Now, I'm not sure if it matters where you are from, or how old you are, but You probably remember food cooked in cast iron cookware.

http://i.imgur.com/BTJHwBJ.jpg

Now for some people that fond memory goes to perhaps, Bacon & Eggs, cooked over a campfire, or perhaps in that cabin on some rainy Sunday morning after a magical Saturday night at the lake.

For others of us

http://i.imgur.com/i2cbhzt.jpg

Warm gooey cinnamon rolls, that grandma fixed for a snack, or her famous biscuits and gravy, for a stick to your ribs breakfast before that hunting trip with grandpa... Seems like that is what you had the last time you went hunting with him, before the stroke.

Or maybe irs you and dad feedinf the family Sunday dinner.

http://i.imgur.com/JtbrqpP.jpg

Or it's you fixing a special cake, just for the love of food and joy of cooking.

Yeah, there is just something about that old black Iron.

Experts will tell you that it cooks more effective due to size and thickness, allows for better heat transfer , perhaps that's true..

They also say due to the fact that you treat and take care of it different it allows it to " season" and thus impart all sorts of magical goodness into your meal...could be.

I have also been told that since much of this cookware is 75-100-150 years old, that it has just gathered flavor history. I can't argue that.

I know i have spent a large part of my life collecting cast iron cookware, and before you ask.. Yes it's a real thing.

For years I would find a skillet or Dutch oven or something On a typical Friday garage sale outing.. Spent a couple bucks. And once I learned the proper way to restore cast iron , and no please no, it doesn't involve a fire..once restored I could now flip that good skillet for twenty bucks or more.

But those days were before, before the Internet , before the clubs, yes clubs for the collecting of that same cookware we had been using for 100 years.

And yeah, I have to admit at one point I had the cast iron itus bug pretty bad, helped start a FB group regarding the collecting, and helped admin another that had over 225k members... It turned into a full time job!

We had learned of the brands like griswold, Piqa, Wagoner, Lodge. We researched and learned production numbers, and codes, we even were speaking out and getting some of the rare pieces, and yes, there are skillets worth thousands of dollars, and I had to have them.. My collection was growing by leaps and bounds.. In order to help new comers to the collecting scene I even wrote a handy little guide for Kindle

http://i.imgur.com/LWlRacS.jpg

I had now increased my operation, to cleaning and restoring 10-20 pieces at a time, to either add to the collection or sell, in order to fund more iron... It was like crack... Me and the buddies, going on picking trips, or to a regional auction .

Some member were hitting the big time with the collections, features in magazines, food networks shows, it was simply becoming a case of " he who dies with the most wins". But for me, the thrill was gone..I was spending so much time on the hunt, and being admin of a large demanding group was work. Radio interviews, making contacts at modern foundries, to make custom items..... I just had no time left to do what I loved.... Cooking, that thing that started it all, was drawing me back.

So as soon as possible I stepped down from the admin spot, called my collection complete and started to enjoy those items I had worked so hard for.. And I can tell you from experience, that rib eye , has no idea if it's being cooked in a 2000.00 Griswold or a 60 buck lodge.

Sure the history of these things are great, and collecting something you can use is cool... But what makes them great, is the cooking, and there is just something about this cast iron cookware

http://i.imgur.com/AGi5zzc.jpg

UP THE IRONS!