This is a nice Christmas gift!
Christmas tends to come and go with me giving out most of the surprises. Truthfully, I rarely get any surprises – any good ones anyway.
But this year was different (talking about 2020 that is quite an understatement, I know). I just received a gift that fits me so well…a cast iron pan handle cover made of beautiful leather. We all have seen the handle covers made of cloth or silicone.
Here is the one Lodge sells – click to head over to the site, if you want more information.
I do not have one but I would assume it works pretty well. If I am being honest…it is boring and I do not like the bright color.
What I do embarrassingly own is a couple cloth ones that work OK and have definitely seen better days. Yes, they have caught on fire more than once.
But now I have just been given two of these (by my in-laws)!
These are made by a company called Hardmill. I did not know the company but what wonderful items they make. I suggest a trip over to Hardmill.com to see what they have to offer – looks like industrial aprons, wallets, totes and other leather items. They look to be carefully made of quality materials.
The handle covers are beautiful in a simple and elegant way. I love cast iron because it is simple, rugged, long-lasting and classic. All the same reasons these handle covers fit wonderfully in my kitchen and my life.
Expensive? Yep. They are about $20 each. But they are only expensive compared to the cheapy cloth ones or even the Lodge above (which is less than $5.00). Are leather handles worth it? To me, yes, it is worth it (and not because they were given to me – read on)!
On one end, the leather is loosely folded so it fits onto the pan handle. They look great and work great. However, I do wish that they were a tad longer (the two I have are 4 inches long). My hands are not small and holding a pan with my thumb on top is a little too close to the hot iron.
But apparently, Hardmill also sells an extra-long handle cover and it measures 5.75 inches. So I ordered one as part of my after-Christmas shopping. This one is a couple bucks more…about $25.00. Too expensive? Maybe. But these fit my hands better and they also fit where I am now in my life. I want to fill my house (and my life) with simple, high-quality things that are a joy to use. That doesn’t always mean expensive. There are lots of very expensive things out there that are total junk.
I strive to find things that are worth the money. I want to be reminded every time I use it that it is high quality. This is why I love things like cast iron pans and double-edged safety razors and don’t even get me started on acoustic guitars.
I have no connection to any company on this page (Lodge, Hardmill, etc) and I receive nothing for the links to their site or the items I mentioned. But if Martin, Taylor, Collings, Lowden or Larrivée Guitars wants to contact me – I am right here. Waiting. Impatiently.
Click here to get back to the Cast Iron Magic homepage to look around.
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