this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2023
13 points (100.0% liked)
Buy it for Life
4091 readers
1 users here now
A place to share practical, durable and quality made products that are made to last, with an emphasis on upcycled and sustainable products!
Guidelines:
Things that are well-made and durable (even if they won't last a lifetime) are A-Okay!
Unlike that other BIFL place, Home-made and DIY items are encouraged here, as long as some form of instruction is included in the body of the post.
Videos links are not allowed as post titles, but you may use them in a text post.
A limited amount of self-promotion is accepted, IF the item you are selling aligns with this criteria:
- The item must be made with sustainable or recycled materials.
- If electronic in some way, the item must be open-source.
- The item must be user-serviceable (if applicable).
- You cannot be a large corporation.
- The post must be clearly marked with a [Self Promotion] tag in your title.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The short answer is what everyone else has already said: Not really. Any cast iron pan, properly seasoned, will work as well as any other.
The long answer: I've been able to directly experience 3 brands myself; my everyday skillet is a Griswold from the 30's, and I also have a tiny Wagner skillet and a large Lodge one.
From what I've seen and read online, the only practical difference between different brands is that some offer a smooth finish out of the box instead of having to build up a smooth finish via the seasoning.
Really old cast iron pans tended to have that extra smoothing step during manufacturing by default, where as most modern brands (Lodge) don't bother as a cost reducing measure, and leave the ban bumpy and rough. If you're looking for an affordable smooth pan, I recall seeing some chinese ones that came smoothed on amazon that seemed to perform well.
My old Griswold is smooth, and when well seasoned is truly non-stick. But saying that, a good seasoning in a bumpy pan will act very similarly, and when I cook large meals in my bumpy Lodge, they don't stick either (but probably wouldn't be quite as ideal for eggs).
I guess another thing I noticed is that Lodge pans tend to be quite beefy and thick, which makes em heavy. My old medium sized griswold is quite thin walled, making it a bit easier to handle 1-handed.
Lastly, I just wanted to mention that it's really darn easy to restore an old crusty looking cast iron pan from eBay. Putting it in your oven during a self-clean session will completely burn off any stuck on carbon, and allow you to re-season it as though it were virgin metal.