After I learned to season it quick like 7 times, and started using a bush and cup with a dap of oil on the side I kept around to wipe with oil when done, and learned to due to size I needed to have rag on edge of sink when dumping out water, and then I often but not always heat up water in electric kettle to pour in when done cooking in order to not shock it. I find after all this that I actually do basically no scrubbing, just a bit of scraping with the metal spatula while the hot water is in it. And then I use a silicone handle on one side I had gotten and I want to get the other side for the silicone side to hold but I just use a pot holder for the other side, thicker one. But I find now that this is an ideal pan to cook everything and anything and many things. I just leave it on top of my stove for daily use. And the weight, for the same reason a mechanics arms are big while not lifting, their muscles are big purely due to making the same motion every day repetitively with the wrench. It’s called a hermetic stressor, the same way weight session (more stressful obviously) and a hot sauna, cold plunge, run, etc, are all good forms of stress that cause adaptation, So to does this just cause you to lift a heavier pot a few times a day as you cook. For vast majority of us it’s nothing. But I told my mom for instance that she should use it and she complained how heavy it was, and my brutal honest response was “that’s exactly why you need to be using it because it’s not like you are working out”. It won’t make you buff, just a bit heavier than a similiar size pan, but for the older crowd who find it important to get their exercises in at the pool and such, this is no different. Plus, once I learned to clean efficiently and season a couple times, it’s a god send of a pan. I love it. I just want to put that “it’s too heavy” criticisism that comes with cast iron in a new light. Your body adapts, allow it too gradually. I will at some point be adding a top to this, I just haven’t decided if I need to get the lodge glass one which would be nice or a silicone one for this, or just a cast iron one to keep the theme and look and durability forever. (Glass and silicone could both break in different ways). I do love this pan as I will admit, one of the reason I got this pan, being some one who can be hard on things by temperment, after knowing roughly how to care for this pan, I also have a lisence to absolutely abuse it and can’t scratch it or anything. Because once you have researched a couple of ways to take rust off and to totally reseason and recondition an old used on for instance, you have the confidence to own this the rest of your life and not ever feel like your going to rune it. I’m also strategically lazy, I call efficient, my mom thinks different, lol, but anyway, the fastest way to clean any pan is with hot water right when done cooking as it burns and melts stuff right off, I can do that with this without worrying how it affects coatings or anything and I can do that to kingdom come. I just try to throw water from kettle on it ideally but not always. Again, the point of these pans is the amazing non stick coating that develops after use and learning to season a few more times your self, but that you can absolutely abuse these pans and know they will last. There is a certain security that’s nice to feel with knowing that. The fact that it has a great non stick that develops after some use and is durable Af, I’m in love.

Plus ever seen those videos on YouTube about how baking/pizza steel beats baking/pizza stones every time because of how the metal works vs the ceramic of the stone. It just hit me that this pan is also big enough to make a 15 inch pizza, and when making one for one to a few people depending how thick it is, that’s a good size to use as a pizza steel in the oven. I do even ti ally want a baking steel as I even learned you can leave those in your oven as it helps regulate the temperature in oven by functioning as a ballast in your oven. Don’t even have to clean those. Just let the oven burn stuff off. None the less, till then this will work as a great pizza steel surface too.

++. I don’t have much sense of smell, a bit impulsive so I tottally would put it on “HIGH” on the stove every time. Might turn it down at times but it always creates smoke which didn’t matter to me, but got my mom has the higher disgust sensitivity (these two traits in the house do not get along well) anyway, I out of impatience realized I had a habit of heating it up quickly on high, Then I realized I tested how long it takes to smoke with the oil I was using to season it after each cook. I timed how long on high, waited till room temp, tested how long on medium, etc. Did this for any cast iron and carbon steel pans I have too. And in this one I can get away on our gas burner stove on high:

High Canola 400°-450° 4m 34s

Medium Canola 400°-450° 6m 43s

400°-450°=smoke point at which smoke appears as the oil is actually starting to burn (note health wise causing this isn’t healthy so avoid normally by following these instructions). You can do the same test on your stove with your seasoning pans. And now I just run it for 3mins on high but then turn to medium or lower. Could probably get away with 3:30 duration on high. But this way you can cook at medium or a tad lower after.

