A RETURN TO CAST IRON
Technically speaking, cast iron is composed of an iron-carbon alloy. It contains so much carbon that it’s too brittle to be hammered or rolled into shape like wrought iron. Instead, the metal must be heated over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and then poured into a sand mold (or cast) and left to harden. When it cools, the mold is broken, and the pan emerges intact, handle and all.
While cast-iron pans are known as a Southern thing, Southerners certainly can’t take credit for them. In fact, the earliest cast-iron artifacts—dating back to the fifth century BC—were discovered in China, where the durable metal was used to make pots, plowshares, weapons, and pagodas. It wasn’t until the fifteenth century AD that cast iron was manufactured in Europe, primarily for cannons and shot as well as cookware.
When Europeans traveled to the New World, they brought with them their sturdy cast-iron cookware or “furniture,” as it was sometimes called. These pots were perfect for cooking over an open fire, whether suspended by a pole or placed directly on coals. For settlers traveling west, no wagon was complete without at least one cast-iron pot and kettle. Even Lewis and Clark carried one on their famous adventure.
Cast iron continued to be the primary cookware in the United States until the 1960s, when lighter-weight aluminum became cheaper and more widely available. Chemical nonstick pans then entered the market, further displacing cast iron. Later, glass cooktops became fashionable but proved to be too fragile to hold the heavy pots and pans. It seemed that cast iron had become a thing of the past.
But when troubling reports circulated about aluminum and chemical nonstick surfaces in the late 1990s and early 2000s, cooks turned once again to cast iron—the original nonstick pan. As they rediscovered—and shared with others—the advantages of cast iron, everyone from homemakers to college students began to pull out their grandmothers’ pans from the attic.
Now there is a veritable renaissance in cast-iron cookware. For years, Lodge has been the only major cast-iron manufacturer in the United States. While it still holds the majority of the market share, start-up companies are popping up across the country. The traditional black pans are also getting a face-lift with new designs and coatings, making them as attractive as they are functional.
It’s official. The pan of the past has become a kitchen staple once again.
The folks at America’s Test Kitchen (home of Cook’s Illustrated and Cook’s Country magazines) tested bare cast-iron skillets from Calphalon, Camp Chef, Lodge, and T-fal, simulating years of normal household use, and then evaluated each pan in four different areas: (1) browning, (2) sticking, (3) ease of use, and (4) durability. Their favorite was the classic skillet by Lodge. To many, this comes as no surprise.
Lodge has been making cast-iron cookware since 1896, earning the title of oldest and largest cookware manufacturer in the United States. The company has survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, and—perhaps even more impressive—the technological changes that brought us lighter-weight aluminum and chemically treated nonstick pans. This is particularly significant when you consider that its competitors have all fallen by the wayside. In recent years, start-up companies have developed their own cast-iron cookware, but Lodge cast iron remains a favorite among chefs and homemakers alike. In September of 2018, Robby and I headed to the sleepy town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, to learn Lodge’s secret (and to pick up a few pieces for my collection).
Just thirty miles west of Chattanooga, South Pittsburg is nestled in the beautiful countryside between the Tennessee River and the Cumberland Plateau. Rich in coal and iron, it was the perfect place for Joseph Lodge to build a foundry for cast-iron cookware. Although modifications were made to the foundry over the years, the company struggled to keep up with demand. In 2017, the Lodge Manufacturing Company—popularly known as “Lodge”—built a second, state-of-the-art foundry, allowing it to increase production by 75 percent.
Although it’s normally closed to visitors, the folks at Lodge agreed to give Robby and me a special tour of the new 127,000-square-foot facility in operation. After several hours of walking the floor and talking with employees, we came away with a deeper appreciation for what goes into every cast-iron skillet and Dutch oven.
How Lodge Manufactures Cast Iron
As America’s Test Kitchen proved, not all cast-iron pans are the same. This is a bit surprising considering the process to make this kind of cookware hasn’t changed much over the centuries. As we learned during our tour, though, the difference is in the details.
Our tour started on the loading docks where the raw materials are brought in. This includes pig iron, steel scrap, and scrap iron. A large magnetic arm picks up these raw materials and places them in one of two induction furnaces, where they are heated just past the melting point of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. It takes so much energy to get the furnaces this hot that the company leaves them running 24/7, even when the foundry is closed.
The molten metal is then poured into a large bin. While workers oversee this process, much of the work is too hot for them to handle up close. For this reason, the new foundry includes a unique robot that looks like a seven-foot-tall silver slug made of aluminum foil. Although it stands on top of the furnace platform, we enjoyed seeing glimpses of it as it worked with surfaces too hot for anyone to handle.
We were also fortunate enough to watch two batches of metal being poured into bins. The metal is so hot that it often sends sparks flying. Called “yellow jackets,” these sparks can sting if they touch bare skin, so employees wear special clothing coated in fire-retardant material.
Once the bin is full, an employee pulls it to the side and uses a long-handled rake to remove slag—unwanted waste products—from the iron. Our guide told us that slag is composed of impurities that can cause discoloration and even cracking in cast-iron cookware, so it’s important to remove it before molding the iron (although some manufacturers skip this step).
Since each batch of raw materials can introduce impurities in the final product, Lodge maintains its own in-house quality assurance lab. There, workers use various methods and tools to test the chemical composition of the raw materials and the iron once it’s been melted down. If the composition is off, some adjustments can be made to bring it within Lodge’s exacting standards. This ensures the pans aren’t brittle and that they don’t have weak spots that can lead to damage or poor cooking ability.
Once the quality assurance lab gives the green light, the molten metal is transferred to an area where it can be poured into sand molds. After the metal hardens, the mold is broken and the pan emerges.
This is where the molten metal comes out of the furnace and is poured into a large bin. The silver robot is barely visible while it works on the furnace platform, causing the yellow jackets to fly.
An employee carefully removes the slag from the bin of molten iron.
Pans are transported across the foundry using overhead conveyor belts. Cages under the belt protect employees from any falling pans.
The pans are cleaned of any remaining debris and then transported via a hanging conveyor belt to an area where they’re seasoned. Lodge’s molding and seasoning processes are trade secrets that are closely guarded. Although we were able to see these processes in action, we weren’t allowed to take photos. I can tell you, though, that Lodge uses only soybean oil to season its pans (while some foreign manufacturers are rumored to use inedible chemicals in their seasoning).
The black pans—now fully seasoned and ready for use—are transferred to the far end of the foundry, where employees give them a final inspection, box them, and prepare them for shipment. In this new foundry, it takes only three hours to transform raw materials into finished cast-iron pans, ready to be shipped across the world.
Robby and I drove to Tennessee to learn Lodge’s secret to creating the perfect cast-iron pan. Now that we know what goes into each skillet and Dutch oven, I’d have to say that secret is a commitment to excellence. More than just efficient cookware, Lodge creates heirlooms that can be passed down for generations.
Perhaps that’s why Lodge doesn’t have customers—it has fans! Search for #lodgecastiron on Instagram or Pinterest, and you’ll find thousands of pictures of delicious meals cooked in Lodge pots and pans on the stove, in the oven, or over a fire. It seems that for many people, the quality and endurance of these products, and the traditions behind them, have come to symbolize the wholesome American values that make so many of us nostalgic. Then again, maybe people just love the way Lodge’s cast-iron browns biscuits to perfection. You be the judge on that one.
After our tour, Mark Kelly posed with me in front of an important tourist spot: the PanMan statue. This stands in front of the Lodge store at its new location next to the new foundry.
