Questions Answered

A couple of questions from yesterday's post.

First, Termite asks:

Ya'll gonna have church service tomorrow evening?

No, like most churches, we're shut down for the duration of the stay-at-home order.  We feel like it's the right thing to do.  Our congregation has a fair percentage of at-risk people and we don't want to subject them to any unnecessary  threat.

Dave S asks:

What do you think of that new cast iron skillet?

I'm glad you asked.  We've been using it for nearly a year now and I really like it.  It's a 12" Stargazer, and it came in the door last May.

We have a lot of different cast iron, and I've cooked on cast iron my whole life.  So has Belle.  When we set u house-keeping, we blended our collection.  It includes Lodge, Birmingham (BSR) and some unknown Chinese pieces. I have one piece that I believe is an un-marked Wagner. We use it all.  The Stargazer was a gift from Belle, who indulged me when I was smitten with the idea of a really nice piece of cookware.  It has some features I really like.  And, it's really good cookware.

But, the question that I have to answer, is it five-times better than a piece of Lodge?  It costs about five-times more than a new Lodge, and the answer , frankly, is no.  I really like the handle, and the lip around the edge is really nice.  It cooks really well, but most cast iron does.  I have some forty-year-old Lodge that cooks really well.

I'm not disappointed with the Stargazer.  Quite the contrary.  It's a fine skillet.  It came out of the box ready to cook, and I use it a lot.  But, do the nice features justify the extra cost?  I'm not sure.  Still, it's a fine skillet and I'm glad it's in the collection.