Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
I travel light, so I have only one, it is deep (2 inches) so is all-purpose. The bottom has been badly corroded, but it says Taiwan. This one has been restored from a rust heap.
I just looked at Ebay, there are plenty of old ones listed there, going rate seems to be about ten bucks.
There are usualy skillets at flea markets, and especially at country junk stores.
Is anybody of the opinion that some are "made" better than others, or is a cast iron skillet just a commodity? I've never found any difference between them.
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The difference is two-fold: (1) the designed shape/thickness of the utensil, and (2) the specific heat transfer quality of the iron and the uniformity of the casting.
The resulting difference in cooking is the way the heat is transferred to the interior of the cookware, and in the way the utensil "seasons" into a non-stick surface.
High quality cast iron will have a substantially uniform temperature across the cooking surface when placed over a heat source, especially a wood fire, coals, or a gas burner. You can saute over the whole surface, or simmer or low temp cook without having "hot" spots where some food burns and some food is left much cooler, perhaps not even cooking in some spots.
Wapak and Griswold are by far and away the best of USA cast iron for cooking quality as well as durability and utensil shapes.
Wagner Ware is just behind them, and would be a decent second choice.
Very old Lodge cookware had OK iron, but the new stuff is abysmal.
There's also a lot of "private label" cast iron cookware that was made by these manufacturers for other retailers ... for example, Sears, MWards, or various department stores and outfitters. Some of this production is excellent, and will give a lifetime of cooking pleasure.
Also, there's a lot of old "no-name" cast iron available in the USA, and some of it is really good ... and some of it is pure junk. No way to tell what you're buying until you've had a chance to cook with it.
The cheap sand cast "cast iron" from many countries now in the marketplace is simply junk. The iron formula is chosen for easy casting qualities, but it's very brittle and doesn't conduct heat very well. Typically, the cooking surface is not smooth because there's a lot of small voids in the iron, so it's difficult to get a true non-stick seasoned surface with these.
The european manufactured enamelware of years ago had a great iron formulation, and cooked very well. The newer stuff found in cookware stores today isn't as good, but it's still acceptable to cook on. I wouldn't pay full list retail for it as the older better stuff is readily available for less money. But you do see the new stuff in cookware discounters inventory and it's worth that price.
You can tell the difference in the cookware's iron heat conductivity very quickly by putting a large pan over a typical sized gas burner ... on my stove, that's a 9,000 BTU 3" diameter burner ... with a bit of water in the pan. With a 12" diameter pan, you'll see the water start to bubble over almost the entire bottom of the pan, rather than a "hot spot" of water boiling in the center just above the gas flame which is showing you poor heat conductivity of the iron.
The same is true for my dutch ovens on the stove, which I use for soups, stews, grilling, broiling, braising, or baking. Breads come out of a dutch oven uniformly baked inside and browned on the top with a nice crust ... even if used on a stovetop, or in the oven.
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Now we will see who knows what that just meant. 
