This definitive guide to the best cast-iron skillets of 2019 explores everything you need to know before buying your next favorite piece of cookware, including important terminology and the best skillets for every budget. The Short List Best All-Around Cast-Iron Skillet: Field CompanyField Company’s cast iron is lighter, smoother and simpler than that of many new brands. It also manages to keep its prices lower relative to some of its high-minded competition.
Plus, the grapeseed oil pre-seasoning the skillets come with out-performed that of every other pan we tested.Available sizes: 10-inch, 12-inch, 13-inch. Best High-End Cast-Iron Skillet: Butter Pat IndustriesWhere to start? Butter Pat’s skillets were the smoothest and most non-stick out of the box of any we tried. Beyond making flip-easy fried eggs (or flip-easy anything, for that matter), the surface makes cleaning that much easier, as everything cooked in it was a towel wipe away from clean. A proprietary hand-casting method allows the piece to be thin where it can be and heavy where it needs to be, making for a lighter than usual skillet.Available sizes: 6-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch.
Best Value Cast-Iron Skillet: LodgeThe Lodge of today is not in the business of making a pretty skillet, it’s in the business of making a workhorse skillet. The surface is grainy, rough and coated in a black pre-seasoning. It’s probably not as slim and trim as others on this list.
But in terms of value for your money, Lodge’s American-made cast-iron skillets are unrivaled. Starting at $10 for an 8-inch pan (the smallest size you’d want to cook on), its cast iron is made of the same hefty, heat insulating iron that the boutique brands are using and the only serious trade-off is cooking surface and craftsmanship.Available sizes: 6.5-inch to 15-inch. Field Company’s cast iron is lighter, smoother and simpler than that of many new brands. It also manages to keep its prices lower relative to some of its high-minded competition. “It doesn’t have a practical purpose anymore,” Isaac Morton of Smithey Ironware says of the ridge along the bottom edge of some skillets. “But if you look at pieces cast before 1900, you typically had this heat ring, which helped the pan fit into the indentations on the top of the stove.
It’s just an homage to some of the cool old cast iron designs.” The 7 Best Cast-Iron Skillets to Buy Lodge Cast Iron SkilletLodge’s pans are the first a would-be cast iron nut gets into. They’re cheap, rough to the touch and you don’t need to treat them preciously. But don’t let low prices imply low performance — Lodge skillets are still heavy, heat-insulating cast iron, and they can certainly cook side-by-side with skillets ten and twenty times their cost. We just wouldn’t cook eggs, fish or anything too delicate before you have a serious base of seasoning.Available sizes: 6.5-inch to 15-inch (everything in between). Stargazer Cast Iron SkilletThough it’s hard to place it as absolute best at any one thing, the Stargazer is a great blend of all buying factors.
Riot download. Riot Forge We're a publisher working with talented and experienced third party developers to bring awesome new League of Legends games to players of all types. Explore a career at Riot. RIOT is an application that enables you to reduce the size of your images for your websites. The interface of the tool is clean and simple. You can import images by using the file browser or the. Use Riot on the web. Download mobile apps on the iOS App Store, Google Play & F-droid. Download desktop apps for macOS, Windows & Linux.
Cooking pots and pans with legless, flat bottoms came into use when cooking stoves became popular; this period of the late 19th century saw the introduction of the flat cast-iron skillet. Cast-iron cookware. May 28, 2019 Cast Iron is honestly very easy to work with, once you understand HOW to work with it. Even if you have a rusty cast iron that needs restored, you can fix it at home with minimal tools.
High-sloping walls with a unique and fairly dramatic lip around the edge mean you can toss veggies and home fries up and back down with little oil splash. The seasoning it shipped with was excellent, but you can order it unseasoned if you prefer. It’s middle of the pack in weight, and it has a large square-angled front grip that is easy to get a hold of when you’re wearing an oven mitt.Available sizes: 10.5-inch to 12-inch. Smithey Ironware Company SkilletIn most industries, retrospective homages to products past are meant more to trigger nostalgia than perform to the day’s standards. This is not so in cast-iron. Smithey’s skillets are made with heavy gauge iron, a three-finger front grip and an exquisitely milled down, pre-seasoned cooking surface. There’s even a heat ring on the base of the pan, so if you somehow find yourself standing in front of an old indented wood stove, you’ll fit right in.Available sizes: 8-inch, 10-inch 12-inch (everything in between).
