9.10.2015

Firstly I would at the outset like to say that the quality of this product is outstanding.I need to make this point to anyone purchasing this pan and to all the people who have made poor reviews based on properties of this pan. Iron is a natural product, its mined from the earth and cast in a foundry its not a lab experiment gone wrong (look at the origin of Teflon). It’s a raw iron product which means its not been coated (seasoning is not coating). Like any natural product it’s in some ways alive and in a constant state of change and much like leather, It requires care in order to be used at its best for its life time. When I say life time if treated well these pans will not only outlast you but your grandchildren to.Many examples of late 1800 skillets are still being used in daily rotation by Americans today. What other products can you buy off amazon will your grandchildren be using after your gone (not many I would think).In order to use this pan at its best you need to follow some simple steps. I need to say now they are simple, Cast iron isn’t a high maintenance product but it does require some knowledge before you can get the best out of it. DON’T TREAT IT THE SAME AS OTHER COOKWARE.I have used this specific pan for the last 4 months ever single day, Eggs in the morning, Dinner in the evening and if home on weekends some lunches. I haven’t had any issues with sticking because I followed the advice of some seasoned (no pun intended) American users on YouTube.Initial set up and Cleaning. When you first get your pan I followed the recommended steps of washing out with some hot water (I didn’t use soap but you can if you want to for germs. Although the first use on a burner would kill anything like that). I did however wipe over lightly with some TRAX vegetable shorting (I use an old tea towel to apply the TRAX). If you live in America they use Crisco, we don’t have that over here so TRAX is the closest alternative. If you want the best out of this pan pop down Tesco and get some TRAX, because you will be needing after every wash to get your pan to a perfect black non stick shine. The technique is fairly simple. Warm the pan on a medium heat burner / wipe with TRAX inside and out / immediately wipe off excess with kitchen towel / return the pan to the burner bottom up and leave until it smokes lightly / turn of the heat and allow to cool. What this does is coat the pan in a very light film of oil, the heat bonds the oil to the pan and deepens the affect of the seasoning. (it also doesn’t leave any sticky residue which can happen if you use cooking oils)When cleaning I picked up a recommended plastic scraper and standard kitchen sponge. DON’T EVER USE SOAP IT WILL RUIN ALL YOUR HARD WORK. I cooked some fajitas the other night and there was a lot of build up on the pan. I ran it under hot water, used the plastic scraper to get off the worst of it, rubbed it round with the scouring side of the sponge, dried with kitchen towel then repeated the above. If you do this your pan will never fail you no matter what you cook in it.Adjust your heat.If your not use to cast iron cooking you need to make some adjustment to how much heat you use to cook. Iron takes longer to heat up, but once hot will remain hot for much longer and will not drop temperature when you add your food to be cooked. What that means is you don’t need to cook on full blast like you might with a thin Teflon coated aluminium pan. You will find how best to use it with your hob but as a rule of thumb you want to be cooking from the medium low to medium high range on your dials depending on what your cooking and allow at least 3 mins of heat on your pan before you add anything. This is a major adjustment for most cooks with little or no experience using cast iron. Allow it time to heat up before you start cooking. This I can imagine is where a lot of people go wrong and stuff starts sticking. If you crank this pan up high, don’t use enough oil/fat and add an egg it will stick and ruin your day. Eggs as an example do not need to be cooked on high, best results come from a steady medium heat. I have cooked so many eggs in this and all of them have slid out with no sticking. If you cook them properly they wont stick. Look on YouTube if you don’t believe me.Last thing I will mention is the design. Some people have made mention about the small handle and design of this product. This is a traditional design hardly changed from the 1800s. Its functional, attractive and looks like a piece of history. If you don’t like the design lodge offer a more modern design with a longer handle and more curved inner. It’s the same pan with just a different take. I would have recommended those people looked at lodges full range if this was an issue for them.I love this pan and so will my grandkids.

