Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet for Indoor and Outdoor Use. Induction Frying Pan. Oven, Grill and Metal Utensil Safe Skillet Frying Pan with Pouring Lips. Made in the USA. 30.5 cm/12 inch

This pan really is a revelation. We have various good non-stick pans but none of them could properly sear meat. This pan retains so much heat that it doesn't drop the temperature at all when you put the meat in. In fact to clean it I pour in a glass of water (after allowing it to cool after cooking) and it boils it instantly. The pan is really easy to clean. Just rub it with oil and it won't rust. Perfect steak, seared and rare. I should have bought one years ago.

These pre-seasoned Lodge cast iron pans - if cared for properly - are a life-long purchase, or possibly longer, if you decide to hand them down to the next generation! They are beautifully made, with a clean, consistent cast, and a considerable heft, even in the smaller sizes. The iron has a tight, fine grain which produces smooth curves and crisp details on the pan, and provides a visible sense of quality. Equipping your kitchen with a set of these would be ideal if you appreciate traditional, quality items that can be passed down from generation to generation - they are genuinely 'Modern Retro'. Unchanged in design over hundreds of years, there is a sense when cooking with these that a great-great-grandmother has done the same somewhere back in the distant past. In this manner, they are eminently suitable for cooking traditional and slow-cooked dishes. Pros: Solid, long-lasting, high quality construction that saves on energy (as less heat is needed) and may improve the taste of your foods. A slower approach on a lower setting will infuse the pan with an even heat all over. The cast iron may not actually add anything taste-wise to the food being cooked, but - possibly by not taking anything away either - it definitely does help food taste better! Meats sear really well, sealing in more flavour. There is absolutely no chance of any contamination from non-stick chemicals or coatings as the pans are entirely naturally coated (cooking oil). Cons: Need slightly more maintenance than a modern non-stick pan, and the considerable weight can make them a bit of a handful! Pre-seasoning (cooked-on oil) ensures less hassle when the pan is new, and as you add to the seasoning through time, the non-stick qualities of the pan increase. Unlike normal non-stick pans, you can use metal kitchen implements with impunity, as the surface is practically bulletproof. However, you must wash the pan in a gentle soap solution after each use, and re-coat the pan with oil before storing it away. In practice, this only takes a couple of minutes and leaves the pan with a satisfying black lustre. Not doing it, or leaving the pan damp, can result in rust quickly forming on the raw iron. However, even this is not a disaster as a gentle scrub and re-oiling will get rid of the rust (although leaving rust on for longer could result in physical damage to the surface of the pan). Due to their robust construction and the nature of cast iron, these pans tend to weigh heavily, even in the smaller sizes. This helps the pan spread and retain heat evenly, but can make them a bit of a handful when moving them around the stove. As an integral part of the pan, the handles heat up at the same rate, so be careful with them! The positive side of this is that the pan can go from stove top to oven to table top (and even BBQ!) without alteration, or risk of a plastic handle melting. Buy a pair of good quality silicone mitts or oven gloves and always lift them using both handles. Lodge do silicone covers for the handles and tempered, oven-proof glass lids in sizes to fit the main pans. For general use, the 8" and 10" sizes should be adequate, with 12" for larger meals or extended family cooking. They are also available in deep versions that can be used as a casserole. We store ours on the gas stove top as we like the look of them so much!

Can't believe all these years I wasted money on buying those Tefal non-stick frying pans. This cast iron pan is absolutely brilliant. When I first received it, I gave it a good rinse and wipe down. Then cooked a large piece of pork fat on it to season the pan. Now when I cook food on it, it never sticks and has a very good heat distribution around the pan. After cooking, I have to let it cool down a bit before transferring it to the sink, give it a rinse and scrub, before drying it with a paper towel on the hob and eating some vegetable oil on it just to keep it seasoned. I also wipe oil on the outside and bottom too to prevent it from rusting. Downside, it is extremely heavy which I can just about lift with one arm but not for very long. I can't rotate it to scoop the food off - that's how heavy it is. Also, you'll need a silicon handle add-on or oven gloves if you want to lift this when you literally just finished cooking. I am aware that maybe you should just leave this on the hob and scoop food out rather than treating it like it's a light-weight Tefal pan or a wok. Also, because it's cast iron you will need to put in that extra effort to maintain it - but it is a frying pan for life! Tip: learn how to season it, it is very very simple and make sure you dry it after giving it a rinse.

Amazing pan but the delivery took a bit too long

I've recently switched all of our cookware over to cast iron, although this is the only one without an enamel coating. It seems all other metals and coatings will leach nasties into your food, and this can build up over time. I think the demand for easy and simple solutions means cheap nasty cookware has become such a part of peoples' lives that companies and governments are willing to turn a blind eye to the risks. Well I seasoned this at home properly (didn't do a good job the first time, don't rush it, do it right!). Even though it comes pre-seasoned, it's been through factory processing, packing and transport, so who knows what's on it. And if you haven't seasoned it well, you'll have a terrible experience. So my advice is to read (or watch - thanks YouTube) about seasoning carefully. Once you get used to cooking with cast iron you can't go back - it is heavier than anything I've used before, you need to control the heat a bit more carefully, and you can't just leave it on the side and clean it in the morning - but the results speak for themselves. As I recently went vegan, I also wanted something that would help boost the iron in my diet a bit. ALL metal cookware, and anything coated with anything but enamel, seems to leach metals or chemicals into your food - but for cast iron this is the only metal which is actually a good thing! This isn't difficult to clean once you get used to it, it's just different. I use only warm water, and occasionally plain salt if there's something a bit stubborn on there, and never let it completely cool down. I forgot once, and the next morning had to properly scrub everything off and season it all over again. As it's cast iron, it holds heat very well, so it doesn't cool in just a few minutes.

