Cast iron pans are sometimes passed down through families. When taken care of, they can last many years. When looking at your pan, do you notice a number on the handle? What does that number mean?
It refers to the diameter of the bottom of the pan. History tells us that the cast iron pan was made to fit the openings on top of woodstoves. The manufacturers of the woodstoves also made cast iron pans. So they made the pans to fit the stoves. The Lodge company says “The 10 comes from the days when cast iron pots and pans were sized to fit on the numbered eyes of a woodstove. The L10SK3 was for a #10 stove eye.”
Source: Fine Cooking, Oct/Nov 2016, www.lodgemfg.com/