Where to buy cast iron cookware?

I have never had a piece of Lodge to my knowledge - but I have bought new cast iron and was never pleased with it. NO matter how hard I 'seasoned' it, it just didn't please me.

For that reason, I buy at garage sales, thrift stores, etc.

For many years I collected cast iron and when we sold the farm, I sold a lot of mine - really wish I had kept the Griswold waffle maker and the popover pans.

I don't know where most of mine came from, they are mainly old hand me downs, but about a month ago I purchased a Lodge 12" skillet from walmart. Mainly because it was a good price and I needed it for camping.

When I got it home I noticed it had a crack in it right by the handle and it ran all the way down to the base.
I took it back and went to the camping/hunting section again and looked for another. There were three cast iron skillets on the shelf with the handles broken clear off.

I've never had trouble with the Lodge brand, but this made me wonder if they had a bad batch or something.


I love my cast iron and have never had trouble with Lodge before this.

Tractor Supply has Lodge Logic, FWIW



Dave

I have a cast iron tortilla pan I just love, they sell them at the local store for about $14.00 . I love cast iron to cook in.

Fred's here! They sell three sizes (4,10,and 14inch id guess) pans by Lodge ranging from $6 to $10 bucks. Best deal Ive seen. Also last times i was there they had a dutch oven for around $20 i think it was.
Hopefully theres a Fred's in your neck of the woods.

http://cumberlandgeneral.com/

Their website is horrible to navigate and by the looks of it only contains a fraction of what they have. But the last time I saw their printed catalog (which was probably 10 years ago), it was about 200 pages and loaded with cast iron, including wood burning stoves.

It's probably worth getting their printed catalog, unless they reduced their inventory dramatically since the last time I saw it, and the website is all they have left.

I never ordered anything from them, but I was impressed enough by the catalog to remember their name.

I don't know what brands mine are because they were all bought at auctions and they are all really old but still cook like a charm.
My favorite is my 14" dutch oven, I used it last week to steam a turkey.

EDIT: forgot to say I've never paid over $20.. so keep lookin

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Do you have a Fleet store or Farm and Fleet? They should carry it. Our local Ace hardware also sells it.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/ This is their web site if you are interested. It seems to be one of the few things still made in America. Located in South Pittsburg Tn. just off I-24

logbuilder:

I totally agree about Value Village. I, too, am in Washington and before I moved to my current location, I totally outfitted myself, my kids and my home from Value Village. Almost two years ago, I moved to my current "homestead" and the closest Value Village now is in Lacey (about 55 miles away). I've only been a couple of times and, honestly, it isn't as nice a store a the one I used to go to in Clark County but it is still pretty good. The Goodwill in my "new" county doesn't hold a candle to VV!

Back to cast iron: of course the thrift stores are a good source. But garage/yard sales are also good because a lot of times I think people receive these items and aren't sure what to do with them and end up selling them for next to nothing. A lot of times, though, they're pretty rusty and beat up looking but, with a little TLC, will fix up just fine.

I hang my cast iron pans on hooks on a wall and they are pretty much used daily. Excellent all-over heating. I still don't have that Dutch oven, though!

Janis

Do not waste your time and money on new cast iron. I own new and old, new is fine for camping open fire dutch oven cooking. If you really want to cook on a stove top and bake in a skillet buy old Wagner or Griswold cast iron. I would buy from flea markets or ebay.
I own Lodge and have been to the factory, if you like Lodge that's fine. If you've ever had or used old cast iron you'll hang up your Lodge for decoration. They say they no longer make polished cookware which makes it hard to cook in and hard to clean up.

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I have to disqree with beeman on the lodge, I love my [$10] 12" dutch oven...or should I say Marlene does............. I paid $20 for a cast iron waffle maker, that I canNOT wait to try out camping............I am still working on my collection....

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We have a small dutch oven bought 2 years ago, "new Lodge" bought about 7 years ago, thee skillets I bought about 25 years ago and some hand me downs that are way older than that. After a while of usage, you can barely tell the difference. After a couple years, you can't.
I buy from Lodge's web site that someone has posted above.

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MorningStar, I'm probably too late, but hopefully, when you were yard-selling today you learned that all cast iron is not created equal, simply by lifting up cast-iron pieces...the heavier the better. Which equals the heavier the usually more expensive.
I've noticed the Lodge at Wal-Mart doesn't have the weight that other pieces of Lodge has...it's still the best brand you can purchase there.

If it says Griswald (or Griswold?) buy it. If it says "made in Tiawan" - let it be

The best seasoning you can do for cast iron is to use it - and make sure it is well dried when you put it away. The Dutch Oven LaDonna mentioned was fairly new when she "stole" (she paid $11 for it) from a friend of her's. It is now pretty well seasoned, mainly from use over our campout campfires. I'm hoping she has it in her will with my name next to it...like I'm going to outlive her

What exactly do there use to solder cast iron? I'm thinking lead...big old no-no for cooking vessels.

Please post what you were able to find today, I'll try not to droll on my keyboard while reading.

Hugs,
Marlene

P.S. For those within driving distance, the Elk Festival is next weekend in Jaspar/Newton County, Arkansas. There will be a Dutch Oven Cookoff on Saturday.

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well, darn, I didn't go to all of the garage sales on my HWY but I only found 1 that had any cast iron. They had Griswald pans but they wanted $35 for a regular sized skillet and that just seemed too high (they had a wide variety and seemed to collect them but they were all priced like that).

I am going to really look though now at my different thrift stores and yard sales since that seems to be where everyone gets their pans. I usually go to the charity type thrift stores and I may upgrade to the ones that buy stuff to resell. Maybe cast iron is just really popular in my area or I haven't looked hard enough, I don't know but I am definitely going to keep looking.

Thanks everyone for your great tips!

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