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Finex Cast Iron Skillets<br />
An American original, reimagined<br />
written by Melissa Dalton<br />
LIKE MANY AVID HOME COOKS, Mike Whitehead just wanted a good skillet.<br />
Around 2011, his wife had challenged him to toss his non-stick cookware. In search of replacements, Whitehead turned<br />
to cast iron. He found modern models to be poorly made, so he started collecting Vintage cookware on Ebay, until that got<br />
expensive. “I’m pathologically curious,” said Whitehead. “I’m the guy who asks questions.” He wondered, “What can I do to<br />
improve something that hadn’t been touched for 150 years?”<br />
By 2012, Whitehead was working as an engineering program manager at Leupold & Stevens in Portland. In his spare time,<br />
he tinkered with a new skillet design, mainly by reverse-engineering the pans in his collection. Then he collaborated with<br />
industrial designer David Lewin to refine his ideas. The resulting skillet is an octagon shape. “I tried a bunch of different<br />
shapes, and it had the best functional advantage,” said Whitehead, as the octagon creates six natural pour spouts. Inspired by<br />
traditional wood stoves, the handle is wrapped with a stainless steel spring for faster cooling. The pan’s interior is smoothed<br />
using a CNC machine for easy food release. A 2013 Kickstarter campaign provided enough start-up capital for production, and<br />
today, Whitehead’s creation is nationally distributed. The quest for a better pan has become the reinvention of an American<br />
heirloom. “I love making something that’s going to last longer than I am,” said Whitehead.<br />
FINEX Cast Iron Cookware Co.<br />
Eva Kosmas<br />
116 <strong>1859</strong> OREGON’S MAGAZINE MARCH | APRIL <strong>2016</strong>
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