How Lodge Has Been Making Cast-Iron Pans for 125 Years | Eater
"At the company’s large South Pittsburg, Tennessee factory—part of an over-100-year-old brand known for affordable, consistent cast-iron pans—the entire production runs like an assembly-line transformation from scrap to finished cookware. Pig iron, steel, and rejected pans are melted in a 2,800°F furnace, then a robot slags the molten metal to remove impurities before transferring it by ladle into pliable sand molds compressed by massive machines. Once cooled, pans are freed from their sand molds with a shake-out machine and drum, sorted on a conveyor (with defective pieces sent back to be remelted), then tumbled in a stainless-steel pellet, soap, and water bath to clean and burnish them. The final finishing is seasoning: pans are hung on hooks, sprayed with soybean oil, and baked at high temperatures, producing ready-to-use skillets that the staff take pride in making quickly so customers can cook with them that same day." - Terri Ciccone
