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ethompson said:
Absolutely nothing. They’re great for the price. At one point I had an enormous cast iron collections and even having now whittled down to 30 or so I’ve still got a good number of lodges.
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As 30 isn't an enormous cast iron collection...🤣

Out of curiosity any others you would recommend for a specific reason? I do love my lodge
 
jedy617 said:
As 30 isn't an enormous cast iron collection...🤣

Out of curiosity any others you would recommend for a specific reason? I do love my lodge
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Well I got to well over 100 at one point, so by comparison it's much more reasonable these days!

The old stuff is lighter and I prefer it for day to day cooking. I’m brand agnostic so while I have some of the collectible branded stuff like Wagner, Griswold, and wapak - I just look for anything built well and without major defects. I like the heavier lodge stuff for some applications and the lighter vintage stuff for others. I notice no difference in non stick properties etc. All well made cast iron pans are good pans.

I was lucky and got into it before it really blew up and skillets started selling on eBay for hundreds or more. I also grew up in the south so antique stores everywhere had dozens to sort through, often for a few bucks a pop.
 
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I regularly see folks driving 150K+ cars who are clearly unfit to drive, when the amount spent purchasing things makes you an expert I'm going to buy a Stradivarius and play Violin like I'm good at it....anyone who does not believe me will be made to listen ;-)
 
Cliff said:
I confess, I have never understood the point of paying up for expensive cast iron. I get that the cheaper ones have rougher surfaces, but they are great workhorses.
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The Smithey was a gift, and it's a beautiful one at that. I just like to look at it on the stove tbh, but it's all aesthetics and higher quality control. I haven't had any QC issues with my 3 Lodges though.
 
Dan- said:
Given how few people on a kitchen knife special interest forum know how to properly sharpen their knives, or use them for that matter, then I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise when equally few of them know how to cook. Also that pots and pans thread is kinda shocking. People are like, “I have 15 different 180mm gyutos but only 3 pots and pans, and one of them is a Lodge skillet.” 🤦‍♂️

Edit: clarity is good
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I am more bothered by people with 15 180mm gyutos, clearly they should be 240s and at least 30.

I feel the same way as you when people with 30 gyutos and 50 natural stones and 20 synthetic stones complain about the price of diamond stones🤷‍♂️

We all do it though, everyone has something they are ok spending unreasonable amounts on and don't want to spend relatively little to improve some other aspects of their lives. I have very well to do friends that have nice houses, spend a crap load on vacations, expensive cars, restaurants, gambling, entertaining, etc. They have money. $150 for a good chef knife is their absolute upper limit and they are stretching and not too happy about spending this much, these are the same people who would spend that to have sushi for lunch in one of the local places.
 
I was gifted a Field cast iron and I like it more than my Lodge. I found it holds seasoning better and is lighter. The weight difference was a BIG plus. I don’t mind buying good pans ( and I have several), and I have bought some nice carbon steel pans from Blanc Creatives and Santa Barbara Forge. The carbon steel handmade skillets and roaster are worth it to me as they are hand crafted art like many knives. They have great quality, will be in generations of my family, and cost less than most knives I buy now. I use pans almost daily, so they are definitely worth it.
 
Stevem627 said:
I was gifted a Field cast iron and I like it more than my Lodge. I found it holds seasoning better and is lighter. The weight difference was a BIG plus. I don’t mind buying good pans ( and I have several), and I have bought some nice carbon steel pans from Blanc Creatives and Santa Barbara Forge. The carbon steel handmade skillets and roaster are worth it to me as they are hand crafted art like many knives. They have great quality, will be in generations of my family, and cost less than most knives I buy now. I use pans almost daily, so they are definitely worth it.
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from my experience your heat source is an important factor too
 
Barmoley said:
I am more bothered by people with 15 180mm gyutos, clearly they should be 240s and at least 30.

I feel the same way as you when people with 30 gyutos and 50 natural stones and 20 synthetic stones complain about the price of diamond stones🤷‍♂️

We all do it though, everyone has something they are ok spending unreasonable amounts on and don't want to spend relatively little to improve some other aspects of their lives. I have very well to do friends that have nice houses, spend a crap load on vacations, expensive cars, restaurants, gambling, entertaining, etc. They have money. $150 for a good chef knife is their absolute upper limit and they are stretching and not too happy about spending this much, these are the same people who would spend that to have sushi for lunch in one of the local places.
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Yeah I spend freely on vacations, food, knives, clothes, etc. But “wth my cable bill is going up $10?!??! Cancel that mofo!”
 
