Lodge EC3CC43 3.6 Qt. Island Spice Red Enameled Cast Iron Casserole Dish with Cover

Nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains is the town of South Pittsburgh, Tennessee. It was in this town that Joseph Lodge opened a foundry in 1896. Five generations later, the Lodge family is still at the helm. We're the oldest cast iron manufacturer in America. Join us as we discover what goes into your favorite cookware. It's not just the raw materials or the technological advances that make heirloom quality products; it's the hard work and passion of our employees, some of whom have also worked here for generations. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we'll witness the process behind this household favorite. A good place to start is with the ingredients. We source only the highest quality materials. We use pig iron, recycled steel, and castings from our foundry. We transport the ingredients using an electromagnet, capable of carrying up to 5 tons of metal. The materials are shaken into the loading chamber along with any cookware that doesn't meet our strict quality standards. These ingredients are weighed according to our exact recipe. We add alloys to achieve a precise chemistry. When it's all weighed and all ready to go, we've reached at least a 10 ton charge. Now that we've measured our charge material, we're ready to add it to the furnace. The electric induction furnace runs at 2800 degrees and can hold up to 10 metric tons of liquid iron. It will take 45 minutes for a 22000 lb. charge of metal to liquefy. When we melt the iron, impurities referred to as slag rise to the surface. Our melt crew removes the slag. Then, we take a sample. We use an optical instrument called a spectrometer to measure the chemistry of each sample. While we wait on the metal to melt, our ladle operator prepares bags of silicone that will be added to the transfer ladle. Silicone must be added at a precise time during the process. That's why we put it in in the pouring stage - by hand. It deserves the extra attention to detail. The ladle is maneuvered into place as the furnace is tilted nearly 90 degrees into the air. There goes the silicone! Once the pour is complete, we will get a temperature reading by immersing a thermocouple into the ladle. Looks good! The transfer lade will bring the metal to the place where we put the 'cast' in cast iron. This is a mineral called vermiculite. It's a binding agent that holds together all the oxides, or slag, that forms in our metal mixture. We slag the iron once more to ensure our metal will form the highest quality castings. Now it's time to transfer the molten metal to the pouring machine. But before we can cast anything, we must start with a pattern. These employees switch out a previous pattern that was being used that morning. It's typical for us to switch patterns at least 6 times a day. Lodge manufactures the largest line of cast iron cookware in the United States. We make skillets, Dutch ovens, griddle, and a whole lot more. Cast iron is made by pouring molten iron into molds made of sand. Since sand melts at a higher temperature than iron, it holds its shape when it comes into contact with molten iron. Our molding machine may look high-tech, but our process is ancient. Sand molding has been around since 680 BC, and it remains the best and most practical way to cast iron cookware. Our foundry technician checks to make sure our sand molds meet our specifications. Up on the second floor is where we mix our sand. It's a simple combination of sand, water, and clay. The sand mixture travels by conveyor to a funnel that feeds the molding machine below. The foundry tech is able to make fine adjustments to the pouring machine to ensure that each casting is poured perfectly. And it's off to the shake-out line! The castings move along a vibratory conveyor to shake off the molding sand, which we recycle. Then the cookware enters a rotating drum filled with iron media. The iron media is specifically engineered to break up the sand and scrub it from the casting surface. The media is continuously recycled. Our skillets glide across the iron media catcher as they go down the line to the sorting station. This employee is sorting the cookware from the gating. Gating is the hardened channel of iron that forms in the sand mold during the casting process. Once everything is sorted, the cookware moves on to the finishing area. This employee prepares the skillets for the shot blasting machine, which cleans them with fine steel shot. Inside the machine, the cookware is blasted from all sides. This is what the steel shot looks like. These men work in complete harmony to keep the line moving and America cooking. The grinder will remove any sharp edges left from the gating to ensure that every Lodge skillet lives up to our quality standards. The skillet will then fall into a bath of stainless steel media, soap, and water to enhance the finish. The stainless steel media is designed to come in complete contact with every inch of the skillets for a deep clean. Once the cast iron is completely clean, it's hung on a conveyor to be seasoned. First, they go through a hot rinse and then a hot air blow-off. This removes the hot water and soap so that their surface is receptive to the seasoning. Our cookware is sprayed with vegetable oil and conveyed to the second-story oven. It's cooked at a temperature well above the range of a typical household oven. This creates a natural, easy release finish that gets better with use. After exiting the oven, the skillets glide through a cooling room to bring them down to a temperature that's safe to handle. All of these skillets made it through the wringer, and they're almost ready for your recipes. Employees give them a final quality inspection before packing. Now, all we have to do is get them to you. What started out as raw materials is now an heirloom, ready for you to enjoy for generations to come.