4.6.2017

This is my second go with a cast iron pan, I had generic cheap one about 2 years ago, but I think the combination of the poor quality finish and me not using it properly meant it ended up in the scrap metal pile. I decided to have another go after seeing people cook with them on YouTube. After some research I bought a Lodge 10.25 inch skillet. When I opened the package it was as I was expecting, there was a rough finish all over the pan as shown in the video about the manufacturing process you can watch on the Lodge web site. The first thing I did was season it for a second time as suggested by many owners. I rubbed it with some cold pressed hemp oil on a kitchen towel and baked it at 200 degrees Centigrade for about 2 hours and let it cool in the oven.I then tried frying a couple of eggs, again with hemp oil. This did not go well, the eggs stuck to the pan like **** to a blanket. I was not happy. The next thing I tried was to sand the cooking surface smooth and re season it. I did this with an abrasive flexible sanding disk on my electric drill, this took a little while and was dirty work but I got a much smoother finish. I re seasoned with hemp oil again and this time it came out of the oven a copper colour rather than the black colour with the Lodge seasoning. This time when I cooked some eggs I used a little bit of butter in the pan and it was as non stick as a new non stick pan, I was amazed. I wasn't sure what had caused the difference, was it the sanding or was it the butter? so I tried various types of veg oil, the processed stuff that's bad for you and cold pressed stuff that is supposed to be better for you. All had varying results, mainly bad. I have come to the conclusion that butter is best for the skillet, both cooking and seasoning, there is something about the way it spreads in the pan and coats the surface, unlike oil which just pools together. I have used nothing but butter for weeks now and nothing sticks, there are some exceptions though; be careful cooking things with sugars in them, I cooked some red peppers and the natural sugars in them burned and stuck to the pan, thought the veg itself didn't, it got nice and char grilled. All I did to clean the pan was pour in a little boiling water and while still on the heat and give it a good scrub with little round, wooden, stiff bristled pan scrubber and no detergent. I rinsed it out, dried it on heat and greased it with some butter. Be careful with bacon, it can make a real mess of the pan, I fried some cheap supermarket bacon (I live in the UK, I don't know what it is like in the rest of the world but i guess it is similar) and the saline/salt water the use to cure it also had sugar in it (I didn't know this until I checked), this resulted in horrible brown sticky mess in the pan that was very hard to remove. I had to use wet and dry sand paper and re season it. So my advice is, if you are cooking bacon, make sure it is dry cured (the old fashioned/traditional way) with no added sugars. Cooking acidic foods like tomatoes, or adding acidic ingredients like balsamic vinegar can strip the seasoning, but re seasoning is simple with the boiling water process mentioned above, then drying thoroughly, applying some butter with kitchen towel, then an hour in the oven. Lastly, I'm thinking of getting a lodge dutch oven, and the lid can double as a shallow skillet, this may be a more versatile option if you are going to buy a cast iron pan. Don't worry about the sanding process, looking back, I think the problems I experienced were due to using veg oils to cook (use butter, I haven't tried lard or other animal fat, not sure what works best for vegans...) and not letting the pan heat properly before adding the food.

26.9.2015

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!

