Lodge Chef Collection 8 Inch Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet, Perfect Sear

I recently replaced all of my non-stick pans with stainless steel and cast iron. I've purchased a few items from Lodge, and this little skillet was my first Lodge purchase. I grew up using cast iron in the kitchen- my mother's skillets and Dutch ovens, some of which had belonged to her mother, who was born in 1888. I think I remember my mom saying her mother had inherited them from her mother, so cast iron- it's going to last, if you treat it right. While Lodge is not quite of the same quality as those sadly long-vanished pans, their pans are pretty darn good. And in defense of Lodge's pans, my mother's ancient cast iron had a seamless surface that had been polished by many, many years of cooking. (The interior finish on my Lodge pans is nice and smooth, though, and given me no trouble.) I love my Lodge cast iron! You get a lot of quality for the price. I always season any new cast iron thoroughly prior to use in the oven, even though it has been pre-seasoned; just my personal preference. This little pan is a joy to use. It heats up slowly but really holds on to the heat, so you can turn the burner down and the pan will put a nice crispy crust on your grilled cheese or tuna melt. It cooks little steaks or a hamburger patty for a cheeseburger for one beautifully. I've heated up frozen spaghetti in it, with the burner on low and a cover on the pan. Works great. I leave this pan out, on the top of the stove, as I reach for it so often. When they are adequately seasoned, these cast iron Lodge pans clean up so easily. Sometimes all I need to do is wipe out the crumbs with a paper towel, but if I've cooked a little steak and there is some cooked-on residue, a quick swish with some hot soapy water and a couple of passes with my favorite scrubbing device for cast iron, a Skoy Scrub pad (sold here on Amazon and really inexpensive, and awesome at cleaning cast iron while not removing the seasoned finish) and this little skillet is nice and clean. I then dry it well, put it on the stove, turn the heat up to high, and add a little bit- like the size of a dime, or less- of canola oil to the skillet. Then I take a wadded up paper towel and wipe the oil into and all over the interior surface, making sure to wipe away any extra oil that might be inside of the pan. I wait until the pan starts smoking (do NOT walk away from the pan while doing this!) wait about 60 seconds, turn off the burner, and leave the skillet to cool down where it is. This procedure gives the skillet a nice little bit of seasoning without doing the hour in the oven thing. I've never had any problem with food sticking to this pan, but if I did, I would re-season it in the oven. Never had any rust, as I don't leave water or wet food in it, not even for an hour, and I either wipe it out or wash and quick season it right away. For the great job at cooking this little skillet does, and for how often I find myself using it, the price of this little frying pan was a steal. Please consider replacing your non-stick cookware with its flaky mystery coatings with remarkably durable and non-toxic cast iron. Lodge makes some great cookware. Their quality does not disappoint.

I ordered the Lodge 12" Cast Iron Skillet - Chef Collection because I was tired of looking at flea markets etc for something similar but overpriced. I wanted to buy an old one because of all the bad I've heard about the newer ones. Like the bottoms are to rough, not smooth like the old ones so food is more likely to stick, and the bottoms are warped, and the metal is not good and they don't distribute heat well and a whole host of other bad news about new cast iron. I ordered this one because there were a lot of good reviews on Amazon, and also from professional chefs that compare and review cookware, where this skillet got great reviews in comparisons against similar cookware at sometimes many times the price. Things I like are lower sides, great pour spouts that work without drips, short handle, extra handle/grip comes in handy for moving from stove top to oven with heavy roast in it, and overall lighter weight. The pan came somewhat seasoned and in great condition, just like I would expect. The bottom inside was a little grainy but I also expected that. The bottom was flat and sets perfect on my glass top range. The short handle makes it easy to pickup and control when moving around. I started off with some bacon, then fried a couple of eggs in the grease from that. I had the grease hot when I put the eggs in so the didn't have a chance to stick. I poured of the grease with excellent accuracy from one of the pour spouts. I wiped the pan out with paper towels and put it in the oven at 350 and shut it off after an hour and left it to cool. After that ground beef and, breakfast sausage, more fried eggs and things like that, using it every chance I got. I braised a roast and had a little char left on the bottom. After cooling some I poured in a little water and heated it a little on the burner the left to cool. A quick rinse and wipe out with a little soap on a dish cloth and it was the best it had been. I have been using it for about 6 weeks now, sometimes cooking things in it would normally do in the oven or on the grill just to keep the seasoning process moving. The bottom is now much smoother on the inside than it was in the beginning. Fried eggs over easy are no problem. Heat distribution is great, and it heats up quickly. It cooks hotter than other pans I have at the same setting on the burner. This is my favorite pan now and I won't be afraid to by new lodge pans in the future.

