VOA标准英语2011--Cast Iron Revival Keeps US Foundry Cooki

Cast Iron Revival¹ Keeps US Foundry Cooking

Tucked between the Tennessee River and the hills of Marion County lies the small town of South Pittsburg, Tennessee. Home to just 3,200 people, it has one claim to fame: a metal foundry called Lodge² Cast Iron.
Lodge is the last company in the nation still turning out cast iron skillets on a daily basis.
"We produce about 80,000 pounds [36,000 kilos] of cast iron cookware daily," says Bob Kellermann, chief executive officer of Lodge Cast Iron. "We have two high-production molding lines and each molding line will crank out 400-plus molds per hour and we run two 10-hour shifts a day, so you can do the math."
It adds up to a successful fourth-generation family-owned business that's been turning out cast iron cookware for more than a century. Lodge used to have several American competitors, but they all went out of business years ago.
Investing in new technology was the key to keeping Lodge alive.
"We re-invested our earnings³ every year to become more mechanized," Kellermann says. "Had we not mechanized over the years, we would've been out of business many years ago. Some years we survived in spite of ourselves."
Innovating⁴ into the future
Lodge has also continued to innovate⁵. Its most recent improvement turned out to be a marketing⁶ bonanza⁷. Several years ago, the company began seasoning⁸ its cookware before it leaves the factory.
Oil has to be baked into a skillet's cast iron pores before it can be used, a process many cooks find intimidating⁹.
"In a short five years we went from nothing seasoned to everything seasoned," Kellermann says. "And our slogan, when we introduced it: ‘We should have thought of this a hundred years ago.'"
Lodge has developed its own recipe for consistently producing cast iron with just the right characteristics.
"We have a spectrometer that in, oh, about 45 seconds we know 19 different elements that we can adjust for," says Larry Rado, Lodge's technical manager who is in charge of quality control. "We know exactly what we melt and we know exactly what's going into our cookware."
Lodge also adopted the Japanese approach to improving product quality, by empowering its employees.
"Anyone here at Lodge Manufacturing can throw a casting away," Rado says. "Anybody, from the grinders, finishers, packers, we can actually stop the line."
But advanced technology and management techniques don't tell the whole story. Lodge is also benefiting from a kind of cast iron renaissance¹⁰.
At the Hermitage Hotel, in nearby Nashville, executive chef Tyler Brown uses cast iron to prepare and serve some of the Capital Grill's signature dishes. The cholesterol-heavy cuisine¹¹ of the American south fell out of favor for a time but Brown says southern culture and foods are suddenly popular again.
"The South is hot right now," says Brown. "People enjoy what we do, enjoy the tradition of our culture that needs to be spoken about, talked about, and passed on; and what better place than around the table to get that started."
Lodge Cast Iron is riding the crest¹² of that wave, putting out dozens of new products, from cast iron woks¹³ to Dutch ovens made for the campfire.
Kellermann gets emotional when he considers what his great, great grandfather would think of his small foundry today.
"And I think old Joe Lodge and the rest of the family that's gone on would be very proud of the company seeing it as it is now," he says.
Lodge Cast Iron is looking to the international market for continued growth. Its cookware is now sold in Japan, Russia, and the Philippines.

1 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

2 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 innovating   

v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• In this new century, the company keeps innovating and developing new products. 新世纪伊始，公司全面实施形象工程及整合营销，不断改革创新，开发高新产品。 来自互联网
• Beijing is backward most prime cause is innovating at system lack. 北京落后的最根本原因在于制度缺乏创新。 来自互联网

5 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

8 seasoning   

n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物

参考例句：

• Salt is the most common seasoning.盐是最常用的调味品。
• This sauce uses mushroom as its seasoning.这酱油用蘑菇作调料。

9 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

10 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

11 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

12 crest   

n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖

参考例句：

• The rooster bristled his crest.公鸡竖起了鸡冠。
• He reached the crest of the hill before dawn.他于黎明前到达山顶。

13 woks   

n.锅，炒菜锅( wok的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He woks on the even surface. 他在平滑的表面上工作。 来自互联网
• Inverter loop PID controller woks not very well if PID controller parameters are not designed well. 分析表明如果设计方法欠佳，PID控制器不能发挥优良调节能力，使逆变器单环控制系统性能不很理想。 来自互联网