If you haven't already taken the leap into cast iron you should think about it. First off the pan is cheap, durable and generally non-stick. Does this mean nothing will stick to this pan? No but if you have the right temperature and use the right amount of fat/oil when cooking and take care of this pan it will take care of you. I would say this pan excels at proteins first and foremost. I have cooked bacon, eggs and pancakes right after one another and nothing stuck to this pan. I would say vegetables are also a favorite in this pan as well because of the great flavor this pan helps create through the oil and char you can achieve with this pan.

If you are the type of person that cooks and then puts the pans in the sink for a later time then cast iron might not be for you but I have left this pan in a sink for a few hours or on the stove top overnight and cleaned the next day so it is worth a shot. If you are the type of person who lets pans soak in water overnight or puts them immediately into a dishwasher for cleaning then this pan is definitely not for you unless you are willing to make an exception with this pan.

Did I have immediate success with this pan right away? No I didn't. I had food stick and I had issues with cleaning the pan and reseasoning the pan and had to look for advice on the internet to solve my issues because not many people use cast iron so I couldn't ask them.

Some of my mistakes were simple ones to make as I have always used either stainless steel or non-stick pans. I didn't wait long enough for the pan to heat up. Take it easy and heat this pan up on medium before you start cooking. Don't think this amount of iron will be hot in 5 minutes. You may need to wait 15 minutes to get this pan heated evenly but I would say put the pan on the heat before you start your prep. The next issue is using enough oil. You don't need a ton of oil but you should use a healthy amount. If you are frying then yea sure use a ton of oil but generally your food doesn't need to be swimming in oil but coat the bottom of the pan. I would advise against using black pepper on your steak if searing. The high temps will burn the pepper causing smoke and burnt flavor on your steak. You are better off using just salt before cooking and fresh cracked pepper afterwards. Acidic food like tomatoes are okay in the pan but make sure you have a well seasoned pan. I would stay away from sauces but cut up tomatoes in the pan for your first few uses should be fine. You need to build a good layer first before tackling sauces. This pan excels at bacon and frying so if you are in the mood to do either this pan will be your best friend. The pan is shallow so it isn't meant for deep frying but I have done fish and chicken where I had to flip and it worked great.

Also take care of this pan. Scrub it down with soap and water. Yes you can use soap I do all the time but I also rinse thoroughly and dry immediately over heat and spread another thin, thin, thin layer of oil on it too. Every other month or so I give it a good scrubbing and then apply a light coat of oil and stick in a 500 degree oven, upside-down for an hour or so and then turn off the oven and let it cool. This adds additional seasoning to the pan. You can overseason the pan which I have done and all I did was heat, scrub, wash which eliminated most of the excess seasoning. A salt scrub can help as well or if you really are in the weeds you can get a more aggressive scour pad and remove all the seasoning and start from scratch. Shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to strip and then dry. The time in the oven will be what takes the most time but at that point its set and forget. You just need multiple layers so it will need a lot of oven time like 6 hours or more depending on your diligence.

The best advice is keep cooking and don't be afraid to experiment, keep the temperature lower than you think you need and don't rush the food it will be done when it is done.

I picked this up back in October, and it's quickly become one of my most-used pans. I can see why it's such a top seller.

What I love:

· Built to last – this thing is solid. No worries about non-stick coatings wearing off or chemicals leaching. It's pure, simple, durable iron.

· Great heat retention – once it's hot, it stays hot. Perfect for getting a good sear on steak, crispy skin on chicken, or even baking cornbread. I've used it on the stovetop, in the oven, and on the grill—it handles it all.

· Natural non-stick with use – the factory seasoning is a good start, but it truly becomes non-stick the more you cook with it. Fry an egg after a few months of use, and it slides right off.

· Versatile – oven-safe, stovetop-safe (including induction), campfire-safe. It really does it all.

A few things to know:

· It's heavy. Not a big deal for everyday cooking, but if you have wrist issues or prefer lightweight pans, it's worth noting.

· Care is different – no soap in the dishwasher (hand wash only), and you need to dry it thoroughly and rub a thin layer of oil after each use to maintain the seasoning. It sounds like a lot, but it becomes second nature quickly.

· The surface isn't glass-smooth like vintage cast iron or some higher-end brands, but it still performs great and smooths out over time.

Overall, this is a fantastic workhorse pan that will last a lifetime if cared for. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys cooking—whether you're new to cast iron or a seasoned pro.

First experience with a cast iron skillet, only used it once, just put a little oil in pan let it heat up cooked very well. Clean up was easy then oiled pan little, I definitely like it so far. Also got it on sale so price was good. Also the silicone handle cover is a nice extra.

