Thrifty Thursday: Not the Cast Iron!

My siblings and I decided to have a party to celebrate my mom's birthday this past weekend. My little sister Tally and I flew down and surprised her Saturday morning. That evening, the siblings plus some cooked supper for Mom. She absolutely loved it and we all had a great time :)

I get back to Boston to discover that J doesn't have much of a social life. He cleaned his apartment and took the opportunity of me being gone to eat a steak (ick). He also decided to run the self clean function on the oven. Unfortunately, cast irons do not hold up to being baked at 500+ degrees for hours. 

Can you tell which one won't give you tentanus?

I'm pretty sure my 12 inch cast iron is ruined beyond repair, so I did some research on replacing it. Of course, I immediately thought of Amazon and William Sonoma, and then included a quick Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Amazon has a 12 inch cast iron for $21, by Lodge Logic which is not a brand I'm familiar with. William Sonoma has a Lodge 12 inch cast iron for $33 - I do not know if the two brands are related, but Amazon seems to think they are. And then at BBB you can get Emeril's 12 inch cast iron for $25. I didn't find a range of prices across the levels of quality, probably because these things are just sealed and seasoned cast iron - there can't be much variation in the cost of manufacturing or materials. You may be able to find one in your local Marshalls if you get lucky, but it looks to me like I will be spending between $20 and $35 to replace my beloved cast iron. Not too bad of a price for something that theoretically lasts forever. My mom's cast iron is over 40 years old - probably because a man in her life never left it in the oven with the self clean cycle on.