Health / Wellness

It is believed that cast iron skillet manufacturing originated in China in the sixth century BC. Cast-iron skillets are made by taking molten metal (much of it recycled from various metal components ground down and purified) and then pouring it into a sand mold, which is broken apart when the pan cools, allowing the pan to emerge in one piece, handle included. The only major difference in modern manufacturing is that machines are used to partially or fully automate the work of pouring the extremely hot molten metal (getting to over 2,500 degrees) into the molds. Cast iron was the material of choice for cookware in America until the early 20th century, when other products such as aluminum became cheaper and took over as the cookware material of choice.

By the end of the 20th century, nonstick skillets had become more common than cast iron in most homes. However, more recently as worrying reports about the effects of chemical nonstick coatings on the environment and health began, more cooks returned to the original “green” pan, the cast-iron skillet, as an alternative. In recent years a new wave of American companies has begun producing small, artisanal batches of this classic cookware. Manufacturers in the United States and elsewhere have also experimented with innovative design tweaks to handles, shapes, coatings (enameled) and polishing (machine or hand) the metal in an attempt to modernize the classic skillets.

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