21.2.2020

Like most people I've gone through my fair share of non stick pans and skillets in the past and really wanted a long term option that was going to improve the taste of food and the way it was cooked.I wasn't too concerned about cost due to spending a lot of money on pans in the past, then having to replace them after a while, which is really a false economy.Lodge, a US brand, have a great name for quality and you can literally use them on anything from camp fire to barbecue to stove.I've had mine for about 6 months now, enough time for a decent review and have to say it's been excellent and somehow it seems to make the food taste better (could just be in my head !)A couple of points to be aware of though,the pan is heavy! I'm 6 foot 2, average build and it can get difficult to manoeuvre when dishing out of it. Not a major problem as you can bring your plate to it instead but that might not work for you all the time.My wife who is 5 foot 3 and quite petit, cannot realistically dish up with this pan.Another point is, make sure you keep this pan well seasoned.Using oil to cook with it all the time kind of defeats the point, when it is seasoned well you need very little oil, if any to cook even the trickiest of foods, like fried eggs. Seasoning the pan is straight forward enough, a little olive oil on kitchen towel, rub all over the inside and outside of the pan, then put in the oven on 200c for an hour.Job done.If you don't do this, food will stick or you will have to use a lot of oil. Both of these reasons means you won't get the most out of the pan and defeats the object of having it in the first place.Lastly, it gets hot, really hot. I currently have the recommended silicone handle on it (see Silicone Handle review) and this is okay but definitely doesn't allow you to pick the pan up without an oven glove after half an hour of using it, which again isn't a problem but there could be a better solution.I have recently looked into the leather 'Lodge' handle cover which is supposed to be absolutely brilliant for the heat distribution but also about £20.That would however be worth it for a life time of oven gloveless pan use, with no burnt hands !I'll review this when I get it.I have concentrated on the more negative points but only because these are the niggles that stop it from being the best utensil in your kitchen, ever!However, from a positive perspective I will say that it's the best pan/skillet I have ever owned.The heat distribution gives you the consistency and control you realise you need to get the food cooked thoroughly and as said above, it just seems to make everything taste that much better.Especially when cooking Steak, the quality immediately becomes evident, being able to get from rare to well done with accurate consistency, making the pan well worth the money alone for that reason in my eyes.

7.8.2016

After using hard anodised pans for many years- which I've always got on well with, I though I'd give a proper cast iron skillet a go- especially at this price! I had to buy a silicone handle-holder as well- more on that later!Out of the box, the strength of this cookware was obvious- it's just heavy enough to make me think twice about flipping pancakes in it- but otherwise not a problem. The slightly rough texture is meant to be there apparently- all part of the pre-seasoning process. As per instructions, I rubbed a film of lard (coconut oil works well too) into the surface, top bottom, sides and handle of the skillet with a kitchen towel and placed it upside-down in the oven at 170 degrees.

25.2.2012

Years ago I had a cast iron skillet, which is long gone, and I decided I needed another. By far my main motivator was and is healthy cooking. I am very concerned with non-stick coatings and the sometimes toxic chemicals released. Stainless steel pans are an incredible pain to clean up. Everything seems to stick. Cast iron was the obvious alternative. I ended up buying this one despite the cost because of the good reviews and the added handle. There were several very cheap cast iron pans but I was concerned from the reviews about the roughness of the finish. Probably they would be fine and a great deal, but several reviewers mentioned sanding the finish.

7.10.2011

Cast iron frypans are as good a wok substitute as it gets for those without gas cookers. If you treat them exactly like a wok - seasoning with oil and heat, no detergent - they are exactly as non-stick as you need them to be. I checked the reviews here that warned against frying eggs straight away with a new one of these Lodge skillets. But the first fry I wanted to do when the skillet arrived was fried rice. Luckily, that involves only needing broken up fragments of well-scrambled egg. I did another little season just for good measure - a rub of oil and a low heat for an hour - then fried a few of the other ingredients in plenty of oil - fish cake, onions, etc. Then I had a go at the egg,

21.4.2015

I bought this cast iron skillet as I was fed up of replacing non-stick pans and thought that it would be much harder for the family to destroy this one. This is the first cast iron pan I have owned and was a little wary at first so I did a bit of research on YouTube. I did not pre-season the pan as it looked fine with the Lodge pre-seasoning so I just gave it a thorough scrub before the first use. The first thing I cooked was bacon as I had heard that that was a good thing to cook in a new cast iron pan. The bacon cooked wonderfully, so full of flavour. It is simple to wash out. Just a rinse and scrub with plain hot water (no washing up liquid) using a grill pan brush,

6.5.2019

I have been through a lot of pans from different makes for cooking dosas and rotis which need very high heat and retain heat on my ceramic hob. Traditionally, cast iron pans are used for making dosas due to their heat retaining capacity. Having read several reviews of different pans, Lodge had some of the best reviews but I was prepared to be disappointed.The package was delivered within couple of days and protected well with bubblewrap and box. After a quick wash and a few rounds of oiling/heating/cooling, I made an omelette which came out okish but the dosas would get stuck. For the next few days, I used the pan to warm scones, toast sandwiches and anything that would need butter/oil and heat.If food got stuck,

