Photos: Bavarian hammersmith forges wrought-iron pans at a mill more than 500 years old
53-year-old German hammersmith took over the mill from his predecessor two years ago
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Bad Oberdorf: Andreas Rohrmoser has been forging thousands of wrought-iron pans the old-fashioned way in his centuries-old hammer mill in the Bavarian village of Bad Oberdorf near the Austria border.
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The 53-year-old German hammersmith took over the mill from his predecessor two years ago but had been working there for 15 years already.
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The red-roofed mill itself, nestled in a valley in the foothills of the Alps, is more than 500 years old, he said in an interview on Monday.
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It sits on a canal of the Ostrach river that was built centuries ago specifically to power the mill.
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The canal’s water power, channeled through a mill wheel, drives a gigantic hammer inside the building punching down on the anvil. There, in his blacksmith shop, Rohrmoser flattens and shapes his famous skillets.
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“The secret of my pans is that they don’t have any kind of coating and therefore you can heat them to a much higher temperature than most other industrially made pans,” Rohrmoser said.
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Rohrmoser also used to make horseshoes in the past, but the demand for his skillets has been so strong that he only focuses on them now.
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His pans come in different sizes and cost from about $50 to $100.
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Among the many dishes he recommends making with his skillets are Bavarian Kaiserschmarrn pancakes, steak and home-fried potatoes.
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“The strong heat will make the different dishes — like the fried potatoes — so much crunchier and better,” he said.
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