Crazy for Cast Iron

Today while cooking up some vegetables I heard a loud pop. I winced. My six quart Griswold Dutch oven cracked and the hot olive oil began to leak out! It was because my electric burner was already very hot when I first started and the pot was cold. So sad. So I called the foundry on my street, Friends Foundry, to see if they deal with cast iron repairs. They were very kind and they said we only work in cast aluminum but call Fairmount Foundry and Cumberland Foundry. So I did! Everyone was nice at both places.

I had a long chat with Al from Cumberland Foundry about my love of cast iron. I told Al about my cracked pan. He told me it is very hard to repair cracked cast iron but a mold could be made for casting a clone. Interesting, but I imagine it's probably more costly than replacing it. Al is friends with Mr. Lodge of Lodge Cast Iron who I wrote a fan letter to years ago! Yes it's true! I told him my Lodge cast iron Bundt pan is perfectly seasoned now after 13 years of frequent use. A friend laughed at me recently when I told him this and he said only 13 years, that's quite an endorsement! Cast iron is your friend for life if you take care of it! I used to give Dutch ovens as wedding gifts until I discovered people didn't know what to do to season it and the Dutch oven would rust and then they would throw it away! Now Lodge sells a cast iron pan that is pre-seasoned to get people started. I told Al I had a frying pan that was the size of a manhole cover! I asked Al if one day I could go by Cumberland Foundry and see the process of casting iron. He said absolutely. I am so excited. I would be on my way there right now except we are snowed in, or rather slushed in.

(Take the virtual tour of Cumberland Foundry! Click here.)