Crofton Cast Iron 28cm skillet and 28cm griddle grill . Nice tail twist here

Most department stores have a home brand . One of Aldis is Crofton . On one of my earlier posts I had expressed a desire to expand my cast iron cook ware arsenal as the biggest skillet I had was 24cm . A bit small for my every day needs . /

A fellow forum member @grahroll advised me that Aldis often had cast iron cook ware at reasonable prices . He also offered to purchase some pieces for me and ship them down from Queensland to Melbourne because Aldis Queensland is on a different buying cycle to Victoria.

I managed to buy the above pictured items when they became available in Melbourne … Oh yeh , thanks Graham for the offer to purchase them for me and ship . A week before I had driven to Harris Scarfe Home Wares shop in Geelong to buy a a deep walled 30cm Cast iron Skillet with Lid . Main use deep and shallow frying . Brand Smith and Nobel . Paid $25.95 on special . Price reflected quality but quite serviceable after a good seasoning /

Ok getting back to the Croftons from Aldis . What a surprise I got when I opened the boxes . Excellent finish . Nice surface that would take seasoning easily . Incidentally I use Canola oil for cooking and seasoning . Found it to be the best all rounder . I’m a vegetarian but having the griddle grill provides me with a good vehicle to cook steaks on for guests and also to get nice char lines on egg plant strips etc . /

How do the compare when put up against the SolidTeknics I reviewed 2 days ago . The solid Teknics retail at $129 for the 26cm and $159 for the 30cm . The 28cm Crofton falls in between size wise and as well as having an excellent finish has some nice features too . Remember though the Crofton is cast Iron and the Solid Teknics high carbon steel sealess pressed . The Crofton is heavier but not too bad to use against the weight of Lodge or Stargazer , 2 top Yank brands . /

I prefer , myself , the SolidTeknics due to the ease of which they season and the way MJ Henry when he designed them made turning and flipping items in them a breeze due to the slope on their sides . The longer handles don’t get hot ./

But the price difference .The big tail twist . The Crofton cost $ 12.95 each when available . For the quality in this day and age it is a true bargain . Recommended at that price .

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Wish we had an Aldi here - even if they censor pictures of gummy bears …

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If you think that was bad you want to see what they did to the Jelly Babies . Is nothing sacred ?

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Well if you want some I am happy to purchase them when they are next on sale and send them out to you…though postage costs might make the deal worthless or nearly so.

I also realise you may wish to have an ALDI for the whole shopping experience.

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Postage can be a killer - though I appreciate the offer :slight_smile: I sometimes get family down south to store stuff until the next trip either way - which seems to work ok except for items I’m impatient for (malt, wine and motorcycle parts, not always in that order).

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Thank you once again for another great review Mike.

You are right: the (very low) price does make up for any shortcomings. VERY tempting. And, we have Aldi stores near us :slight_smile:

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Great to see that Tamas . Watch your links from Aldis for Saturday and Wednesday special buys . It might be a good idea to subscribe to their email newsletter as they advise you well in advance the dates the special buys will be available .

Mike

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Their Dutch Ovens and their French Casserole Dishes of the same make and also of cast iron have been solidly good buys for us. The Dutch Oven is just cast iron but the French one is enamel inside and out (also easiest ever clean up of this type we have ever had). We make our Mornays etc exclusively in them now for the results we get.

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I also purchased an enamelled French Oven from Aldis after you sent me the link @grahroll that they were coming up as a special buy . I think from memory was under $30 and for a 30cm unit this is a real bargain . Has given excellent service and as quoted by you very easy to clean . Gets a lot of use in my kitchen .

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