Finex Cast Iron Cookware Company SkilletThe Finex pan sports a similar machine-smoothed cooking surface as others on our list. The corners create many areas to pour out sauces or excess grease, yes, but there isn’t much out there on its proficiency in the oven. This particular skillet’s cooking surface is also just a quarter-inch shy of standard pie size. The base of Finex pieces are thicker than your typical cast-iron base, providing more balanced cooking temperatures. This is useful when dealing with the longer cook times baking often entails. The trademark corners are absolutely ripe to wedge spatulas into to lift your hard work out of the pan. You can even get a lid for the thing.Available sizes: 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch.
Butter Pat Industries SkilletIdyllic sloped walls, pour spouts, a comfy front grip, an insanely smooth cooking surface and Butter Pat’s surprisingly nimble weight makes it just about as good as it cast-iron gets. Our sole complaint — the handle tends to be a bit short on the largest size, making for an especially difficult time toting it around by the handle alone. This really only affects your ability to toss something your sauteeing in the pan.Available sizes: 6-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch, 12-inch. Borough Furnace SkilletBased in Owego, New York, Borough Furnace has its eye trained on unique skillets. Its pans feature low walls that allow more air flow than any other on this list, an extra-large front grip and a really, really heavy base. But it’s also the most eco-minded skillet maker out there.
The whole facility is run off wind off-sets and solar power, and every skillet is made with recyled iron. The only downside? The handle’s unique shape isn’t a very comfortable grip.Available sizes: 9-inch, 10.5-inch.
Compared to more expensive cast iron, LODGE is a bit rougher where pan texture is concerned. It advertises that it is pre-seasoned, but LODGE said it is NOT.
Therefore, many hours of prepping were involved before I fried the first egg - that stuck. I knew I would need to season more aggressively due to the roughness of the cast iron. Do not expect a smooth, mirrored finish as comes on high end cast iron. This is more rustic. After heating it to smoking on my stove, I applied olive oil sparingly then rubbed it in using a paper towel. I did this at least 20 times and the paper towel would shred due to the coarseness of the pan.After scraping it down with a metal spatula (many times) and re-seasoning many MORE times, I finally had the skillet of my dreams.
Eggs might not slide around like they are on ice, but they do not stick now. Clean-up (unless you make gravy) requires a wipe-down with a dry cloth (since I stopped using paper towels) lol.
Compared to more expensive cast iron, LODGE is a bit rougher where pan texture is concerned. It advertises that it is pre-seasoned, but LODGE said it is NOT. Therefore, many hours of prepping were involved before I fried the first egg - that stuck. I knew I would need to season more aggressively due to the roughness of the cast iron. Do not expect a smooth, mirrored finish as comes on high end cast iron.
This is more rustic. After heating it to smoking on my stove, I applied olive oil sparingly then rubbed it in using a paper towel.
I did this at least 20 times and the paper towel would shred due to the coarseness of the pan.After scraping it down with a metal spatula (many times) and re-seasoning many MORE times, I finally had the skillet of my dreams. Eggs might not slide around like they are on ice, but they do not stick now.
Clean-up (unless you make gravy) requires a wipe-down with a dry cloth (since I stopped using paper towels) lol. Compared to more expensive cast iron, LODGE is a bit rougher where pan texture is concerned. It advertises that it is pre-seasoned, but LODGE said it is NOT. Therefore, many hours of prepping were involved before I fried the first egg - that stuck. I knew I would need to season more aggressively due to the roughness of the cast iron. Do not expect a smooth, mirrored finish as comes on high end cast iron. This is more rustic.
After heating it to smoking on my stove, I applied olive oil sparingly then rubbed it in using a paper towel. I did this at least 20 times and the paper towel would shred due to the coarseness of the pan.After scraping it down with a metal spatula (many times) and re-seasoning many MORE times, I finally had the skillet of my dreams. Eggs might not slide around like they are on ice, but they do not stick now. Clean-up (unless you make gravy) requires a wipe-down with a dry cloth (since I stopped using paper towels) lol. I wanted to use this pan for a while before writing a review so that I would have some experience to speak on. I bought this skillet about 3 months ago, after much reading and research on how to use and care for it. As everyone else has already said, this skillet turns out a far better meal than any Teflon coated pan.
Searing and deglazing work beautifully in cast iron. I've cooked all kinds of things in this skillet by now, including frying foods that normally require a deep fryer.
I've also made meals that start on the stove and finish in the oven, which is one of the great benefits of cast iron. Even though the Lodge products come read-to-use (pre-seasoned), I washed and seasoned mine anyway. I brushed on a light coating of canola oil (inside and out) and put it upside down on the oven rack with a cookie sheet on a lower rack to catch any drips, in a 350 degree oven for an hour, then left it to sit in there until it was cooled. As for continued maintenance, instead of washing it last like I used to do with other pans, I wash it first. I towel dry it, then set it back on a low-medium burner to heat/dry completely for about 10 mins while doing the other dishes. Thorough drying is critical to prevent rusting. Then a little canola oil on a paper towel, give it a real light coat inside, leave it on the burner another 15 mins while I finish the rest of the kitchen clean up.