TL;DR version - The skillet is awesome, it cooks everything from dutch babies to searing meat without any sticking or hot spots. No kitchen is complete without a cast iron skillet.

------

Now that's out of the way, if you haven't cooked with cast iron you're missing out, and you've also got a lot to learn, so here's a crash course to help figure out if this skillet is right for you.

Advantages of cast iron:

* cast iron has a high density, thus is retains heat extremely well

* it's great at distributing even heat

* properly seasoned cast iron can perform with the best non-stick pans

* they are built to last longer than you, many are passed down generation to generation

* you could rearrange a home intruder's face with a good swing of a cast iron pan

Disadvantages of cast iron:

* unseasoned cast iron will rust quicker than you imagine

* takes longer to heat up than your nonstick or steel

* will probably crack if thermally shocked or dropped

* they are heavier than any other type of cooking vessel

A lot of the disadvantages of cast iron are easily addressable with a bit of common sense. First and foremost, cast iron has to be completely seasoned. This means the cooking surface, the bottom, the handle, everything. The good news is, this is pretty easy to do and the more you use the pan the better your seasoning gets.

Seasoning your cookware:

There are many discussions as to how to properly season cast iron. A recent post on lifehacker sums them up best. Basically what everyone agrees on is the vessel is covered in a layer of fat, and is put under high heat until the fat polymerizes. You let the pan cool, and repeat until you have multiple thin layers of polymerized fat. The discrepancies are what type of fat to use, the baking temp/time, and the best practices to maintain your seasoning.

Traditionalists will argue that lard is best, because that's the way it always has been done. I've seasoned with bacon fat, and I'm a big fan of it. It satisfies the inner animal in me and makes me feel I'm cooking in the manliest way possible without putting a whole animal into a fire - not that I'm insecure about such things. I've also seasoned with vegetable oil, and found that it produces almost identical performance that lard does. The food science crowd suggests using flax seed oil, because it polymerizes easiest. I haven't had a chance to try seasoning with flax seed oil, but it's what I plan on doing after my next move in a few months. Another point to bring up, is that cast iron used to be offered polished and unpolished. The Lodge skillet comes unpolished, meaning it has a textured surface. I think before I do the flax seed oil seasoning, I will likely use a dremel/sandpaper to smooth the cooking surface purely for aesthetic purposes to flaunt that I take care of my cookware. Polished cast iron does offer the benefit of more exposed internal pores, so the seasoning sticks better, but I've never had an issue seasoning so this point is moot.

I've done both high heat and medium heat for seasoning, and I find that the hotter the oven the better the seasoning. If you fail to season above 350f, you will likely end up with a browned pan that is slightly sticky because the fat didn't form a polymer, and will make you leave an unnecessary low star Amazon review and never know the benefits of cast iron. My suggestion is scrub the skillet with steel wool and soap until the water runs clear and you're sure there's no soap remaining on the cast iron. Dry the skillet completely, and cover with oil; make sure you get the handles, bottom, and top. Place a cookie sheet below the oven rack to catch any drips so you don't burn the house down. Heat the oven to 400f to 500f and put the skillet in there and bake for an hour - not including the preheating time. Putting it in a cold oven may be unnecessary, however this is the thermal shock downfall I mentioned earlier. It's better to get into the habit of avoiding massive temperature changes so you can pass the skillet down to your children's children. After the hour, shut off the oven and allow the skillet to cook down. This initial seasoning layer isn't quite ready for primetime, if you were to cook something with tomatoes, lemons, vinegar you could very well screw it all up because of the low PH reacting to the thin layer of fat polymer and possibly penetrating all the way to the cast iron. Too much science for me, so to be on the safe side if I'm going to be using the oven with temperatures in excess of 375f I make sure the cast iron gets another layer of fat and gets re-seasoned. Usually after about 3 or 4 trips to the oven, it could withstand just about anything.

