Modern Manufacturing?

The small manufacturers like Field Skillet, Stargazer, Finex, SolidTechics, Butter Pat and the like are the only ones that come close.
 
Depends on what you mean by production quality.

Machined cooking surface? All those small companies GTurner mentioned. But they are expensive. Finex (at least the pieces in the store I looked at) is heavy, heavier than Lodge. Take a modern Lodge piece and a drill or angle grinder, and in 30 minutes you'll have a smooth cooking surface.

Casting quality? Lodge and probably anything American, European, or Japanese.

Overall workmanship? Grinding of flashing and sprue/vent? This can vary significantly among vintage cast iron, considering you're talking dozens of manufacturers over more than 150 years. All my BSR have pretty poor workmanship (and ground, not turned, cooking surfaces), my 2 vintage Lodge are good (but not machined. They are heavier than modern Lodge), Wagner varies, my worst piece is a marked #5 with bad grinding, some is great. Again Lodge and probably anything American, European, and Japanese.
 
Production quality: I guess I'm talking about the smoothness/non-stickability of the cooking surface.

Many people complain about the new Lodge pans because the cooking surface is bobbled. Many of those people were replacing their old Lodge pans and say the new pans are disappointing, almost unusable. ...other people say they will build up and smooth over time, others counter with the old pans were smooth already due to superior finishing.

Considering some of the American made pans(Finex, The Filed Skillet etc) are 10x the price I would expect them to leave the Victoria pan in the dust, but according to the comparison/review at least the Victoria has the best cooking surface and overall design in terms of handle and pour spouts.
 
Production quality: I guess I'm talking about the smoothness/non-stickability of the cooking surface.

I bought a couple of Lodge skillets 3 years ago. They are rough like you said, but I have never had a problem with food sticking to them. Like other have said they do smooth out some over time. It would be nice if they were smoother from an aesthetic view, but functionally it don't make much difference.
 
Back
Top