A cast-iron skillet is great for everything from searing a T-bone to roasting a chicken, and it will become naturally nonstick over time. We’ve tested 16 skillets since 2017, and we think the Lodge Chef Collection 12 Inch Cast Iron Skillet is the best. It's lighter than other cast-iron skillets, better at searing, comes with a good factory seasoning, and has easy-to-grip handles.
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The classic Lodge sears well and is deep enough for frying chicken, but it is hefty to maneuver around the range.
This affordable pan is lighter than a traditional cast-iron skillet and a little shallower. It’s an ideal shape for searing, roasting, and sautéing.
Both of our picks come with adequate factory seasoning, and both built up great nonstick seasoning in long-term testing.
We found that our picks, both under $100 and made in the US, matched or outperformed the higher-end skillets we tested.
Our picks’ handles and helper handles stayed firmly in our grip, even when we used a kitchen towel for insulation.
The pour spouts on our picks allowed us to channel hot oil out of the skillets with little to no spillage.
Looking for something to cook in your cast-iron skillet? Try these recipes for cast-iron steak, sourdough pancakes, or brown butter skillet cornbread from NYT Cooking.
The Lodge Chef Collection 12 Inch Cast Iron Skillet delivered evenly browned steaks, crisp golden cornbread, and sunny-side-up eggs that slipped right out of the pan. At 6½ pounds versus the 8½ pounds of the classic Lodge, it’s more manageable to maneuver than traditional cast iron, and the slightly lower, gently sloped sides make stirring foods and maneuvering a spatula easier. Just note that since it’s shallower than the classic Lodge, this skillet is not as good for deep-frying—if that’s something you do often, go for the original design instead. Although it’s priced a little higher than the classic Lodge, the Chef Collection skillet is still affordable and is also made in the USA.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTIf you want to deep-fry and don’t mind doing a little heavy lifting, we think the Lodge Pre-Seasoned 12-inch Cast Iron Skillet is an excellent choice. It seared steak, fried eggs, and released cornbread well in our tests. And though it weighs about 2 pounds more than the brand’s Chef Collection skillet and has a shorter (though still comfortable) handle, it’s about a quarter inch deeper, which makes it better for frying chicken or preparing shallow braises. It’s also a little less expensive than the Chef Collection skillet.
Our favorite cast iron skillet is the Lodge 10.25-Inch Skillet. It's basic, durable, inexpensive, and performs well. We also like the Lodge Blacklock 10.25-Inch Skillet, which is pricier, but lightweight and easy to move around.
You could say there's no better cookware investment than a cast iron skillet: The more you use it, the better it gets, and its versatility is nearly unmatched. Need to shallow-fry chicken cutlets? Want to make a pan pizza? About to bake some biscuits? Cast iron can handle all of that and more.
We set out to find the best cast iron skillets, putting 23 of the top models through a series of tests to determine which ones performed well and were the easiest to use. We also recently re-tested our top picks (and some new models), confirming they're still unmatched. This means our favorite traditional cast iron skillets, both from Lodge, have held up over four years of reviewing—and continual use at home and in the Serious Eats test kitchen.
The Winners, at a Glance
Lodge's basic cast iron skillet has long been one of our most recommended pieces of kitchenware, and it remains so today. It's a little heavier than some of the other options out there, but it performs as well as anything else we tested and has a price that's hard to argue with. Add in that it's made in the USA by an established company with a proven track record, and we see little reason for most folks (living in the United States) to look elsewhere. This 10.25-inch size is arguably the most useful for most people, but the larger 12-inch skillet is nice to own as well, especially for bigger families.
This new line of cast iron cookware from Lodge is clearly trying to capitalize on the renewed interest in vintage-style cast iron, especially now that the market has become crowded with startups attempting to revive the old cast iron standards of lighter weight and smoother surfaces.
While Lodge's Blacklock line does not seem to be smoother than any of its other cast iron, it is remarkably less heavy. We found little to no difference in performance between it and its heavier counterpart. So if you can spend more, you'll likely appreciate how much easier it is to move this skillet around your kitchen.
For those who would rather not season cast iron but still want all of that heat retention, look to enameled cast iron. We separately tested eight enameled cast iron skillets and included one of our favorites, from Le Creuset, here. It heated and seared beautifully and had flared sides, two pour spouts, and a wide, looped helper handle.
