoned.

You can see where my wife used a sponge with dish soap to clean it...

Clearly I need to adjust my optics with regards to cast iron. While I'm pleased with my Staub, some of the more modern pans are awfully nice.

Everything old is new again, straight razors, hand tools, cast iron, etc. Personally I got a 2 pack of new Lodge, and thought they were fine. After reading about how the older stuff was better I have collected a dozen or so pieces, half of them Griswold. Some of them required lots of elbow grease but none have cost over $20.