Hot take: I picked the plain cast iron pan over the fancy enameled one at a yard sale in Buffalo and my arm still remembers it

Thomas Barnes · 2026-10-17T06:20:03.722492+00:00

Two summers back I'm at this estate sale on the east side of Buffalo and there's a dusty 12 inch cast iron skillet for $8 sitting right next to a pretty enameled Dutch oven marked $45. My wife is giving me the look that says buy the pretty one, and the guy running the sale says the skillet belonged to his grandmother who cooked on it for 40 plus years. I went with the skillet, carried it to the car like a trophy, and then spent the next hour scrubbing 40 plus years of seasoning and burnt junk off it with steel wool and vinegar. My hands were black for two days and my wife said and I quote, you look like you've been digging in a coal mine. Six months later that pan makes the best cornbread I've ever had and it cost me less than a fast food dinner, but man that enameled thing would've been easier. Now I'm hooked and hunting for more, so where do you all draw the line between a beat up workhorse and a pretty piece that just sits on the shelf?

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Hot take: I picked the plain cast iron pan over the fancy enameled one at a yard sale in Buffalo and my arm still remembers it | Buy It For Life Gear - Free To Speak