New Canadian Cast-Iron Manufacturer Launching Soon

[chromedome]

Some of my fellow Canucks might be interested in this...after a hiatus of a few decades, there'll soon be Canadian-made cast iron again. There's a startup in Winnipeg on the verge of launch (they're just waiting on the final tooling, apparently). They're positioning themselves as an environmentally-friendly alternative to non-stick, disposable pans: The metal itself is recycled, the boxes they'll be shipped in will be recycled cardboard, and apparently even the sand used in the casting process will be recycled.

https://www.castleironcookware.com/

[gfweb]

Sounds artisinal, curated and expensive.

 

Kidding (a little), but how can a startup compete with Lodge  who makes good affordable stuff? Lodge prices amaze me. They could add $15 to everything and still be far cheaper than the competition.

Edited November 29, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[weinoo]

8 hours ago, gfweb said:

Sounds artisinal, curated and expensive.

 

Kidding (a little), but how can a startup compete with Lodge  who makes good affordable stuff? Lodge prices amaze me. They could add $15 to everything and still be far cheaper than the competition.

Yeah, but Lodge may not use "recycled" sand...whatever that is.

[paulraphael]

I met a guy at a dinner party who was kick-starting a company that made artisanal cast iron pans out of recycled Kalashnikov rifles recovered from war zones. Beat that!

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, paulraphael said:

I met a guy at a dinner party who was kick-starting a company that made artisanal cast iron pans out of recycled Kalashnikov rifles recovered from war zones. Beat that!

Can one make iron from steel?

 

The consensus answer from google is that its possible, but not cheap to do.

Edited November 29, 2020 by gfweb (log)

[donk79]

I do not think that it would be hard to move yourself out of competition with Lodge.  Personally I have never liked Lodge's unmilled surface.  That's why I use an old Griswold.  In fact, I would say that the old cast iron at thrift stores and yard sales is the main competition for a good cast iron pan.  Keep your wares accessible, market well, and I think you could have a shot.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

15 minutes ago, donk79 said:

I do not think that it would be hard to move yourself out of competition with Lodge.  Personally I have never liked Lodge's unmilled surface.  That's why I use an old Griswold.  In fact, I would say that the old cast iron at thrift stores and yard sales is the main competition for a good cast iron pan.  Keep your wares accessible, market well, and I think you could have a shot.

ABSOLUTELY!   The grain in so-called antique cast iron is a completely different animal from Lodge and other mid-level cast iron cookware.    Every piece I own, and I've collected a lot, is from family, garage sale and flea market.  

[dscheidt]

16 hours ago, weinoo said:

Yeah, but Lodge may not use "recycled" sand...whatever that is.

Everyone reuses casting sand.  It's not just sand, it's sand with stuff in it to make it behave the way the foundry wants it to.  Typically that's a clay, and water.  As you pour molten iron into the sand, some of the clay gets cooked.  As the amount of used up clay in the sand increases, it behaves poorly, so it has to be discarded.  Most foundries discard part of the sand, and replace it fresh stuff, more or less continuously.  

 

It's possible to separate the clay from the sand, and just add the appropriate amount of clay back.  That's expensive.  It takes time, it requires expensive machinery, etc, and sand is cheap.   So it's not commonly done.