Now that you're seasoned, how do you not screw this up? First and foremost, I use metal utensils on it because it inevitably makes it easier to clean if stuff isn't stuck to it for very long. Providing you're not trying drill for oil through the pan, the polymer should be hard enough to not flake off and ruin your day. Next, make sure you invest in a large thing of salt. I don't think it's anything chemical about salt that allows it to clean the pan, but it's an edible scouring powder. I've read that because we generally don't use dish soaps that contain lye, they should be gentle enough to use on cast iron. I cannot confirm or deny this, because I find just using salt and a bit of oil to make a paste works just as well. Get a paper towel and polish down the dried bits of food until it resembles how it started. It may not have the same shine, but you should be completely drying the skillet and applying a real thin coat of oil to it. There's your shine. It's important to continuously use the skillet to maintain the coat. This doesn't mean every night, but treat yourself to a steak for dinner or pannekoeken for breakfast once a week - your skillet and taste buds will thank you.

Love this pan. Right size for me. Cleans up well.

Sorry for the long review - for the short review, count the stars!

I'm a bit of a purist. I always season my cast iron - new, or used (hey, I don't know WHAT someone else used that old piece of cast iron for - maybe cleaning auto parts). I sand it down to bare metal, starting with about an 80 grit and finishing with 200.

Then I season. The end result is a glossy black mirror that puts Teflon to shame. There are two mistakes people make when seasoning - not hot enough, not long enough. These mistakes give the same result - a sticky brown coating that is definitely not non-stick, and the first time they bring any real heat to the pan, clouds of smoke that they neither expected or wanted. I see several complaints here that are completely due to not knowing this.

But there were a few pieces I needed (yes, needed, cast iron isn't about want, it's a need), and this was one of them, so I thought I'd give the Lodge pre-seasoning a try. Ordered last Friday, received this Friday - free shipping, yay!

The first thing I noticed was the bumpy coating. The inside is actually rougher than the outside, and my hand was itching for the sandpaper, but that would have defeated the experiment. This time, I was going to give the Lodge pre-seasoning a chance before I broke out the sandpaper. So I scrubbed the pan out with a plastic brush and a little soapy water, rinsed well, put it on a medium burner, and waited. Cast iron tip number one - give it a little time. Then give it a little more time. Cast iron conducts heat much more slowly than aluminum, so you have to have a little patience.

Then I threw in a pat of butter, and brought out the natural enemy of badly seasoned cast iron - the egg. And, sure enough, it stuck - but not badly, just in the middle. A bit of spatula work and I actually got a passable over-medium egg. Hmmm. But still not good enough. So I cleaned up the pan, and broke out the lard.

I have only one justification for using lard. I don't remember Grandma using refined hand-pressed organic flax oil, or purified extra-virgin olive oil made by real virgins. Nope, it was pretty much animal fat in her iron. A scoop of bacon grease from the mason jar beside the stove and she was ready to cook anything. Grandaddy wouldn't eat a piece of meat that had less than a half-inch of fat around it. "Tastes like a dry old shoe.", he'd declare if it was too lean. In the end, I'm sure their diet killed them, but they ate well in the meantime. Grandaddy was cut down at the tender age of 96, and Grandma lasted till 98. Eat what you want folks - in the end, it's pretty much up to your genetics.

So I warmed up my new pieces, and smeared a very thin layer of lard all over them - use your fingers. Towels, especially paper towels, will shed lint, and lint in your seasoning coat doesn't help things at all. Besides, it's kinda fun.

Here's cast iron tip number two - season at the highest temp you think you'll ever cook at - or higher. If you don't, you won't get the full non-stick thing, and the first time you bring it up to that temp you'll get clouds of smoke from the unfinished seasoning. I put my pieces in a cold oven, and set the temp for an hour at 500 degrees (F, not C). Yeah, I know, Lodge says 350. Lodge doesn't want panicked support calls from people whose house is full of smoke. Crank the heat up.

You have two choices here. You can put a fan in the kitchen window and blow smoke out of your house like the battleship Bismarck under attack by the Royal Navy, or invest in an oxygen mask. You will get smoke. You will get lots of smoke, especially if you're doing several pieces at once, like I just did. This is a good thing - that's smoke that won't be jumping out to surprise you the first time you try to cook with any real heat. The goal is to heat until you don't get smoke, and in my experience, 500 degrees for an hour does that pretty well.

Let the pieces cool in the closed oven. Then re-grease and repeat. And repeat again. And don't glop the fat on. Just enough to coat. More thin layers are better than fewer gloppy layers. I managed four layers last night without my neighbors calling the fire department.

Seems like a lot of work? Look at it this way. It's a lifetime commitment. Treat your iron well, and it will love you right back like you've never been loved before. And this is pretty much a one-time deal, unless you do something silly.