7.11.2016

Having changed to an induction hob, I needed to replace my copper bottomed pans. Reading reviews and on the web, cast iron seemed a sensible choice. It also seemed that seasoning a number of times was the way to go before using for real(6 seemed to be the magic number).I used coconut oil(Tesco £3) as it has a high smoke point, is sufficiently unsaturated to polymerise and any surplus on the fingers after coating the pan can simply rubbed into the skin as a conditioner, it is much more pleasant to use than e.g. lard and much cheaper than flaxseed oil.For each seasoning I rubbed a thin layer of oil over the pan, blotted any excess off and placed upside down in the oven to heat to 230-250 C for about an hour,

3.2.2018

We use this pan for everything except eggs. We've had this one for quite a while now so I feel like i can give a longer term review. The biggest thing I don't like about this pan is that it didn't feel like it came sufficiently pre- seasoned, so we looked up some videos and instructions and did it. Now it feels like the more we use the pan the better it gets. My husband and I both just Love this thing. The only thing it doesn't seem to cook right is eggs. There seems to be a bit of a learning curve when it comes to cast iron, but once you figure it out, it's very enjoyable to cook on and the food comes out delicious.Tips on how we seasoned it: there are lots of opinions on which oil to use but we just went with plain ole vegetable oil.

2.7.2011

Cast Iron frys hotly in a way that non-stick never can ensuring that food like bacon or steak is kept crisp and not allowed to broil in a watery fat if it has been doctored with water (as so many meats are). LIke many non-stick owners, you may have found that non-stick stops non-sticking the first time the kids use a fork to get their food out of it and even the best 'plastic' spatula can't get under a fried egg in the way a metal one can. While non-stick deteriorates with time, cast-iron, correctly treated (wipe with kitchen paper and oil after use rather than washing), will just get better. For this reason, when my 40 year-old plus second-hand pan developed a crack (overheated when empty then cooled too quickly)

23.9.2016

I love this skillet! My sister and I argued over who would get our mother's and grandmother's cast iron skillets and my sister, being older won. I've had to source my own and this is one of them.Just made a full English breakfast in this skillet and went from hash browns, to sausages, to bacon, to eggs in a smooth transition with no sticking, no hassles.I followed the directions when the skillet came and washed in soapy water, gave it a good wipe with Crisco shortening and let it heat through. Again, I wiped it out with kitchen roll when cool and put it in the cupboard to wait for use.Today, it went onto the heat source to heat up and when sufficiently hot (an old trick my mother taught me years ago,

1.1.2018

Over the years I have wasted money on so many non-sticks. Now I have gone back to using these and I was astounded how my steaks were coming out as perfectly as if my mum had made them. Of course! This is what she used when I was growing up in Canada. It's not just the hand that makes them it's the tools that you use!If you season the pan correctly it will become non-stick and you can use it for cooking the most delicious omelettes. (google 'season cast iron pans' for more info).Perfect for giving steaks and veggies. It gives a luscious brown sear sear. it. I've also tried searing a roast beef before roasting it in the oven and it gave it a beautiful colour and taste. It is solid,

22.7.2019

This cast iron pan is a revelation. I've never used cast iron before but was familiar with why it might be a good idea. It's pretty well seasoned so I was able to fry an egg on it right away without sticking. I seasoned it a couple of times in the oven and it's now more non-stick than any non-stick pan I've used. Was cooking thin crepes in about a week. Furthermore, something about the surface (maybe how hot it gets) gives a lovely crust to things like eggs and steaks. So food is actually nicer on this thing than my old pan.I'm never buying another non-stick pan again. The coatings on those things degrade quickly and then the pan is useless.I clean it soon after use and oil it lightly.

Lodge Logic 26cm - Reviews

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