Tekkz said:
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There is room for quite a few 180 gyutos in there!
 
Cliff said:
Haven't had cable for years!
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We did in fact cancel that mofo a few years back 🤣

I think Cox cable actually lost a lawsuit for their shenanigans. It was something like a fixed price contract for a certain number of years, but then they’d add an “administrative fee” to raise the rate. I still use them for my internet though, it’s hard to beat a hardwire connection to the house.
 
Dan- said:
Given how few people on a kitchen knife special interest forum know how to properly sharpen their knives, or use them for that matter, then I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise when equally few of them know how to cook. Also that pots and pans thread is kinda shocking. People are like, “I have 15 different 180mm gyutos but only 3 pots and pans, and one of them is a Lodge skillet.” 🤦‍♂️
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To me, the impetus was that I heard about Japanese knives and got interested in trying something that might be better than my Wüsthof. That sort of opened the rabbit hole, and I ended up with about 15 Japanese knives. But I haven't bought anything in years because I now have a Japanese knife for every job I conceivably want to do. (Too many, to be honest. Five gyutos are not really necessary; three would be enough.) And there are are the twenty or so Wüsthofs I owned prior to buying my first Japanese knife. Definitely more than enough…

I have little interest in buying knives as collectibles, or endlessly chasing the ultimate laser. The knives are a means to an end, which is cooking. For the same reason, I have lots of pots, pans, baking sheets, almost every conceivable kitchen utensil under the sun, etc. It's all about good tools that help me cook good meals.
 
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ian said:
I try to avoid too much liquid stuff in my cast iron, to preserve the seasoning. It’s not a problem, then? Or you just use it essentially unseasoned?
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I don’t have the problems people report with their seasoning with acidic and liquid ingredients 🤷‍♂️

Okay sure, I won’t do a long tomato braise in case iron, but don’t baby them either.

This one is my favorite, unbranded unmarked vintage skillet - I don’t oil for storage so this is post washing with a lot of soap. It’s heavier than the Griswald or Wagner I have in the same size but a lighter than the lodge. I love it for cornbread, but have also made 2 person casseroles in it, maybe it’s not the most photogenic seasoning, but I can bake cornbread with out sticking or add a slight slick of fat and have eggs sliding so who cares.

The braiser dish above I love for rice baked dishes.
 

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panda said:
imaging using amount of pots and pans owned as a metric of cooking skill..
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It looks like you are misunderstanding what I wrote. Skill and cookware ownership were separate thoughts. But yes, that would be unfortunate.
 
Actually, I do think there's a grain of truth in Dan-'s point... If you want to level up your cooking, it makes sense to spread your investments, instead of having a very 'unbalanced' set of gear. Yes, total amount of pans or their price isn't going to make you a good cook on its own, but on the low end you do run into a point where lack of pans (or low quality) can limit your options / make it a struggle.

So it makes sense to invest at least a little bit into that section of cooking instead of doubling down on the diminishing returns territory of knives. Of course the same argument can be made for all aspects of cooking equipment when offset to the cost of buying good ingredients. Once you hit a certain minimum level you hit diminishing returns and any extra money is probably better spent on better ingredients if you want to have a better result.
Luckily though a lot of good quality stuff is pretty much a life-time investment, so from that perspective stuff like good pans is a 'cry once' affair.
 
MarcelNL said:
from my experience your heat source is an important factor too
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Definitly. IME the better the stove, the more you can get away with crappy pans.
It's also one of the few actual advantages of gas cooking: on the low end (of stove prices) they tend to perform better and be less demanding in regards to having good quality pans to make up for the weaknesses of the stove.

ian said:
I try to avoid too much liquid stuff in my cast iron, to preserve the seasoning. It’s not a problem, then? Or you just use it essentially unseasoned?
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Depends on whether there's any acidity in there. The problem isn't fluids, it's acidity.
 
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