Journal

Notes from the shop

How things are made, why we make the choices we make, and what we're working on.

Why old cast iron is smooth and new cast iron isn't

If you've handled a skillet from the 1930s, you know the cooking surface is glassy smooth. Pick up most cast iron made since the 1960s and it's pebbled like an orange peel. People assume the old iron was better. The truth is that the old iron was finished.

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