The Criteria: What to Look for in a Cast Iron Skillet
Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore
We nearly drove ourselves nuts before initiating testing for this review just trying to decide what qualities a "good" cast iron pan should have. Cast iron is not a good conductor of heat, but it retains heat well. Those two characteristics are interlinked: The better a metal conducts heat, the worse it holds onto it. So if we find one pan that conducts heat better than all the rest, should we reward it for that or not?
We fretted similarly about how we would factor in each pan's weight. Cast iron is heavy, even for our tester, who is far from the weakest person you might find in a kitchen. So is a lighter-weight pan better? On your wrists, sure, but at what cost? The mass of a cast iron pan is, at least in theory, central to its ability to hold lots of heat. If a heavy skillet proves to sear steaks better than a lighter one, how do you decide what the ideal balance is between those potentially opposing qualities?
In the end, our testing solved these problems: The best cast iron pan is the one that performs its core tasks—searing, baking, and nonstick frying and sautéing—with success. And what our testing revealed is that for all the nerding out one can do about cast iron, there's practically no difference in performance from one pan to the next. Yes, you read that right: For all their variations in weight, size, smoothness, and form, most cast iron pans perform about the same under the same conditions.
This finding left us with a much easier determination to make, one that mostly took into account cost, brand reliability, as well as ergonomics, and other user experience (UX) considerations.
What Size Skillet Is Best?
Both of our favorite cast iron skillets are available in a variety of sizes, but we recommend a 10.25-inch skillet for starters. It'll be big enough to cook almost any recipe. However, if you have a larger family or simply follow the logic that it's better to have more space than less, a 12-inch cast iron pan is also nice to have on hand.
The Testing
To assess these pans, we focused on tasks that would reveal how well each cast iron skillet performed its most important functions: searing, frying and sautéing, and baking. We also measured heat conduction over time at both the center and edge of each pan, and recorded each one's weight, bottom thickness and diameter, and smoothness, in case any of those attributes might help explain how the pans performed in the more practical tests.
On top of that, we analyzed ergonomic factors like handle comfort and pour-spout efficacy.
Test 1: Measuring Conduction
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Cast iron is not a good heat conductor, but that doesn't mean all the skillets in our test would conduct heat equally poorly. We needed to assess how quickly and evenly each pan heated on the stovetop. (Whether being a better conductor of heat or not is good or bad was a question for the other tests to help us answer.)
To find out, we set a stovetop gas burner to what we would describe as a medium flame, then set each pan on top. From the moment each pan was set down, we used an infrared thermometer to record the temperature every 10 seconds for 20 intervals (totaling 3 minutes 20 seconds). We allowed all the pans to cool back to room temperature and then repeated the test while measuring each skillet at its edge. (To keep the "edge" position consistent on pans of slightly different diameters, we used the bars on the stovetop grate underneath to help set our sights.)
Over the course of 3 minutes and 20 seconds, I measured the temperature of the floor of each skillet at both the center and edge, taking readings every ten seconds. This chart shows the final temperature each skillet registered at the 3 minute, 20 second mark.
The results here were remarkably different: Some of the skillets still hadn't hit 200 degrees by the end of the heating cycle, while others were above 400 degrees. Now, there's no reason to assume a slower-to-heat cast iron skillet is worse than a faster one, nor vice versa. That's a question the performance tests would have to help answer.
Still, we did see some trends. First, while it doesn't map perfectly to the mass of each skillet, overall, the fastest to heat was also the lighter-weight ones, while the slowest were the heaviest. This makes sense: The more metal there is to heat up, the longer it will take.
One exception to this observation was the Butter Pat skillet, which is one of the newcomers to the cast iron market. It was the second slowest to heat but solidly middle-of-the-pack in terms of weight. In its case, the distribution of metal may help explain why it heated so much slower than the other pans of similar weight: The Butter Pat has much thinner walls and more of its mass in its base. (This accumulation of mass in the base may also explain why the Butter Pat, unlike almost every other skillet, had such similar degrees of heating at both the edge and center of the base since there is much less metal in the walls to siphon off heat continuously as it radiates towards them.)