Out of the box, it's pretty rough. Terrible jagged lip as shown in some of the review photos, interior of the pan was so rough that my spatula got caught on it like tiny speed bumps. Casting marks and sharp edges everywhere. Decided I could not live with it, so I stuck it in my bench vise, sanded the lip, the handle, eased all edges, and sanded the interior with 60 grit for about twenty minutes. The result is that all of the "peaks" are gone, but the valleys remain. Reseasoned it with four rounds of peanut oil and baked it outside in my toaster oven at 450 for an hour a time, and the result is a beautiful pan. Immediately tried to make an egg and it stuck, so then I put it on the burner and did two rounds of peanut oil up the smoke point and let it cool. After that, I just started cooking normally and now nothing sticks, including eggs. If you sand your pan, do not use graduated grits. Use something rough, in the 60-80 grit range. That will knock down the high spots and it will feel very smooth even though it still has a pitted texture. That's perfect because the seasoning will stick to that very well and the top will be smooth as glass eventually. To clean it I just wipe it out. Once seasoned, a quick scrub with soap and water won't hurt it. I love the shape of this pan over the traditional pans. The low edges work well for things like hash browns, thinly smashed burgers, and one or two eggs. The curved shape make foods that take up the entire pan (hash browns, quesadillas, a trio of fried eggs) easier to flip. Lodge hit a home run with this one, and with some extra effort and time, you can turn your cheap rough pan into a heirloom piece that will compete with the boutique cast iron pans that cost five times as much.

This is my third Lodge purchase. I am getting away from the sprayed on Teflon unhealthy pans I have been using in the past. This is my favorite now, it's just the right size and the contoured inside edges work nicely when removing food from the pan. I did my usual 60 grit flapper disc smoothing on the inside of the pan (about 50% knock down) and smoothed the handle casting, then season with beef talow, nothing else needed.

It’s understandable, but never-the-less, a little too heavy for a senior citizen. Other than that, I spread shortening over both sides and “seasoned” it in the oven according to directions I found on YouTube. This skillet is now a dream for frying foods. You would not of course do liquids in the same pan. My Mom always had one for frying, one for liquids. Regardless, this is so much better than ANY type of non-stick skillet that I have or have ever had. It’s my second cast iron, the other being smaller, this one is a nice size!

True American made, cast iron cookware. Nicely finished, excellent quality, and easy clean. Prepares food very well with even heat transfer. Hard to find USA made cast iron cookware at a very reasonable price. My wife loves her skillet and uses it every morning. I spray it with the kitchen sink sprayer, and it comes clean in no time. Easy to oil with olive oil to keep seasoned. We are very happy with this product and the Lodge Company. They send easy to follow directions for cooking and cleaning with each pan or skillet.

I have a gas stove top and wanted something to make toasted sandwiches in. This small skillet was just what I needed and can be used for other things as well. Highly recommend this. I have several iron skillets that I have inherited from grandparents and a great aunt. Have one my grandmother got when she got married. That was back in 1918..

Perfect searing! My Tuna came out excellent. It's well made and it cleaned easily! Very happy with my purchase.

Perfect weight and size.The item came well packaged and I would definitely recommend this seller.

There's nothing like a Lodge cast iron pan! I really love the ergonomic handle because I find the straight handles awkward, considering how heavy these pans are. The rounded sides are a great new addition too. Well worth every penny!

Very disappointed. I washed the pan and seasoned it as directed (same as all cast iron pans). I attempted to cook an omelet and the egg stuck to the pan just like a cheap pan.

