In Artisan Revere, is obsessed with Field Company’s cast-iron skillets. Here’s why.
I’ve always felt that there’s something primal and visceral about cast iron cooking. Like well-worn leather boots, or my dad’s faded Levi’s 501s, a well-made cast iron pan has the power to transport you to a simpler time. There’s something ingrained deep in our lizard brains that makes us love small-batch, natural products. They activate the hunter-gatherer in us and explain our obsession with hand tools and fire. So, as a hardcore metals nerd, when I heard about a new company making a cast-iron pan in the U.S., run by Chris and Stephen Muscarella, two brothers obsessed with improving on classic vintage skillets through modern production techniques, I was intrigued.
My 10-inch Field Company pan is hefty, but not heavy. I can comfortably tilt my skillet to continuously baste a thick-cut ribeye without my forearm screaming at me like it would with competitor brands. The browning and charring hit my olfactory receptors and brings me back to the great outdoors — enjoying beers and cooking with friends over an open fire. I can almost forget that I’m cooped up in a tiny NYC apartment.
About the Author
David Olkovetsky is the founder of Artisan Revere, a knife company that blends high-end design with hardwearing materials. artisanrevere.com
The brothers who started Field Company set out to make cookware like the vintage ones passed down to them — lightweight and cast smooth. When they launched the company, most foundries told them that going as thin and smooth as they wanted to wasn’t possible. But, like Teddy Roosevelt urges his audience during his remarkable Citizenship in a Republic speech, the team took the rejections in stride and refused to give up. They eventually found a materials scientist with expertise in thin-walled casting who helped them overcome the theoretical hurdles.
