Wal Mart carries Lodge cast iron and it's not expensive.

Try garage sales and estate sales. Cast iron pans, even if rusted (but not pitted) can be rubbed with steel wool, washed and dried, and re-seasoned.

Check out Lodge on amazon. Good prices plus eligible for free shipping. Some people don't like the preseasoned stuff; not sure why, it works great for me.

I ask for them on freecycle. People don't know how to season them right and get frustrated, and are usually willing to give them away.

If I get a nasty poorly seasoned cast iron pan, I run it through the "clean" function in my oven, and it all the gunk burns off, look like brand new (well, covered in ashes) and then you can reseason and go from there.

I found a few pieces at the Army Navy Surplus Stores - very reasonable too. They also have excess camping gear as a rule also.

Bejay

We have a discount store in my area called "Ollie's" that has Paula Dean cast iron skillets and dutch ovens on sale for about half the original price. They are calling the sale a "Buy Back". Her name is molded on the bottom. I think the dutch oven is a 3 quart with lid and has the little leg. They are OK but are quite rough inside, not smooth like my old cast iron skillets.

Property auctions where the household contents are auctioned off before the building(s).

If you have an Ace or Tru-value hardware, check with them. If not in stock they may be able to order it.

Jim

I don't cook anything in mine where it would pick up the iron taste...like no way would I cook a tomato based sauce in it or anything acidic.
Does anyone else?
I cook fried potaotes, eggs, chicken, quick seared meats,taco shells, gravy etc.

Linnea56:
You have a few choices here, to choose from.

Like Jim said , Ace Hardware.
I buy a lot of items from Ace hardware in NYC (Good Prices)and
sometimes Free Shipping. I have the Phone number.

If you want to save money and are not in a hurry,
hit the Garage Sales and Flea Markets.
With the weather starting to warm a little, they will be opening soon. It's fun.

I did Flea Markets and had a Collectible Booth in ,
Pocono Peddlers Village, for about 20 years.

In the Old Collectible Skillets , look for Griswold or Wagner.
Learn how to treat them. Talk to them. Tell them how much you love them.

You may find some in a Garage Sale for a few dollars each.

I just Googled " Wagner and Griswold Cast Iron Skillets "
It brought me to Ebay.
There are 217 listed, all sizes and shapes.( Smorgasborg )

I've bought a lot of items at Auctions.

I had a Skillet one time about 20 inches across.
Had it hanging in my Booth.
A guy spotted it from down the hall and came a runnin.
He said "I don't care what it costs,I want it, It's mine"
It would be worth a lot now. He wanted it for Camping,
cooking on a fire.

Like it was mentioned, make sure it is a good brand and not pitted on the cooking surface.
One of mine is pitted on the bottom, from Flames. Doesn't matter.

There are a lot of cheapo's out there. Ask first !!!!!
Lou
PS: I can't sell you mine !

Lots of good ideas here. Just be aware that there's cast iron, and there's good cast iron. Even good cast iron isn't that expensive, but some of the really cheap ones are very thin--I've even seen some that were already cracked in the store. For cast iron to give the BEST results, it needs to be moderately thick. The really thin ones can have hot spots and can burn your food. I recently tested a thinner cast iron skillet for a manufacturer and wasn't totally thrilled with it--and I later learned that others who had market tested it had the same unfavorable results I did. So just make sure that you get a good, heavy cast iron pan, and you'll be a lot happier with it.

Oh, and for a great selection at super fantastic prices? If you're anywhere near So. Pittsburg, Tennesee, pop into the Lodge outlet store. They'll be hosting the National Cornbread Festival in April--very nice time to visit, if you're so inclined.

I finally found Lodge on display at a sporting goods store in the camping section. It's cheap enough for me on Amazon but I needed to check out the bottom in person since I need it very flat.

I do cook tomatoey and other acidic stuff in cast iron and haven't had any problems when the pan was well-seasoned.

Lehman's has an extensive line of cast iron pots. Prices don't seem high; the 5-qt. Dutch oven is $43.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lehman's cast iron ware

linnea 56:
I forgot to s mention your Iron Deficiency Anemia.

My Primary doctor, prescribed Iron Pills for me.
I went to a Hematologist, after tests, he said not to take the Iron pills. I had Mediterranian Anemia.
The pills would have an adverse effect. I had too much Iron. It was misdiagnosed.

Something to ask about?

LOU

Thanks, guys! Lots of good resources here. Thanks also for telling me how to tell what's good. I have one Lodge pan, a flat griddle, so I'll look for something of a similar thickness.

I have quite a bit of old cast iron, but the new stuff I have my DW mostly bought at, of all places, the Cracker Barrel. They sell some pretty nice cast iron in their store section. We have Cracker Barrels here in NJ now, but before we did she schlepped a dutch oven in her suitcase, on the train, on her way back from a conference in Virginia. LMAO. She said she about left the darn thing halfway down the tracks at one point when trying to get to her car. I met her inside the train station, down on the tracks and when I saw her coming, she was dragging this bag and huffing and puffing. LOL. It was a surprise for me and she didn't/couldn't tell me at the time what the heck it was. Anyway, she got me a few nice things from them.

Btw, my pride and joy is a nice antique Wagner chicken fryer. Sixteen inches wide and three inches deep. Bought it at a flea market for twenty bucks a hundred years ago. I probably acted like Lou's buyer, on the inside..I was afraid of them raising the price so I played it cool until it was in my hands. I love that pan. It's not really thick. It's one of the thinnest I've ever seen in an old Wagner. My theory is it's because it's made to fry chicken and they wanted something that would heat up fast and also be responsive to changing the heat levels if needed. I really should email that Wagner/Griswold expert and see what info he has on it.

Linnea, I got an old Griswold for $2 at a local yard sale, and I have some cheap no-name skillets that I got as a wedding present in 1974, when I married my first husband!

As Jim and Lou mentioned, my local True Value hardware store carried Lodge, that's where I bought the dutch oven I use for camping.

Deborah, I make chili in my dutch oven and used to always simmer things like goulash and spaghetti sauce in cast iron when the girls still lived at home and I made those things. Because I occasionally reseason my pans anyway, it didn't seem to affect the seasoning or the flavor and I didn't ever have a problem with my iron levels until I stopped cooking things like tomato soup in my cast iron cookware. My old doctor told me tht my iron levels were always spectacular due to my propensity for cooking everything in those cast iron pans.

of course, I had to, because they were the only ones I had, LOL. I did "reserve" one 8 inch skillet specifically for eggs so the seasoning wouldn't be compromised.

Annie

I've purchased 3 Griswold skillets on E-Bay. They are fantastic; very smooth.

My cast iron Dutch oven is at least 50+ years old. Bought it when we were married (in 42 that is), and it took quite a lot of "seasoning" before it "shaped-up" and behaved itself.

I use it for long-time cooking of meats - especially the briskets that I learned to make (Harvest Forum), and sometimes for pot roasts.

I stopped using anything but stainless steel for cooking tomatoes and acid foods, however - just don't like the metallic/acid taste in anything else.

Bejay