Mike Pomranz began covering craft beer professionally in 2006, branching out into all aspects of food and beverage before joining the Food & Wine team in 2014. He's also a cidermaker, bar owner, and alcoholic beverage importer.

Experience: Mike Pomranz has been a part of America's craft beer scene since touring the Pyramid Brewery in Berkeley, California, with a fake ID in 1997. He's been writing professionally since 2002, and branched out into beer journalism in 2006 before eventually tackling all aspects of food and beverage. His work has appeared in dozens of publications including Time, People, Playboy, VinePair, Travel + Leisure, and Eater. Mike currently resides in Sheffield, England, where he owns the Cider Hole.

If you're a regular reader — or perhaps just have a Google alert set up for "World's Largest Cast Iron Skillet" — you may remember that, indeed, the World's Largest Cast Iron Skillet made headlines back in January when it was seen being hauled down Interstate 59.

At the time, the massive pan wasn't totally ready for its big debut. But it's hard to conceal a 18-foot, 14,360-pound skillet as it's speeding down the highway, and so Lodge Cast Iron had their hand forced in telling people about their creation as the cookware was being transported from Alabama, where it was manufactured, to Lodge's cast iron museum in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

One small problem, though: Despite all that initial publicity, the museum wasn't slated to open until later this year. After making its journey, the World's Largest Skillet was tucked inside, meaning anyone who was enticed into seeing it had to wait… until now.

Today, Lodge Cast Iron — which, at 126 years old bills itself as "the oldest family-owned cast iron cookware manufacturer" — announced that its brand new, officially-titled Lodge Museum of Cast Iron will officially open this Saturday. And yes, along with all its other exciting cast iron displays, guests will be able to visit the World's Largest Cast Iron Skillet in person.

The museum promises "a number of interactive exhibits" including How It's Made, which is "a recreation of the foundry experience;" The Lodge History & Legacy, "which walks visitors through the story of Lodge Cast Iron over multiple generations;" and Cast Iron in Culture, "where the versatility of cast iron is put on display," a section that also highlights Southern food and culinary figures in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance.

But the biggest selling point is, as Lodge describes it, "the spectacle that is the World's Largest Cast Iron Skillet," adding that it's "already a celebrity after making its way up I-59 earlier this year."

"After years of development, we're thrilled to be opening the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron right here in our hometown to invite visitors from near and far to experience our history and culture," Mike Otterman, CEO and president of Lodge Cast Iron, stated. "We are taking our Lodge community beyond their kitchens, backyards and campfires and bringing them right into the heartbeat of cast iron, peeling back the curtain to offer an experience unlike any other."

Lodge says that, starting this Saturday, guests can enter the museum through Lodge Cast Iron's Factory Store from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission is $10. More info can be found at lodgecastiron.com/museum.

Is $10 too much to see the World's Largest Cast Iron Skillet? Who knows. But good luck paying less and seeing one this big anywhere else!

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