Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/19/this-3-piece-extra-large-cast-iron-cookware-set-is-on-sale-for-just-70.html
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And it is $50 on Amazon…
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It feels like the ad staff is trying to get unhappy customers with this one…
Outdated, as opposed to the new high tech of . . . cast iron?
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Yup, the entire 3 piece set is $50 on Amazon, with free shipping, and free returns through January, if, for instance, you want to buy it as a winter holiday gift and have it still be returnable.
Or look carefully and find the same sized pans made 50+ years ago (but with superior surface finish and weight) for $5 apiece. Strip, clean and re-season. Bob’s your uncle.
I cooked my dinner tonight in an 8" Griswold I picked up for $2 at a thrift store a couple of years ago. They’re out there, you just have to look.
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A 12" cast iron pan will either require arm muscles like a lumberjack, or be unwieldy as fuck until you build up either muscles or technique. I did an end run and bought a secondhand RevereWare copper bottom 12" frying pan. It isn’t non-stick, but it’s a lot easier to maneuver, holds as much, and cleans pretty easily. The old RevereWare is good quality, too. Get a matching lid if possible.
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12" cast iron pans are about 8 pounds. And most, including this one, have a second handle to make it practical to move safely.
Ideally your model has an oven safe handle, but many do not. That would make it as useful as cast iron, if a lacking in some kind of non-stick properties.
I don’t know where “Pur” brand cast iron is made. But Lodge has a 3-piece set for $59.99, made in the USA, and both the 10" and 12" have the second handle. Technically a new Lodge pan is not as good as an old Wagner. But I believe it will still last decades. (mine are past their first decade)
If you’re of the ilk to do it yourself (and these days, have you got something better to do?) you’re much better off putting in a little leg work to find vintage cast iron, spending a fraction of the cost to buy them, and then a little more work to clean and reseason. The end result is a pan that is far superior to any modern cast iron on the market. In the olden days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was in Jr. High School and had to walk 5 miles through the snow uphill every day, manufacturers polished the inside of the pans they made, which made a huge difference in getting that famous non-stick finish we hear about all the time; repeated use and “seasoning” took it the rest of the way home. No amount of oiling, baking, frying, and otherwise use will give you a surface in a new pan equal to one of the vintage pans.
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We’re doing cast iron again? (Checks watch) Okay, I guess I’ll leave this here.
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this company really doesn’t want to answer the question of where their product is manufactured, as evidenced by multiple unanswered questions on their amazon page and their unresponsiveness to my own direct inquiry. i mean, what are they hiding? i’m trying to imagine the worst possible answer and whether that would deter most people from buying it anyway. made in xinjiang province of china by literal slaves? west bank settlements out of the bones of children of displaced families? the bowels of hell? i mean i would be OK if it were the last one, probably.
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