CAST IRON for the COUNTRY KITCHEN
All across the country, cooks are rekindling a love affair with cast-iron cookware. Sales of newly manufactured cast iron have risen steadily over the last decade, and where once you could find a box of cast-iron cookware at a garage sale or flea market for a quarter, those finds are harder and harder to come by as collectors snap them up. Some collectors will pay hundreds of dollars for a specific vintage piece.
Several new manufacturers have started up in recent years, and cast iron seems to be the new chic cookware.
What’s all the buzz about? Is cast iron really all that, and is vintage really better than new? And, if you are on the verge of delving into cast-iron cooking, what are some of the basic pieces you need to start your collection?
Back in the Day
Casting iron is one of man’s oldest skills. As far back as the fifth century B.C., metalsmiths in China were making cast-iron pots, as well as plowshares and other utilitarian items. The skill took some time to travel west, but eventually it reached England, where the craft was used to make cannons and ammunition for them. One of the most common uses of cast iron was
