Walk Through the History of Cast Iron Cookware: Discover Cooklife's Innovative Designs.

The oldest manufacturing process for cast iron dates from the early 6th century B.C. in China. Cast iron slowly made its way to Western Europe via the Silk Road. Popularized from Europe to the U.S., its durability and ability to retain heat evenly made it ubiquitous. Everyone ate meals prepared in a cast iron pot or skillet over a hearth. Its black surface retains traces of every fire and dish cooked. Holding it, you can feel its history flowing through it, almost as if it's trying to tell a story over a few beverages by the bonfire. Its versatility was unsurpassed, and they often became family heirlooms, the cast iron skillet remained in peoples’ kitchens.

For durability and effective heat retention, cast iron skillets are generally machined for heavy construction and are usually characterized by heavy weight and thick side walls. A traditional cast iron skillet is usually designed to weigh 4 pounds or more, with walls that are 0.118 to 0.197 inches thick. This weight and thickness ensures good heat transfer and temperature maintenance, ideal for long, slow simmering times and for cooking dishes that require a consistent temperature. However, the weight of a cast iron skillet can also pose a challenge for some users in use, especially when operating on the stovetop or lifting a cast iron skillet into the oven.

When it comes to the ideal weight for a cast iron skillet there is no one right answer and it's a question of compromise and finding that sweet spot in the middle. It's great if the skillet is easy to lift, but it's more important that it cooks well. To meet the demand for easier handling without trading off the performance of the cookware, we started by testing some different thicknesses of vintage skillets and modern cast iron skillets with a real focus on cooking performance, allowing Cooklife to launch a revolutionary range of cast iron skillets. Making it nearly 48% lighter than its traditional counterpart, it can retain heat somewhat but is not so heavy that it is difficult to lift and pour. This dramatic weight reduction was achieved through extensive testing and precise engineering, notably by reducing the thickness of the walls by a certain amount and controlling the length of the handles for greater leverage.

While the thinner walls of the pan reduce the overall weight, it should be noted that this design choice slightly reduces heat retention compared to traditional cast iron skillets. For this reason, the Cooklife pan is not recommended for recipes that require long periods of heat retention. However, it performs equally well for quick cooking and oven baking, where keeping warm for long periods is not as important.

​Despite the reduction in wall thickness, the Cooklife skillet remains robust and evenly heated, ensuring consistent cooking results in shorter preheat times. By keeping the thickness of the cast iron skillet's base constant, heat transfer is evenly distributed across the entire cooking surface, allowing food to be heated more evenly in each area, which is essential for achieving perfect cooking results.

Much thought and testing went into reinventing Cooklife's new cast iron skillet, putting user-friendly design and operability at the forefront while retaining the essential qualities that make cast iron skillets the kitchen's preferred choice. This innovation gives cooks the best of both worlds: a lighter, more versatile, and convenient skillet, while still delivering consistent and reliable cooking performance for everyday cooking. Anyone who's ever grilled steak and bacon on the stovetop knows that it's time to get a cast iron skillet. They're great.