Made Local: The Fiery Creation of a Cast-Iron Skillet
How is a modern-day skillet made? We trace the origins of a 'new' traditional household item made locally
Vanessa Walker
9 June 2022
Houzz Australia & New Zealand Editor-in-Chief
Like all the best stories, this one starts in the kitchen. When New Zealander Kate Slavin, a designer, and her husband Levi Slavin, an advertising creative, were cooking one evening, they got to ruminating about what kind of product would be fun to make… something that could be part of people’s daily lives, and be good for people as well as the planet.
All photos by Byron Martin.
Ironclad Pan Co Australian Country Lead, Nic Bastian with founder Kate Slavin.
At the time Kate was searing snapper in a cast-iron pan that she and Levi had inherited. And that’s when it struck them: ‘let’s make our own one of these’.
“Little did we know, no one was making cast-iron cookware in New Zealand,” says Kate. “And little did we know how hard it would be to do. “
They recruited a friend and former colleague, Joe Carter, in a side-hustle capacity and got to work… which sounds easy, but wasn’t.
Cooking up a kitchen renovation? Find a specialised kitchen designer near you, browse images of their work and read reviews from previous clients
Ironclad Pan Co Australian Country Lead, Nic Bastian with founder Kate Slavin.
At the time Kate was searing snapper in a cast-iron pan that she and Levi had inherited. And that’s when it struck them: ‘let’s make our own one of these’.
“Little did we know, no one was making cast-iron cookware in New Zealand,” says Kate. “And little did we know how hard it would be to do. “
They recruited a friend and former colleague, Joe Carter, in a side-hustle capacity and got to work… which sounds easy, but wasn’t.
Cooking up a kitchen renovation? Find a specialised kitchen designer near you, browse images of their work and read reviews from previous clients
Kate holding a Legacy pan. Ironclad Pan Co’s three-generation guarantee is stamped into the pan itself.
Six months of research and product development followed, in a field none of them had ever worked in. “I started with looking at what was out there; looking at the unifying elements and questioning how I could push the boundaries,” says Kate. She talked to chef friends and their chef friends, and considered what would make the perfect skillet.
“I found the base has to be a certain thickness for heat distribution and retention. The walls also couldn’t be too thin, as they would crack or warp and that would make it difficult for the foundry to manufacture.”
She came up with a design where the handle is shorter than is traditional in order to keep the weight low; this enables it to fit into smaller ovens and on barbecues with lids. The side walls are higher, making it easier to cook a one-pot meal rather than function as a single-use pan.
Other innovations included deeper pouring lips on both sides for left- or right-handed people. Then there’s the look. “The goal was also to make something that looks beautiful and draws you towards it, is a pleasure to use, and enriches people’s daily experience,” says Kate.
Six months of research and product development followed, in a field none of them had ever worked in. “I started with looking at what was out there; looking at the unifying elements and questioning how I could push the boundaries,” says Kate. She talked to chef friends and their chef friends, and considered what would make the perfect skillet.
“I found the base has to be a certain thickness for heat distribution and retention. The walls also couldn’t be too thin, as they would crack or warp and that would make it difficult for the foundry to manufacture.”
She came up with a design where the handle is shorter than is traditional in order to keep the weight low; this enables it to fit into smaller ovens and on barbecues with lids. The side walls are higher, making it easier to cook a one-pot meal rather than function as a single-use pan.
Other innovations included deeper pouring lips on both sides for left- or right-handed people. Then there’s the look. “The goal was also to make something that looks beautiful and draws you towards it, is a pleasure to use, and enriches people’s daily experience,” says Kate.
It took about six months working in CAD software to design patterns for the Legacy pan (pictured) before manufacturing began in Auckland and Hamilton, NZ, in 2019. After testing demand they searched for a foundry in Sydney to fulfil Australian orders.
“One of the challenges involved in cast-iron cookware is that it’s created using traditional methods, and the tooling and people are tough to find in today’s market,” says Kate.
After calling almost every foundry in Australia, the team lit upon Ajax Foundry in Silverwater, Sydney; a family-owned and -operated business that makes components for agriculture, pumps and valves, civil and building, leisure and railway sectors.
Dreaming of a new cooking space? Browse modern Australian kitchens for inspiration
“One of the challenges involved in cast-iron cookware is that it’s created using traditional methods, and the tooling and people are tough to find in today’s market,” says Kate.
