New Cast Iron Cookware
New pieces of cast iron are relatively easy to get your hands on. Lodge pans are available at Walmart, on Amazon.com, and at your local hardware store. They are inexpensive, and they are made in the USA. Other brands, such as Field, Smithey, Borough Furnace, Stargazer, Butter Pat Industries, and many others are working to revive the old fashioned hand crafted quality of the 100 year old iron coveted by collectors.
The biggest stand out when you look at a Lodge pan is the texture of the cooking surface. It is rough. When compared to antique pans, which are often very smooth, it has a noticeable texture. This is a result of the modern automated casting process used today by Lodge. Is it bad? no? Does it make food stick to the pan? Again, no. A modern Lodge pan or Dutch Oven that has been seasoned is just as non-stick as any non-stick cooking surface.
Modern cast iron has a number of advantages. With Lodge’s casting process, they can mass produce high quality cookware, making their cookware affordable for everyone. And there are a large variety of items offered by Lodge for almost every cooking application for indoor on your stove top or in your oven, or outdoors over a fire. A new Lodge pan or Dutch Oven will last for generations with good basic care. If you want higher end, hand crafted cookware, there are a number of options out there. These require a higher investment, but they provide hand crafter heirloom quality cookware for those that want to pay for it.
Antique Cast Iron Cookware
For some of us, and I include myself in this category, there is more to our love of cast iron than the function of the pan or Dutch Oven. What is it about antique iron? For one, there is the history of old cookware. A 50 or 100 year old pan is an antique that generations have used. And unlike some antiques, you can put it to work today without hurting it. It doesn’t have to be preserved in a case under glass, it can be used today just like it has been for generations. If it is a family heirloom that your grandmother used, you can enjoy something that has been in the hands of your family for years.
Some of us love to find an old pan that has seen better days and revive it to it’s former self. Cookware that used to be an important part of someone’s kitchen that has since been forgotten, gathering layers of rust and dirt, can find it’s way to thrift stores and flea markets. There is a certain satisfaction to cleaning one of these finds, reseasoning them, and making it look like new.
What about the quality. For the most part, iron is iron. The antiques have the same basic properties of the modern pans. Their casting process was not the same, and the finish is smoother. Again, is that better? To some it is, to others maybe not. But when you get right down to it, it is a cast iron non-stick cooking surface. What adds value is the history, what foundry it was made at, when it was made, and how many others like it are out there.
What is Better?
Go on social media and visit one of the many cast iron cookware or Dutch Oven cooking groups and ask if modern cookware or antiques are the best cookware to use. Then duck! Seriously, you will get many different answers. Because every person likes different things about their cast iron cookware, and has had different experiences. What they all have in common is that they like the look and feel of their particular favorite, they enjoy the experience of cooking in it. If you are just starting out, buy a new pre-seasoned pan as a starting point, and learn how to cook in it and care for it. As you learn about it, you may find yourself in possession of some higher end new items, or you may find some antique that needs to be restored. And you will get your own opinion of what ones are the best!