We are seeing advertisements to sell heavy black cast iron cookware everywhere.
When I was a child my grandmother gave my Mother a cast iron deep fryer with a lid that could be turned over to make a griddle. At that time everyone was enamored of lightweight metal pots and pans but Mother used the heavy pair occasionally for a special delicious steak and potatoes recipe.
The historic Kansas City Flood of ’51 washed away our home. Nothing was left under the violent pressure of the broken levee. Nothing. But the heavy cast iron fryer and its lid must have been carried a few feet in the floating house before it broke to pieces. The black cookware was found settled in the mud, still in perfect condition.
After myself and my siblings all left home, Mother gave the fryer and lid to me.
In 1968 our house was destroyed by fire. We were not at home when it happened. The flames must have been terrible. I found my aluminum pots and pans on the stove melted. But the cast iron skillet and lid were still there without damage.
The huge tornado that marched across Wyandotte County in 2003 searched out our house which was built in the woodsy back hills. The building was crushed. My collection of white milk glass was shattered all over the area. Heavy appliances were tossed up onto the hillside.
My daughter Bettse and I were saved inside a small bathroom. We searched everywhere to find household items and papers, some of it 85 miles away in the fields of Cowgill, Missouri. However, when all of the debris was gathered and loaded away, there sat the cast iron fryer and lid.
I don’t want to imagine what the next disaster could be, but I bet it won’t damage those pieces of heavy black iron. When you buy a new set of cast iron cookware count on it to serve you and your family forever.
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