Get Your RDA Here

People were asking where to get cast iron.

To be truthful, I like Teflon a lot. When I was a kid, Teflon didn't work, and it peeled. But eventually Silverstone arrived, and since then, Teflon has functioned really well. I generally use it.

But I refuse to use anything but a 9" cast iron skillet for cornbread, and I think iron is also especially good for frying chicken.

You can get antique cast iron online for ten to twenty bucks per skillet, and it's great because it looks cool and has already been broken in. Ebay has it. Now I'm sure you'll go buy all the cheap pieces I was interested in.

You can also go to your local Bed Bath & Beyond and get Lodge, which is fine, if you don't mind a really crappy rough finish. I have some Lodge skillets I've sanded. Some geek once gave me a lecture about how sanding removes the magical crystallized surface of the iron, but they work great, so obviously he was a pinhead.

Target carries (or used to carry) Benjamin & Medwin, which is also rough. I have three of those.

If you want something smooth and you don't feel like fighting with other Ebay customers, try this link: Wagnerware. I don't know how closely related this company is to the original Wagnerware people. They made very good skillets. But I have one of their skillets, and it's perfectly okay, and it was smooth inside when I bought it. They put the pans on some kind of grinding machine to make them smooth. The finish isn't pretty, but it's sort of cool in a weird way.

I guess Mr. Metallurgy Geek knows more than the Wagerware people.

I don't know who made my mother's skillet, which she got from her mother. It just says "6" on it. I thought it said "9," but it turns out that a 9" skillet is actually a #6. Go figure.