I'm a cooking enthusiast and I love to watch shows on the Foodnetwork. It seems that the new cooking fad is using cast iron. I've used it all my life and never thought twice about it. My pop was a great cook and always used cast iron. My parents collected a particular brand: Favorite Piqua Ware. This company existed approximately from 1916-1935. Seemingly, the great depression got the best of the company. They collected Favorite for 2 reasons. One, it was great cookware. Two, it was made in our hometown! They gave me several skillets years ago. Through the years I have purchased more, and use them frequently. Here is a picture of one of my skillets.
I picked this up in a 2nd hand shop in Missoula in the 80s, it's pretty old, from the 10s or 20s, the one in your pic is quite a bit older I think. I like Griswold too. The important thing is a smooth surface casting, for easier seasoning. I have some Lodge dutch ovens. The best for frying and baking breads and the like. A lot of people talk about cast iron and "even heat", I don't believe it's necessarily even heat so much as it is a lot of mass and has steady heat. It holds the heat, so it makes for crispy hash browns and it just tastes better.
All the scouts in our boy scout troop learned to cook with cast iron. I remember one 12 or 13 year old kid made pizza. I didnt think he could do it. I was prepared for a disaster. the kid made a great pie. Those boys ate like kings: hash browns and fish (fresh) for breakfast, cobblers for dessert, you get the idea. I agree with Truck64 about the heat. We just didnt have many campout flops.
Yeah it's tough to look at it as a "fad", serious cooks have never used anything else, at least for certain things. I think copper bottom fancy-pants boutique stuff has a following. The really big pans are pretty dang heavy, so there's maybe that angle to it. Arthritis would make the 15" pans problematic. If I'm camping for more than a few days I always bring out the full kit - fireplace set, enamelware coffee pot & tipper, dutch ovens etc. Can cook literally anything. Charcoal briquettes or lump charcoal placed on the lid and bottom, after a while get pretty good at judging temp and cooking times. This feller here has a lot of really good tips and techniques on actual outdoor dutch oven cooking. Warning: Do not watch these vids on an empty stomach. You have been warned.
My brother is a long time cast iron cookware hoarder. He has given me a variety of frying pans, muffin pans and a dutch oven. I will be using one of his frying pans for two small steaks tonight ! Our daughter and her new husband have a great gas range in their home and we are slowly getting them supplied with a range of cast iron stuff......they love it. Have fun.
Best thing about cast iron is you can melt wheel weights for making weight bars for Bonneville. Chevrolet valve covers make the best molds.....
We are using cast iron more and more. Got tired of buying new teflon pans every time they wore out. @TREE I just picked up this small “cauldron”. It is about 11 inches across the top opening. Figured I would use it for Halloween. It is marked Favorite Piqua Ware on the bottom, and also has a number 9 on the bottom. I could probably be talked into turning loose of it, if anyone is interested in road tripping to Wisconsin.
We use cast iron on frying pans on a daily basis, our favorite pieces (Griswald) are used in the house but we also have a few pieces we take camping, older Wagner piecesthat my grandparents used when they went camping. HRP
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