[TheForge] Cast iron history

[Andy Vida]

Phlip wrote:
> 
> Anybody know the history of cast iron? When/where  it was first used, and
> when it became popular and relatively inexpensive for cookware? Or, a
> reference I could follow?

	One of the earliest references I recall was from China, 3rd cen.
	BC.  Malleable cast iron mold boards.  I don't think the Euros
	got them for nearly 2000 years afterward.

	In Europe, casting iron didn't start until the sixteenth or
	seventeenth century.  It is a comparatively new technology, 
	compared to forging.