Cast in Stone, That Is, Iron

The revival of American-made cast iron cookware is turning back time in the modern kitchen

John Truex and his wife, Liz Seru, who owns Borough Furnace, converted an old turbine blade factory in Upstate New York into a foundry to pursue their love for cast iron cookware. Photo courtesy of Borough Furnace

For a growing number of American households, Teflon-coated pans, copper pots, or anything else for that matter other than a handcrafted cast iron skillet, would be, well, an outcast in the kitchen.

Crazy as it seems, the people who make this heavily weighted and highly popular custom-made cookware are willing to face furnaces burning at 2300 degrees Fahrenheit on a hot summer’s day, inside an old mill building they bought with their life savings, just to put one in your kitchen.