Iron casting is an art. Victoria in Medellín, Colombia, has known this for 3 generations. It is now 101 years since grandfather Raúl learned all the skills of iron casting. He was soon able to set up his own workshop, where he initially mainly cast smaller handicraft items into molds and offered them for sale. The love of cooking and good food then gave the company founder the idea of manufacturing a cast-iron grain mill. Looking back, this was the beginning of an international success story, as the Victoria Iron Foundry now sells its cookware in 32 countries around the world. Before leaving the now fully automated production, each piece is burned with linseed oil in the old fashioned way - burnished, as the iron expert says - and is thus not only provided with a natural protective layer, but also ready for immediate use. So you can put your cast-iron pans and pots to work right away. Just preheat them for a few minutes, and maybe use a little more grease than you normally would the first few times to preserve the burnished layer and prevent caking. And please also remember to use highly acidic foods with caution and not to use your cast iron cookware for food storage. You can always refresh the protective burnished layer at home with a little grapeseed or linseed oil.