These non-toxic, nonstick workhorses work like a charm and live larger than life.
April 30, 2019
Cast iron skillets are old-school but standing still. With last-for-long staying, excellent energy saving and nonstick-like surface when seasoned, these traditional pans are unbeatable for frying, searing and sautéing, while can last generations with proper care.
The Winner
Victoria 12-inch (Large) Skillet
This is what a good cast-iron skillet should be—good construction, smooth big surface, ergonomic design and affordable price. Above from solid construction, it has a long, slightly curved ergonomic handle for easier maneuver and a wider helper handle for pot holder, with two bigger pouring spouts for no dripping and remove oils without a mess. Also, it has a good depth and a spacious 10.5” cooking surface for comfortable searing meats, as well as deep fries. What’s more? It’s comparatively lighter and better seasoning than others.
Most Versatile
US-made reliable quality and effective, this iconic cast-iron cookware is highly recommended by many chefs, hailed as an Essential Kitchen Tool by Martha Stewart. This 10-inch skillet is a handy for many kitchen tasks, from golden brown meats, crisp bakes and fried eggs on the stovetop, in the oven, or even over a campfire—with not too bulky to use. This skillet has a long handle makes easy to grip securely and easy to control and an extra helper handle. All along, you can’t go wrong with it.
Best Enameled Cast-Iron
Le Creuset Signature 11 ¾-inch Skillet
Le Creuset’s enameled lines are the cooks-swear-by tools for craft quality and cooking ability. This French skillet, highly recommended by America’s Test Kitchen, provides slick, satiny enameled surface that is durable for handling heavy duties and delicate jobs. The pan has traditional flared rims, sloped sides, big pouring spouts and a wide helper handle and nice weight, not too much burden your wrist to deal. Plus, the lovely vibrant-colored option is certainly gorgeous in your kitchen.
Best Grill Pan
Lodge Square Grill Pan 10.5-inch Skillet
For meat lovers, this pan is the right tool for making perfect grills, sautés and steaks. With thick, ribbed cast-iron construction, it cooks evenly and is good for retaining heat while the ribbed bottom helps getting rid of excessive fat and oil from meat and makes tenderly and juicy texture. We like that this workhorse pan cooks great on many heat sources—all cooking surfaces, ovens, outdoor grills or campfires. Besides, while the US-made build quality is unbeatable, it requires less than $30*.
Full-Featured
While looks modernized, this high-end skillet reminds to the Griswold. The work craft is neat—dense construction, real smooth surface and hefty weight. The performance is unbeatable. It noticeably absorbs heat quicker, more even, and retains heat longer than others that makes perfect searing, roasting or cooking in general. The unique handle prevents burning to grip without a mitt but is a bit awkward for small hands. Plus, the octagonal-shaped, stylish design is stunning that makes worth-splurging.
Best Lightweight
This brand-new-but-smell-like-vintage skillet offers conspicuous features—it’s sturdy yet smoother finish, lighter weight and simple look. While this No.8 (10.25”) is handy to for daily tasks with 8.75” cooking surface, it’s only 4.5 pounds—a pound lighter most cast-iron pans in the same size. The ergonomic handle can be hold snuggly and feels balance in the hand while the tiny front grip doesn’t feel much to help. This sleek-designed skillet has no pour spouts but can pour liquid without a mess.
Best Design
Stargazer has a nice blend for a cast-iron skillet—well-made (and US-made) craftsmanship, lighter weight, super smooth surface and splendid design. Unlike others, it has high-sloped sides that is good for tossing or sautéing while the rounded lips prevents drips liquid when pouring. The Y-shaped long handle makes cool enough to touch even without a mitt while the extended wide assist handle is fully useful. Interestingly, you can order a seasoned pan—the company seasoning is great—or save more $8 to season it yourself.
Best Inexpensive
It’s basic, budget and large skillet. About $20*, this heft 12.5” skillet provides largest cooking surface in its class. The build quality is unbeatable for the price but noticeably heavier than others. Since it has more prone and rougher surface than pricier ones and the company seasoning is poor and thin, it’s found food sticks that makes ineffective for eggs and fish. We recommend putting extra, heavy seasoning to enhance performance. Overall, it’s not a top-notch product but really accents value-buying.
Calphalon 12” Pre-Seasoned Skillet ($25.99*) is found many complaints about craft quality lately, such as holds in the pans, broken handles and badly rough surfaces. Moreover, it has poor designs to use—bad pour spouts that make messy splashes and uncomfortable handles.
While Camp Chef 10” Seasoned Skillet ($19*) has comparable cost as Lodge 10.25” skillet, it has less smooth surface and is found easier food sticks.
Smithey Ironware No.10 ($160*) is US-craft and beautifully neat. The performance and craft quality are unquestionably good like a high-end one. While Smithey skillet has smaller sizes than traditional pans, it has larger cooking space. Comparing to the 10.25” Lodge skillet that has 8.75” cooking surface, the 10” Smithey pan has 9” room. However, we found that the long handle is uncomfortable for carrying this hefty pan, while the tiny assist grip is impractical. This even cumbersome with the 12” skillet, which weights around 7.5 pounds.
Butter Pat Heather 10” Skillet ($195*), another upmarket US-made skillet, has gorgeous design and spotless craftsmanship—looks like a collective stuff but practical for real use. The performance is impressive but not too far from Lodge for searing and roasting. Comparing to the 10” to 10.25” range, it’s much lighter (4.8 pounds) in its range but slightly heavier than Field Company. However, this 10” skillet has smaller 8” cooking surface, which makes less flexibility for daily tasks. Also, the handle is a bit short while the helper grip is difficult to lift the pan.