Went under the house and found Ma's 12" Lodge CI....I've got my battle armor..time to decide what to use as my weapon. You ladies and gents better hold on to your hats.
CIs so intimidating to me, but seeing the amazing food that comes out of them around here is encouraging! But I want an old one, not a new one...time to go yard sale-ing!!
When I was looking for mine, I didn't want an overly-huge or overly-heavy one, and Lodge was perfect. Some brands that are the same size as a given Lodge are much heavier than Lodge, so by the time food is added, I'm not sure I could pick the darned thing up. I'd suggest keeping that in mind while yard-saling.
Ah - I thought you were talking about the bottom where it touches the burner. Still, my Lodge is smooth on both sides of the bottom, except on the burner side, where the Lodge logo is.
And that aside, while I haven't cast iron, I have cast pewter and silver, and my son and daughter have cast bronze. Dimples, pebbles, and smooth can all be accomplished via the casting process. But you knew that.....
Hey geeme check this pic out of a Griswold. You see the circular marks on the bottom? That's from machining it smooth, a step they used to do after the casting, nowadays they skip it. That's all! Still Lodge is good. All CI is good for the most part!