Wow, thanks everyone for all the responses. I do covet the Le Creusets but have mostly been looking at the Lodge at the moment mostly due to price. I have seen stories about them breaking. I do wonder how that camping set can be so low in price. Are those pans made of a lesser cast iron than others? DH says we sent all our old cast iron heating units overseas and they are now coming back to us as pots and pans except that they are combined with lesser materials before manufacturing the pans. (Hey, SteveH or Rodney, do you know anything about this?) I have about 5 old pieces from the family but none of them are a 12" fry pan or dutch oven which is what I am looking for. They are all small frying pans and a griddle. The hunt continues.
SteveH, speaking of coveting!!!! Nice big set of cast iron you've got there. I knew if anyone had some, it would certainly be you. I presume they are a mix of brands since you got them from here and there. I am guessing that you had to attach the hangers for the pot rack to the framing in your ceiling to hold all that weight? Geez, I even have a pot rack that we took down that I now must rethink about putting back up for the cast iron as they are hard to stack and use easily. We have an antique/junque place nearby that I am going to check out. I know you can re-season old cast iron as I have done so in the past so I would actually love to get some old pieces.
Again, thanks to all for the advice and info. DH and I love crusty bread so I am hoping to make some in a dutch oven. And I want to give pizza a go in the skillet. I already use my 8" fry pan and small square griddle as much as I can. However, I think I had better start doing some wrist and hand excersizes to build strength in them for lifting the cast iron!
Last edited by KLO; 03-15-2015 at 05:40 AM.