Test 2: Egg Frying
Eggs stuck in nearly every skillet; over time as seasoning builds up, this will no longer happen.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
After running through my heat conduction measurements, it was time to take these pans for a real spin. We were curious to find out how well-seasoned each skillet was out of the box (good seasoning = more nonstick). Since cast iron cookware requires ongoing maintenance to build up great seasoning, we didn't necessarily think skillets that underperformed in this test should be disqualified but figured it could help as a tie-breaker.
Judging by sight alone, some of the skillets arrived better seasoned than others. Some were a lighter brown color, indicating less build-up of seasoning applied at the factory. Others were jet-black, a sign of much more substantial seasoning accumulation.
Two skillets showing different amounts of out-of-the-box seasoning (a lighter brown cast suggests less build up of seasoning, while darker black suggests more).
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
To test each one, we first gave each skillet a bonus layer of seasoning (two skillets in the group required a pre-seasoning step before first use, so it only seemed fair to put them all through the same process). Then we preheated all of the skillets in ovens set to 250 degrees. Working one at a time, we removed a skillet from the oven and set it over a consistent moderate flame. Next, we added one tablespoon of oil and let it heat for 30 seconds before cracking two eggs into the pan.
Using this preheating process, each egg sizzled gently when it hit the pan, which was just what we wanted to see. Any cooler and the egg wouldn't be frying. Any hotter, and we'd have a much easier time not sticking. This was exactly the heat level our tester uses in one of their prized cast iron skillets at home to gently fry an egg without it sticking.
The eggs fused to the metal in every single pan (except the Starfrit, but it's an outlier with some kind of coating on it). The Butter Pat and Smithey skillets had some of the most severe sticking. They also had appeared to the eye to be the least seasoned out of the box, but none of the other skillets performed well enough to declare an obvious winner. The clear lesson here is that almost no cast iron pan arrives with its potential nonstick surface fully realized. You will need to build up the seasoning at home no matter what.
Test 3: Steak Searing
Just about every skillet, when preheated properly, put a great sear on beef.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
The next test was all about high heat: How well could each skillet sear a steak? We used thick slabs of boneless beef short ribs to find out.
For this test, we preheated all of the pans in 500-degree ovens. Then, working one at a time, we removed them, added 1 tablespoon of oil, then seared two large short rib slabs in each, turning them every 30 seconds for a total of three minutes per side.
Just like in the egg-frying test, all the skillets performed incredibly similarly, except this time they did their job well. Just about every single one produced deeply browned and crusty steak on both sides. If there was a difference, we had a hard time spotting it. The only one that we thought maybe wasn't as good was the Amazon skillet, which we thought possibly put less of a good sear on the second side of the steaks (but, again, we weren't certain even as we prodded it, so the difference wasn't by any means huge).
Test 4: Cornbread
It was nearly impossible to spot any differences when baking cornbread in each skillet.
Vicky Wasik
Our third real-world test was baking cornbread. We hoped to see three things here. First, how deeply and evenly browned each cornbread was on the bottom and sides. Second, how much rise each cornbread experienced. And third, how much did any of the cornbreads stick.
What we saw instead were nearly identical loaves of cornbread coming out of every single skillet. Each one browned the bread evenly and deeply on both the bottom and sides, indicating that they all have enough stored heat all over, certainly more than the room-temp batter could counteract when it was ladled in. Each one also rose similarly, indicating they each delivered similar heat into the batter, causing similar levels of oven spring. And, finally, none of them stuck to the metal, indicating that after the first round of pre-seasoning, followed by the egg frying test and the steak-searing test, the seasoning was beginning to build up on all of them. With a few more uses, they'd all be ready to fry some eggs with no trouble.
Test 5: Comfort and Ergonomics
Weighing and measuring the skillets.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Given how little light was shed on the skillets based on performance, other characteristics like price, comfort, and some design considerations were going to be the primary deciding factors.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from siao.
During all of the prior testing, we had been taking UX notes, including which skillets were the most uncomfortable to hold and which were just too heavy. We also ran an oil-pouring test, filling each skillet with a half-cup of oil, then pouring it back out into a narrow jar to see which channeled the fluid most effectively.
We learned that the best pour spouts are large and deep, and if you can't have that, you're better off having no pour spout at all. The skillets with shallow and small spouts tended to dribble the most. While good to know, We don't consider small spouts a dealbreaker if the pan otherwise performed well and is well priced.
How We Chose Our Winners
Lodge's Blacklock skillet is lightweight and comfortable to hold.
