Lodge Logic 10-Inch Chef's Skillet

Nope, it's cuz Lindy stir-frys. Lindy has used cheap non-sticks skillets, expensive non-stick skillets and was considering the ones that cost a bomb in Williams-Sonoma (Lindy like shiny...oooh..., aaah...) when the kindly and knowledgeable saleswoman informed her that there was not a non-stick skillet on the market that could tolerate daily stir-fry even with the temperature correctly set to medium heat (err....yeah....) for much more than a year. This tallied exactly and precisely with Lindy's experience with non-stick coatings, no matter the price.

Sigh. Lindy is not made of money. Sigh.

So at the nearest Wally World, Lindy found this skillet in the clearance section without the instructions for seasoning. Half price. Score!

A quick internet search netted much advice for seasoning the pan.

From the Lodge website:

"Re-Seasoning your Lodge Cast Iron
While maintaining the seasoning (as in Step 5 above) should keep your Cast Iron in good condition, at some point you may need to repeat the seasoning process. If food sticks to the surface, or you notice a dull, gray color, repeat the seasoning process:

Wash the cookware with hot, soapy water and a stiff brush. (It is okay to use soap this time because you are preparing to re-season the cookware).

Rinse and dry completely.

Apply a thin, even coating of MELTED solid vegetable shortening (or cooking oil of your choice) to the cookware (inside and out).

Place aluminum foil on the bottom rack of the oven to catch any dripping.

Set oven temperature to 350 - 400 degrees F.

Place cookware upside down on the top rack of the oven.
Bake the cookware for at least one hour. After the hour, turn the oven off and let the cookware cool in the oven.
Store the cookware uncovered, in a dry place when cooled."

Other internet sites are big fans of bacon grease. Simply put, you will need some kind of solid fat that can take very high heat in order to season the pan. Lindy knows that Crisco will take very high heat and is easier to obtain than bacon grease. Lindy doesn't eat bacon because of her high cholesterol.

Not that Lindy EVER burns food in her spiffy frypan but should this happen to you, scrap/soak/remove as much as possible, then place the pan on the burner set to max heat. The heat will burn off the crud and the pan will not rust. You can add salt to the pan and use it as an abrasive to help scrub off the food bits as they carbonize. Re-seasoning at this point is useful but not utterly necessary. Lindy would like to give credit where credit is due and report that Lindy's Mommy taught her this trick.

If you don't re-season, you'll just need more oil than usual until the seasoning builds up again. Once this happens, eggs don't stick. Steaks sear on the outside and are juicy on the inside. Lindy can break her diet and make fried rice. Use one of those plastic bottles with a tiny tip to drip oil in as needed and your food won't be too much fattier than using regular non-stick.

But Lindy is very scared for her toes if she ever drops the pan. Never use one hand to move it.

Most of my pans are All-Clads that I picked up at really good prices (for instance, a $105 MC2 2-quart pot I found at Dillard's inexplicably mismarked for $23.75), and even though they're really nice, this cheap Lodge is the pan I use by far the most often. I've had it for 3 years now, and I can't imagine a day in the kitchen without it. I prefer it to my 12" Lodge skillet not only because it is a more manageable size, but also because of the longer, curved handle and the nicely-sloped sides that make tossing or getting under food easy.

Though the pan does come seasoned, the texture is still quite rough, so you might find that it isn't really and truly nonstick until you've used it for a while. After a few weeks of use, though, mine was shinier and rarely ever stuck. I accidentally burned off most of the seasoning on the inside last year and pretty much had to start over, but now it's blacker and slicker than it was before. I clean it every now and then with soap and water, but most of the time a scour with salt and a paper towel held in tongs right after use while the pan is still on the burner is enough. Every so often, I smear a very light coat of shortening or vegetable oil all over the entire pan and throw it in the oven on 450-500F for about 3-4 hours. It's honestly less work than it sounds like - it's more effort to wash one of my other pans.

There are other brands of cast iron cookware out there, and while I haven't tried them, my experience with my Lodge has made me loyal. If I had a second large burner on my stove, I'd buy a second one of these right now.

This low-tech oven skillet works as designed. I use it to make Dutch Babies (German pancakes) for breakfast and it does a great job at this task. Not much more you can say... it's just a big, heavy skillet that works.

This pan can do anything. It even makes an electric stove cook well. The preseasoning is a bonus.

I've been cooking with this for about 2 months now, and you simply can't use it the same way as you would a teflon pan.

The pros are: its healthier to use, it lasts longer, and if you cook correctly on it, its just as easy to clean as teflon.

The cons are: you will have to cook on a higher heat. for example, if you cook scrambled eggs on a low heat they will fuse to the bottom of the pan. if you cook on a high heat, they dance on it and come right off. So, you have to learn how to cook differently.

So far, I've cooked eggs, french toast, pancakes, reheated pizza, reheated steak, diced potatoes... the list goes on.

As for cleaning, I have to put about as much effort as I did into my teflon pan, but, its a different kind of effort and I don't like cleaning it as much.

If you want to consider this as an alternative to the teflon you are used to, I would highly recommend that you be PATIENT and WILLING TO LEARN. Otherwise, you will get frustrated with it.

Overall, for what it is, its a great pan at a great price. Of course, i'm a member of Amazon prime, so that made it fast, cheap, and quality, which is really hard to get in one package.