I have written about my love of cast iron pans on another review, and the same applies here - but further more, Lodge is a classic brand in the cast iron pan industry with a rich history of quality pans, so arguably worth paying the price for. Whilst looking for this pan, I considered some vintage cast iron pans on ebay, but in the end this was what I went for and haven't regretted it at all - this pan lives with pride on top of my hob in permanent display, and gets regular use (which really is the best way to get the best out of your pan - regular use keeps it seasoned and rust free) I will say upfront, that they can be heavy (yes, its cast iron, iron is heavy) and bulky, and also require some dedication and care - in honesty, not that much more dedication than just normal washing of a pan, but you have to be diligent. You have to clean it after use and season it. But with minimal effort, it will reward you. Practical advice: - Cast iron can rust! you need to take care to season it first (just google it, there are lots of articles about it). It basically involves scrubbing it, adding in vegetable (or some other) oil and heating it in the oven above the oils smoke point (just stick the oven on full - it will smoke, so be prepared for that), then let it cool down, wipe and repeat the process. - You should take care to not clean with abrasive brushes or use metal spatulas on it, as it is possible to damage and loosen the seasoning - After washing it, make sure you dry it thoroughly and lightly wipe with oil to keep the surface sealed it free from moisture So what makes cast iron pans so great, given the additional work? It's because iron retains heat really well - often when you put something like a steak into a hot pan, the pan itself drops in temperature considerably - if you have ever been disappointed by not being able to get the wonderful deep brown/red colour of a steakhouse steak and end up with duller steaks, its probably for this reason - the pan temperature drops so the steak doesn't have a chance to brown before the steak is cooked. Cast iron hardly registers any drop in temperature (once suitable warmed) which means you can quickly get a beautiful brown sear on steak, burgers, fish, vegetables pretty quickly.

I bought this frying pan to cook steaks because normal nonstick pans cannot reach the magic temperature of 250deg C and upwards (the searing/browning temperature). Also thinner and lighter frying pans upon placing a cold steak (even at room temperature) into the pan drops the temperature below 250degC. This is why professionals encourage a heavy cast iron pan for steaks as the heavy mass of metal reduces the dropping of its temperature upon placing in the steak. I was disappointed that upon receiving the pan I realised even it can only go up to 260degC. While enough for steaks, the possibility of overheating the "natural oil" nonstick surface of this pan that it came with was possible and could cause the nonstick oil to smoke. Then I learned if you deliberately take the pan it to 270degC and allow the manufacturer's oil to smoke off, you do not damage the pan at all, in fact you return it to how the professionals prefer it. Because once the smoke stops obviously the nonstick surface that came with the pan has been burned off, but every time you apply avocado oil (high smoke temp) you re-create it's nonstick surface at cooking time again. So removing the pan's own nonstick surface is better for me as the pan can now go up to 300degC if I so wish. I never bought this pan for sausage, bacon and eggs, I have a quality nonstick frying pan that's easy to clean. I bought it solely for steaks that need seared and with the nonstick oil it came with burned off. I now have a professional cast iron pan capable of 300degC instead of 260degC and oiling at cooking time returns its nonstick surface temporarily during that cooking session. I'm delighted. Hope the above helps.

You cannot beat cast iron for durability, versatility or longevity. I buy these often as wedding presents for people who like to cook. This is my go-to pan for about 70% of everything that happens on the hob. PROS You can cook just about anything (except eggs or skinless fish -- go non-stick) in these. Sausage. Black pudding or haggis. Roasted vegetables (start off on stovetop then bung it into oven). Or bake a pancake with it in the oven. Make coq au vin. In fact, for French cooking or anything with a sauce, the pan is great for grilling meat (remove), sweating vegetables (remove), then adding sauce or wine and putting it all into the oven. Likewise, absolute tops for pan-grilling steak. Also, easy to clean, especially if you heat it up on stovetop after washing it (with little or no soap), then wipe it with a thin film of oil. (A silicon brush or paper towel works wonders.) CONS Heavy, but that's also why they're great for cooking (with a relatively even heat).

It took a while to get the handle of it, but you just can't go wrong with cast iron. I'm absolutely in love with it! I purchased the silicone gripper, which is nice to have, but I think it's difficult to pour the contents one-handed with it, and I find myself using a towel instead more often than not. I've managed to get it to be more non-stick than my old non-stick pan with a few rounds of seasoning (a slight pain in the ass) but the maintenance and repairability are simply something I wouldn't trade. Do note that caring for it is more involved than caring for a stainless steel pan, but I find that the sear is unmatched, and the temperature doesn't really drop when adding food, which is amazing.

Great size, and cooks pretty evenly when warmed up first. Very happy with it. Pancakes did not stick 😊

Good product at a great price. Extremely durable and easy to use. Best Cast Iron Skillet in the market

Excellente poêle ! La fonte chauffe uniformément et retient bien la chaleur, ce qui permet de cuire les aliments parfaitement et de façon homogène. Elle est très robuste et semble faite pour durer des années. J’apprécie sa polyvalence : idéale pour saisir, mijoter ou même passer au four. Avec un peu d’entretien (huile et séchage), elle reste comme neuve et développe un antiadhésif naturel au fil du temps. Un indispensable pour tous ceux qui aiment cuisiner avec qualité et précision. Je recommande sans hésiter !

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