so there’s a local company that’s hipsterized the cast iron skillet. It’s called http://finexusa.com
It’s $195 for a 12" skillet compared to $35 or so for a Lodge of that size or ~$150 for a vintage Griswold.
I got a 12 inch Lodge for Christmas from my mom then a 12” Finex from my wife. So I got to play with them side by side, new. The lodge have really gone down in build quality over the years. I think the $20 one made in china I bought at Macy’s beats it in every category but especially the dimpled cooking surface. If choosing between the lodge and a Macy’s special, I’d take the latter.
The finex is a different beast entirely. It’s over twice the thermal mass of the lodge so it takes longer to heat up and holds heat much better. I’ve found the Finex to be remarkable in it’s ability to crisp meats and vegetables as there’s less temp drop when things hit the pan. I’ve cooked so far duck breast, duck confit, goat confit, suckling pig skins and duck chicharones plus broccoli, potatoes, eggs, asparagus, chilequiles and nachos (more too, can’t remember).
Out of the box, the Finex has a better seasoning than the lodge and I don’t see a reason why it won’t stay ahead on non-stickiness given the nearly stainless steel smoothness of the interior finish.
The only drawback to the Finex for me is the handle. It’s round as opposed to ax shaped and it has a brass cap that gets very hot within a minute of cooking. If you’re not in the habit of always grabbing pans with a towel, you’ll burn yourself. I e-mailed them to see if there’s a silicone cap to cover the brass but that’s probably contrary to the old timey brand.
Is the cost worth it? I cook in cast iron at least once a day, so we’re talking less than a dollar a day if you amortize over a year. Up to you.
In short, I enjoy it and I could see it being really, really good for steaks or burgers given the thermal mass and fantastic results in browning.
I have quite a few pieces of cast iron, all vintage Griswold and Wagner. Might have to check these out. I’m amazed at the uneven/dimpled surfaces of new Lodge and would never buy any, although I guess over time (months/years?) proper seasoning will smooth them out.
Oh, and by the way. There are fake Griswold and Wagner pieces out there for sale. Not an expert but in looking around for some lately I was surprised to learn these too are being faked for resale.
Confession: Carrie and I got a 12 cast iron skillet as a wedding gift, many, many years ago. We weren’t foodies and heck, high end wine at that time was Mateus. It was unwieldy on the coil elements of our old stove and since we thought it was for camp cooking, it got stashed with camping equipment. When we no longer camped, it became the dogs dinner bowl which he couldn’t chew up and the wind couldn’t blow it away.
Now, though we still aren’t foodies, we have a commercial kitchen and use Allclad chef series cookware. Never knew the value of or reason to own a cast iron skillet until reading the threads here on WB. Though the dog’s long dead, the skillet is still in the backyard acting as a small planter. Doubt I can salvage it.
I looked into those Borough Furnace pans after they were profiled in a year end issue of Saveur. Really expen$ive and most were out of stock when I looked. I pick up Griswold pieces at yard/estate sales and my Lodge and Wagner pieces serve me just fine.
Paul, it seems the advantages of carbon steel are minimal, at least for the home cook. Lighter weight may be the biggest advantage particularly on larger pieces. Other advantages?
What is the weight differential on the Finex versus the Lodge? I use a large Lodge and my wife hates it because it is so heavy. Doubling the thermal mass presumably means doubling the weight, which would not make her happy.
I use a Lodge too. I don’t have anything to compare it to because I’ve never used any other cast iron pan, but it does the job for me and browns steak like a champ. It is ridiculously heavy though – no way that Alfert and his puny wrists could handle it.
Just got a #3 from my mom. I’ve been working on the seasoning as it has not been used in years and had a few rust spots. Not sure what I’ll cook in such a small pan?
Methinks induction would minimize that difference.
the handle (…) has a brass cap that gets very hot within a minute of cooking.
And solve that problem completely.
I’ve wondered when we’d get current-manufacture skillets to compete with vintage ones. Ambiguous thanks for pointing out something else to drop some cash on.
In my opinion that is just wayyy to expensive for a skillet. I recently bought a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet for a fraction of that price and I’m sure it works just as good.
I own both and can confidently say from experience you are wrong. how can you be sure if you haven’t compared them? The lodge has less mass and a rougher texture causing more sticking. Anyhow, it’s “well” not “good.”
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