Ich muss sagen, dass ich mich lange davor gedrückt habe, eine Gusseisenpfanne zu kaufen, weil ich einfach Respekt davor hatte. Was für ein Fehlgedanke! Nachdem ich mich etwas eingelesen habe, habe ich gemerkt, dass die Pflege eigentlich super simpel ist und das Kochen damit echt Spaß macht! Warum Gusseisen? Ganz einfach: es ist gesund. Keine Beschichtung bedeutet zum einen, es können sich keine schädlichen Beschichtungen lösen und zum anderen hat man eine Pfanne (hoffentlich) fürs Leben. Da ich eine Frau bin, tut mir das zusätzliche Eisen, welches man in kleinen Mengen aufnimmt, ebenfalls gut. Lodge bietet viele verschiedene Pfannen, Töpfe etc. in verschiedenen Größen an. Diese Pfanne ist schön groß und ich kann große Mengen darin zubereiten. Sie ist schön verarbeitet und liegt plan auf der Herdplatte auf. Da die Pfanne bereits schon eingebrannt geliefert wird, muss man sie Zuhause nicht mehr einbrennen. Super unkompliziert also. Ich habe es dennoch gemacht, einfach weil ich diesen Prozess lernen wollte (gespült, abgetrocknet, ganz dünn Öl überall aufgetragen und für eine Stunde bei 250 Grad verkehrtherum im Backofen einbgebrannt). Voller Erwartungen habe ich dann angefangen, damit zu braten. Und es klebt tatsächlich nichts an (siehe Video). Das Kochen macht sehr Spaß. Nur Bratkartoffeln habe ich nicht hinbekommen, die sind mir wegen der Stärke dann doch angeklebt. Säurehaltige Lebensmittel wie Tomaten meide ich noch, zumindest solange sich noch keine gute Patina gebildet hat. Zum Braten auch noch ein Tipp: Immer schön die Pfanne und das Öl richtig heiß werden lassen (nicht auf der höchsten Herdstufe! Die Pfanne speichert Wärme auch wunderbar), dann erst das Bratgut reingeben, so klebt nichts an. Zur Pflege: Nach dem Braten lasse ich die Pfanne abkühlen, spüle sie mit einer Bürste ab, trockne sie ordentlich und reibe sie einfach mit etwas Olivenöl wieder ein (Achtung: nicht zu viel, sonst klebt es). Selbst mit Spülmittel reinige ich sie manchmal. Mit der Zeit bildet sich nach mehrmaligem Braten darin schön die Patina, die man haben will. Ein Negativpunkt, der mit Gusseisen einhergeht ist vermutlich, dass die Pfanne sehr schwer ist. Achtung: Bitte nicht auf der Herdplatte schieben, das kann das Ceranfeld ordentlich zerkratzen. Zum anderen wird die Pfanne sehr heiß, auch die Griffe. Da muss man dann aufpassen, besonders wenn man Kinder hat. Ich habe mir Silikongriffe dafür gekauft. Außerdem trockne ich sie nach dem Spülen mit einem Küchentuch und nicht mit meinem Geschirrtuch ab, weil es sonst ziemlich schwarz/dreckig wird. Generell empfehle ich es, sich einfach auf der Homepage von Lodge einzulesen. Dort stehen viele Informationen und Tipps für jegliche "Probleme". Ich will diese Pfanne nicht mehr missen und ich denke, dass ich es auch nicht werden muss, da sie ewig hält 🙂 Also wenn ihr schon länger überlegt eine zu kaufen, greift hier zu! Ich finde Lodge hat eine super Auswahl, bietet sehr viele Informationen, sind seit Jahren Experten in diesem Bereich (seit über 125 Jahren wie ich gelesen habe) und es gibt etliche YouTube Videos (aus Amerika) über diese Pfannen. Der Kauf auf Amazon war wie immer einwandfrei und unkompliziert. Lob an den Verkäufer.

Shipping was very fast, no questions. My cast iron skillet came in the box nice,the problem is at the front of the skillet I saw a ship from manufacture about 1/4 inch long,hope the cast iron skillet will be ok ,in the future.