The end result of my all-night smoking up the kitchen exercise? Dry, absolutely no stickiness, black as a coal mine at midnight and shiny - but still bumpy - could it possibly work with that rough surface?

I put the skillet back on a medium burner, put a pat of butter on and tossed in a couple of eggs. After the whites had set a little, I nudged them with a spatula, and they scooted across the pan. I'll be... it works. My wife came back from the store and wanted scrambled eggs. If there's anything that cast iron likes less than fried eggs, it's scrambled. But it was the same thing all over again. No stick. No cleanup. Just a quick hot water rinse with a brush in case something got left on the pan (I couldn't see anything, but hey), then I put it on a med-hi burner till dry, put a thin coat of lard on the pan and waited until I saw smoke for a minute. Let cool and hang up. Done.

So. do I like the bumpy texture of the Lodge pre-season? Nope. Does it work? Yes, and contrary to my misgivings, it works very well. My wife pointed out that even some Teflon cookware has textured patterns in it. The Lodge pre-season isn't a perfect surface out of the box - but it does give you a big head-start. After a night's work, my iron is ready to face anything, and you just can't beat that.

Lodge makes a great product. For the quality, durability, and versatility, you can't beat Lodge cast iron. Plus, it's made in America. I like that. If you've never experienced cast iron cooking, you've just been cheating yourself. Plus, the price, for a piece of lifetime cookware, is insanely cheap.

And my sandpaper is still on the tool shelf.

I bought 2 of the Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Skillets 6.5 inches...I already had the 8 inch for a few years now and love it that i wanted some smaller ones for my toaster oven and making a skillet cookie since never in my life have made one...Last night i made a brown butter chocolate chip skillet cooking in this cast iron in my toaster oven and it was perfect...it cooked evenly. fit right into my Hamilton Beach 4 Slice counter top Toaster Oven with no problems..heating up nicely with no problems that i noticed...I sprayed it first with Baker's Joy baking spray with flour on the cast iron then pressed my homemade cookie dough into the cast iron pan without any problems in the toaster oven it went at 350 for 20 min and was nicely done... was easy to pull in and out of the toaster oven its not light as a feather but also not a ton bricks to pick up either has a nice weight to it...I see these lasting me for years to come...once all done I washed it in hot water little bit of dawn dish soap dried it really well right after washing and re seasoned it with carapelli unfiltered extra virgin olive oil... best olive oil and ive tried all kinds over the years and nope nothing compares to this extra virgin olive oil i def recommend trying it out... anyway was very easy to season again and the pre seasoning of it was fine i didn't notice any distinct smell or ruining of my baked good in it at all...it is sturdy and made of excellent quality def would recommend this cast iron pan ... can't wait to get and try out their bread loaf pans and def the cupcake / muffin pan....

An absolutely incredible pan! Works fabulously for:

▪︎ eggs (prepared ANY WAY)

▪︎ crepes and pancakes

▪︎ stir fry

▪︎ meat! Chicken breast, pork chips, salmon, shrimp, and tofu

And I will be using it on many more foods!

It comes pre-seasoned but they reccomend cooking something in oil on the first use.

It's truly non stick pan and I adore that the handout it ships with informs you of all materials used to make the pan. Very transparent with their practices and clean materials.

Tips they share on the handout/their site

● slowly heat the pan to your desired temperature to ensure you don't crack the seasoning. I like to chop veggies while I wait.

● the pan will release eggs/protein once it has cooked enough, don't flip too early!

● I purchased the pan scrapers to get off any food debris. It's reccomended to clean this pan with a bit of soap or salt, then dry it completely and season it with oil. Easy to clean.

This pan is something that will last a LONG time. It needs a bit more bit of care than a traditional non-stick, but it is SO WORTH IT!

これで焼くと魔法のようです。

蓋は必須です。

Will never buy anything else. Simply the best.

Sono pesanti e da pulire con attenzione ma il cibo viene buono e sicuro. I lati positivi battono nettamente quelli negativi.

Excelente sartén Lodge 8" para toda la vida! Realmente es de fácil cuidado, sólo lavarlo con un poco de jabón, una gota, tallar con el lado amarillo de la esponja tradicional o cualquier otra no abrasiva, secar inmediatamente y calentar unos 10 minutos o un poco menos en la estufa, aceitar levemente por todos lados y guardar... No sé pega nada, se limpia fácilmente... Seguiré adquiriendo éstos sartenes, ollas y comales para reemplazar los de teflón...