Really isn't that much extra work, honest. Just a minor adjustment to your clean-up routine. Definitely worth it! I love this skillet, I won't ever be without one now. I also bought the smaller 8' skillet and recently the double dutch oven. Cast iron cooks differently than Teflon, so take a little time to learn the techniques (lower heat is needed with cast iron, I over cooked a few things in the beginning).
Don't be discouraged the first time or two if your food sticks just a little, the non-stick surface takes a few meals to really develop nicely, but it will. So cook a batch of bacon, maybe some burgers, and wait a few times before doing delicate things like eggs.
I couldn't be happier with the Lodge product in general, Kudos to Walmart for a GREAT price and nice quality for that price. And thumbs up for the Site-To-Store service! I have many older collectable skillets and several lodge cast iron items. I enjoy cooking with my older cookware because it gives me a sense of familial and national history. But, deep in the back of my mind I am concerned about damaging them, so I bought this skillet. I received it almost a week before it was expected; washed it and fried some chicken, and boy was it good!
And, there was absolutely no concern about damaging the skillet, which made the experience even more pleasurable.The 12 inch skillet is heavier than most vintage and antique cast iron and it is not as smooth as the oldies. However, this finish is definitely not as rough as many of the competitors, especially some of the imported stuff. The skillet heated evenly and it was roomy enough for three large thighs. The 12 inch Lodge skillet was flat and sat evenly on the burner - some other brand new imports that I have seen, and damaged oldies, will wobble on the burner because the base is not flat - it is a keeper. Now, go on out and get yours before inflation makes the price of this skillet more expensive.
Got it on 2/16 and have used it every day. It is so much fun and so cool!I just started cooking more and have had difficulty getting used to stainless steel and non-stick (the temperatures can't be too high with those things). I was nervous foods will stick and they have just a little so far. I gather this is a little bit of a fine art, but 'season' it after each use, that means paper towel a lil oil on it; Vegetable Oil. I see it is already forming a coating of it's own! It comes w some instructions, oil it a little more heavily at first. God it is cheap- $20!
It is heavy, but strong and they say built to last a lifetimes. I believe it. But it heats hot and evenly and I think food tastes better coming off it. I hope to stay with it and see it through.
I feel more like I am cooking the right way with it. I wasn't really concerned with the health hazards that are sometimes suggested w stainless steel and non-stick, though maybe a little in the back of my mind. The original way to go, and cheap! Compared to more expensive cast iron, LODGE is a bit rougher where pan texture is concerned. It advertises that it is pre-seasoned, but LODGE said it is NOT. Therefore, many hours of prepping were involved before I fried the first egg - that stuck. I knew I would need to season more aggressively due to the roughness of the cast iron.
Do not expect a smooth, mirrored finish as comes on high end cast iron. This is more rustic. After heating it to smoking on my stove, I applied olive oil sparingly then rubbed it in using a paper towel. I did this at least 20 times and the paper towel would shred due to the coarseness of the pan.After scraping it down with a metal spatula (many times) and re-seasoning many MORE times, I finally had the skillet of my dreams.
Eggs might not slide around like they are on ice, but they do not stick now. Clean-up (unless you make gravy) requires a wipe-down with a dry cloth (since I stopped using paper towels) lol. My only adverse observation is it claims it comes 'pre-seasoned'. Being a 7th generation native Texan, found it not to be seasoned proper. My advice, buy it, before you even try to use it, get some bacon grease, smear it all around inside the skillet, add a little pepper if you truly like flavor in your fried foods, then bake it at 400° for 45 minutes or so, let it air cool on stove top before using. If you wash it after use, don't let it air dry, immediately put on the stove top on low heat and leave it until it's fully dried, that way the soap won't get into the seasoning. Every so often you'll need to re-season it.
You can bake fantastic cornbread in this thing. From the Lodge Web site:For more than 110 years, Lodge Manufacturing has been perfecting the process of making cast iron cookware. But the process was never complete until countless meals, desserts, soups and stews were prepared to create a treasured black patina.
Only then was cast iron 'seasoned.' In 2002, the Lodge team developed a proprietary vegetable oil spray system with high temperature gas ovens to season the cookware before it leaves our South Pittsburg foundry. No hassle, no magic, no work—simply an heirloom finish everyone can use right out of the box!