After calling almost every foundry in Australia, the team lit upon Ajax Foundry in Silverwater, Sydney; a family-owned and -operated business that makes components for agriculture, pumps and valves, civil and building, leisure and railway sectors.
Dreaming of a new cooking space? Browse modern Australian kitchens for inspiration
So how is a modern-day skillet manufactured?
From beginning to end, before it reaches your kitchen, a skillet passes through the experienced hands of more than 10 people. Here we take a photographic look at the process step-by-step in the Sydney factory.
This image shows the metal tooling (also known as repoussé or metal embossing) being pre-heated under heat lamps. Metal tooling is the art of using tools to create a low-relief sculpture on one side of soft metal.
From beginning to end, before it reaches your kitchen, a skillet passes through the experienced hands of more than 10 people. Here we take a photographic look at the process step-by-step in the Sydney factory.
This image shows the metal tooling (also known as repoussé or metal embossing) being pre-heated under heat lamps. Metal tooling is the art of using tools to create a low-relief sculpture on one side of soft metal.
It is then set up in the mould-making machine, pictured here.
Filters are put on each mould in the runner system to ensure each pan has no imperfections.
These are the finished sand moulds; the hole on top is where the hot metal is poured in. Quality-control checks happen along every step of the process.
A giant magnet brings in scrap metal for melting. The iron is one-hundred-percent recycled sourced scrap from local industries and arrives pre-cut.
The metal is melted down…
…Then poured from the furnace into a transfer ladle…
…Before being poured from the transfer ladle into a pouring ladle.
Metallurgists take a sample to test the metal quality. This is done on every ladle.
Metallurgists understand the science and engineering behind the physical and chemical behaviour of the metals. They are able to check on the purity of the recycled metal once melted, figure out the right temperature on any given day (weather and humidity play a big part in that variation), and calculate the velocity at which to pour.
Metallurgists understand the science and engineering behind the physical and chemical behaviour of the metals. They are able to check on the purity of the recycled metal once melted, figure out the right temperature on any given day (weather and humidity play a big part in that variation), and calculate the velocity at which to pour.
The hot metal is then poured into the sand moulds.
The pans come out of a didion barrel onto a vibratory feeder, during which the runners are knocked off. Each pan is inspected and then sent on to the next stage of finishing.
Once the products have been shaken out of their sand moulds, the runner system (where the hot metal was poured into each mould) needs to be ground off and smoothed with grinding tools.
Once the products have been shaken out of their sand moulds, the runner system (where the hot metal was poured into each mould) needs to be ground off and smoothed with grinding tools.
Fettlers ensure the sides of the pan are ground down smoothly before shot blasting.
Each pan is put in the shot blaster, a machine that fires thousands of tiny metal balls at the pan to smooth off its surfaces.
The process at the Ajax Foundry usually takes a day, with about 100 pans made in a batch.
The process at the Ajax Foundry usually takes a day, with about 100 pans made in a batch.
The pans are then taken to a metal-polishing team for labour-intensive hand finishing and polishing, before heading to the Ironclad Pan Co warehouse to be individually packed and sent out to their new homes.
And that is how a new-but-old household tool is make in modern-day Sydney.
And that is how a new-but-old household tool is make in modern-day Sydney.
In keeping with their long-term sustainability ethos, the team also set up the Ironclad Family Recipe Vault, a closed social platform designed to store, share and save family recipes for generations.
Your turn
Do you have a favourite appliance you’d like us to look into and see how it’s manufactured? Let us know in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Curious to find out the journey of your morning cup of coffee? All is revealed in this inspiring Made Local: Your Cup of Coffee From Tree to Takeaway
Your turn
Do you have a favourite appliance you’d like us to look into and see how it’s manufactured? Let us know in the Comments below, like this story, save the images for inspiration, and join the conversation.
More
Curious to find out the journey of your morning cup of coffee? All is revealed in this inspiring Made Local: Your Cup of Coffee From Tree to Takeaway
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Great article, really interesting. So good to see a product not only made from recycled ’ingredients’ but also one that will last generations rather than be thrown out after a few uses. Thank you.
One of the best articles on Houzz ever. It is heartwarming to see Kiwi ingenuity and quality Australian manufacturing being appreciated in this way. Well done Ironclad Co, Ajax Foundry and Houzz.
What a beautiful product. I have my mothers old cast iron skillet and it’s so great to use. It’s only small but very handy. I also have a cast iron pot, another inherited item. Hopefully all to be passed on.