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Pathetic Workmanship

That Field cast iron is beautiful. Shame it's $160 for a 10" skillet. My great grandma's is just as smooth, and she didn't earn $160 in a year, I'm betting. One thing you don't see anymore is a shallow skillet/griddle (except for Lodge crap). It was popular in the 19th century and early 20th century, and ggrandma's is our most used cookware. I bought several off Ebay and gave them for Xmas gifts this year.

I used my long Lodge griddle this morning and it's so rough it disgusts me. I'd give it away but I don't have another griddle with a grease trap that fits the stove.
 
I see cast iron pans all the time at Household Auctions. A $20 bill will buy most Griswolds.

I have a couple.

Jim
 
I have a different view of where the fault lies for the low quality of much, if not most, of the products we buy. We are at fault both individually and collectively for much of the problem. When we accept shoddy products as the cost of our collective drive (obsession?) to pay the lowest price we force manufacturers to follow us into the basement. In a world where we demand a sub $20 12" skillet by Lodge at Target or Walmart we only need to look in the mirror to see the ultimate culprit when we are dissatisfied with the quality.

We're the same folks who far too often drove past the smaller grocer, local shoe shop, hardware store etc who used to pay what the trendy now call a "living wage" to shop at Walmart and Lowes where management gets bonuses for preventing workers from achieving full time status and earning benefits and then we bemoan the loss of small business and the empty storefronts in almost any town center.

So let's put the blame where it ultimately rests: On the millions of consumers who value low prices and convenience over marketplace diversity, personal service and high quality.

Now please excuse me while I get down off my soapbox and store my pulpit away.......:rolleyes:
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Like others here I have an assortment of older and modern cast iron cookware. I have Dutch "camp" ovens from 8-14", regular Dutch ovens, 5-6 skillets and griddles up to 26" long. The surface smoothness, handle size, placement and shape, fit of lids if any etc vary but all cook well when properly cared for and seasoned. With just two of us most of the time our workhorse cast iron skillets are both around 10" across the cooking surface.

The Lodge "Chef Series" skillets seem to have a good reputation and trend quite a bit lighter than the "Classic" skillets for not much more money. Their shape is more of a French skillet shape than the steep straight sides of the Classic skillets. I haven't used or even held one though....

Victoria skillets have a good reputation and come factory seasoned at high temperature with flaxseed oil, my personal seasoning of choice. Finding a retailer can be tough so this may be a case of being forced to deal with the evil empire of Amazon.. I just took a shot and ordered a 12" Victoria skillet. I'll report back after it has had a little use.

By the way, I've found that with heavy and hard to damage goods you can sometimes get really good deals on Amazon by checking "other sellers" link. The Amazon Warehouse folks often have new stuff in damaged boxes at great prices. I just paid $21 for the Victoria 12" skillet in new undamaged condition due to a damaged box....

Best Regards to all,


Lance
 
I have yet to find our cast iron griddle that fits best atop the 2-burner Coleman. Admittedly I didn’t look that long and hard; we haven’t brought the beast of a Coleman in years.

We have a Lodge cast iron griddle of some vintage, and the craftsmanship is fine. The griddle that fits better on the Coleman 2-burner was not a Lodge, but some cast iron griddle with grease trap bought decades ago at an inner-city “outfitters” – H&H Outdoors.

Funky, funky place, in a not so-good-area of Baltimore City, but only a few (scary) blocks from my work. I shopped there for 30+ years. I think they finally move to a less gritty location.

The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] generation owners, upstairs on the cash registers, kept a suspicious eagle eye on everyone who entered, and were often rude, dismissive and unhelpful. I bought my first backpack in 1970 from the original owner-brothers, who even then were kinda weird.

The old guy who had worked solo in the basement bowels – Clyde – was awesome, funny and helpful and knowledgeable, and the good stuff was all in the basement. It was the kind of place where you could find what you wanted with Clyde’s direction, pick through the messy bins and find lower and lower yellowed price tags the further down you searched.

I might have to visit their new location, just to see if Clyde is still around; he was the only reason to ever shop there.

Back on topic, there is better made cast iron stuff out there, though it may require repeat visits to Goodwill, Salvation Army or other thrift shops

On a fortuitous note there is a Goodwill directly adjacent to the Case & Keg outlet, worth a quick prowl every couple weeks.
 
During a recent foodie/travel/lifestyle TV show my wife and I daydream ourselves through she sat up suddenly at the view of a chateau's working kitchen. "Oohhh, would you look at those copper pots!!!" She was smitten. And to make matters worse over the holidays she attended a wreath making workshop in a beautiful old home with a beautiful old kitchen fully endowed with, you guessed it, copper pots. Frig. She came home with a lovely wreath that hangs at the front door sprinkling every passerby with heavenly pine scent and needles. I made sure to show it off to everyone who graced our home over the holidays, but all I heard was "Ooohh, you should've seen those copper pots!" So being a loving husband I answered her dreams for Christmas. Well, at least a small measure of them, about 1 cups worth. I found a lovely old copper measuring cup with hammered brass handle in a local antiques market. It fit both her stocking and my budget. Those copper pots are eye watering pricey, but like so many things I assume you get what you pay for. Copper pots, cast iron skillets, chateaus...daydreams.
 
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