Lockhart Ironworks Cookware, Logan

In today’s disposable culture, there’s something to be said about heirlooms and artistry: handmade objects crafted with passion and skill that are meant not only to last a lifetime, but be displayed with pride and treasured for decades.

Blacksmith Doug Lockhart knows this, which is why he spent three years figuring out how to design and craft the hand-forged skillets he makes at his Lockhart Ironworks and Southern Ohio School of Blacksmithing in Logan. A blacksmith with 40 years of experience, Lockhart forged pan after pan to find the perfect pitch of the sidewall, shape of the handle and thickness of the steel. He asked for feedback from professional chefs and tested his workmanship in his own kitchen.

It was an effort to shift focus from the bridge and custom ironwork he’d been doing for most of his career in order to build a business where his whole family — including his wife, kids and their spouses — could work side by side.

“It’s designed that way,” says Lockhart, “so we can keep it in the family.”

The result of the hard work and togetherness is cookware made of high-carbon steel that’s as much functional art as it is kitchen staple. The riveted handles decrease heat transfer and the cookware heats quickly and evenly. The pans are naturally nonstick and are even preseasoned with coconut oil so there’s no lengthy heating, oiling and reheating process required once one finds a home in your kitchen. And as all heirloom-quality products should, each comes with a lifetime warranty. Lockhart makes skillets in 8-, 10- and 12-inch sizes as well as 8-, 10- and 12-inch griddles and a 12-inch roaster pan.

For some, the cookware’s features and functionality are secondary to the artistry. The stunning hand-hammered handles and thoughtful details are what makes Lockhart’s cookware stand apart from others.

“I had a certain vision and I wanted it to look really cool,” he says. “I wanted it to look historical; a high-end, high-quality piece of heirloom cookware.”

Visit themakersofhandforgediron.com for more information.