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If there is one thought every design entrepreneur shares, it is this: "I often find product categories where I can't find an offering that meets my standards for function/design/quality/cost." This then drives them to see if they can do better by producing and selling their own design.
In the case of Michigan-based inventor, Eric Steckling, who penned the sentence above, this had to do with cast-iron skillets. While they're a mainstay in many a kitchen, their production method is the same as that used in the 19th Century: Sand casting. This produces rough-surfaced, chunky objects that are heavy. Steckling and his company, Marquette Castings, reckoned they could get the weight down while maintaining iron's heat-retaining properties. "Reducing the weight of the cookware was one of our main design goals," they write. "Lighter cookware is easier to handle and clean."
Thus they turned to investment casting, using injection-molded wax blanks within ceramic shells to cast 8" and 10" pans.
Left: Cast handle detail. Middle: Injection molded wax pattern. Right: Aluminum mold to make pattern 
Ceramic shell around wax template 
Ceramic shell coming off new casting With this production method, they're able to achieve both thinner wall thicknesses (3mm versus the typical 5mm) and a smoother finish that better accepts seasoning.
Left: Old-school. Right: New-school.Investment casting a larger-diameter pan wasn't viable, however, so for their 12" model they stuck with sand casting but then milled the thicknesses down.
12" Skillet after milling In order to bring these three pans to market, Marquette Castings launched a Kickstarter campaign:
At press time they were about 25% of the way there, with $7,352 pledged towards a $30,000 goal and 27 days left to pledge. Intriguingly, they're not only offering early bird specials at lower prices, but also "late bird" specials for even less, for buyers who are willing to wait for later production runs. For example:
- 8" Skillet - Early Bird - $98 - Ships Jan. 2017
- 8" Skillet - Standard - $90 - Ships Feb. 2017
- 8" Skillet - Late Bird - $80 - Ships Mar. 2017
You can learn more about the pans, and see videos on both their casting processes and pre-seasoning techniques, at their campaign page.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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Improving Cast-Iron Skillets Through Better Manufacturing Techniques
Cast Iron isn't for everyone, because you have to keep a season (or layer of heat polymerized cooking oil) on it, or it will rust. Many, if not most, people do not understand or can't be bothered to do this and part with them. They also should last a century or three; a random orbital sander removes even the worst rust and they can be re-seasoned.
Here is a good read on the topic...
While I too fully endorse the cast iron pan I also question the potential for warping. I have a wonderful 10" WagnerWare pan and I rarely use it on my ceramic top stove (the kind that looks like a single sheet of glass- black or white) due to the fact that it warps. In spite of the fact that there is, at the beginning of heatup, a 3mm rim around the outside of the bottom that make for and air gap between the pan and the cooktop. Once up to temp the pan warps downward making a point in the center and thus creating a very hot spot. Change this situation to a gas or electric coil over enamel and I have no complaints.
By contrast the other THICKER pans that I use have no issues.
All of that aside, good for them and others to be able to sell such items in what is essentially a market of $10 products.
While I admire the innovation and drive to bring an improved product to market, I wonder about the cast iron pan as a product. It seems once a week there's a posting on this site about a new cast iron pan. Cast iron pans cannot be this big market at all; go to any thrift shop or flea market and there are dozens of discarded cast iron pans because people just do not use them anymore. They just don't. And you can buy a very decent, proven, Lodge Cast iron for $60; how does a $90 price point for a small pan work? In a market that doesn't seem to need more cast iron pans?
yes but are they wrap resistant?
Hi Scott, we found that in typical cooking uses the pans don't get anywhere near hot enough to warp. Iron has a much higher melting point than other metals usually used in cookware (like aluminum) so it is a lot more tolerant to heating/cooling cycles, especially at 500 f and below.
I am not a chef, far from it. I do however use my cast iron skillet at least twice a week or more. They are great for so many applications from the stove to the oven. It is heavy for sure and nothing cooks like it. The people that are ditching theirs are either lazy, don't understand why it is so good/versatile or don't cook much at all. Having a lighter one that works the same makes sense and I like the smoother finish as it looks like it would be easier to clean. Nice approach Eric.