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
Given how similarly all of the cast iron pans performed in these tests, the real decision came down to comfort, ergonomics, and price. For that reason, We're recommending two Lodge skillets since they're affordable, reliable, and backed up by an established company with a proven track record. However, that doesn't mean that we wouldn't recommend some of the newer, more expensive skillets we tested.
Some of the pricier skillets in this group were a pleasure to use. Several feature a much smoother cooking surface, the result of a sanding or polishing step that removes the casting's naturally rough surface. This step adds labor and cost to the manufacturing process and contributes to a higher price. A smoother surface may not have much impact on performance, but it's without a doubt more pleasurable to run a metal spatula across it.
There are also economies of scale to consider. It's to be expected that smaller manufacturers that are just entering the market won't be able to compete with a large company like Lodge on cost. Competition is still a good thing, and we're glad it's been reintroduced into the cast iron cookware market. Hopefully, over time, the presence of these new contenders will be a benefit to the consumer overall. Please read about the other brands below to see if any are of interest to you.
Tips for Using a Cast Iron Skillet
Because cast iron skillets are one of those topics that seem to spur debates and basic questions like "Can I clean it with soap?" we rounded up some helpful usage tips.
The Best Cast Iron Skillets
What we liked: Lodge skillets have been a staple in the Serious Eats test kitchen and many of our homes for years. They're affordable and well-made by a company with a longer track record producing cast iron cookware than any other in the United States. Unlike almost every other more affordably priced cast iron brand, Lodge still makes their plain cast iron cookware in the United States (their enameled cast iron, on the other hand, is manufactured abroad).
This skillet does run slightly heavy at about 5.5 pounds, which is about one pound heavier than the average for all the skillets in this review. Still, the handle is comfortable to hold both bare-handed and with a towel or oven mitt. And while the basic line from Lodge doesn't have the lighter weight and smooth finish of vintage pieces and more expensive contemporary brands, there's little to no impact on performance as a result of this.
Although this test focused on 10-inch skillets, it's also worth considering the larger 12-inch size, either in addition to this one or, perhaps for bigger families, instead of it.
What we didn't like: If we have one gripe, it's that Lodge's pour spouts are small and shallow, leading to more frequent dribbles and spills in our tests. Still, this is hardly a reason not to buy one, given the price and overall quality.
Key Specs
Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik
What we liked: The Blacklock line from Lodge is the company's attempt at offering an option for those seeking cast iron forged to meet more heritage specs, which generally means lighter weight and polished to a smoother finish. That's how many of the new players in the cast iron cookware space are positioning themselves—as a return to those old quality standards—and Lodge is smart not to cede that portion of the market to these new competitors entirely.
These Blacklock skillets deliver on the lighter-weight side of things. The 10.25-inch option weighs 4 pounds 2 ounces, making it the second lightest skillet in our tests and a full 1 pound 6 ounces lighter than the standard Lodge. It's a difference you can immediately feel. And based on our tests, that reduction in mass has no noticeable impact on how the pan is able to perform.
The skillet design is handsome, at least to our eyes, and evokes a certain old-timey aesthetic, particularly in the curving lines of the stay-cool handle. (Keep in mind, though, that no cast iron pan's handle truly stays cool for long.)
Where Lodge seems to have drawn the line on manufacturing costs was on polishing the surface of the pan. As far as we can tell, the Blacklock skillet has a similar surface texture to Lodge's basic line. While this isn't a knock to the pan by any means, if a smooth-as-ice cast iron skillet is what you're after, you'll need to seek a vintage piece or buy one of the pricier skillets from one of the other companies below that do invest in the smoothing step. But given that Lodge has managed to keep the price of this skillet close to its basic line, most folks would do well to consider this first.
What we didn't like: Like the other Lodge skillet, it has small, shallow pour spouts.
Key Specs
Serious Eats / Russell Kilgore
What we liked: This enameled cast iron skillet seared beautifully and was a joy to use. It had a comfortable, rounded handle and a looped helper handle, which made it easy to lift and maneuver. It also had flared sides and two pour spouts, which was helpful for flipping and removing food and pouring out sauces and oil. Is this a pricey pan? Surely, but while we don't recommend spending on traditional cast iron, heritage enamel cast iron is worth splurging on thanks to its quality control (amongst other factors).
What we didn't like: This pan was slower to heat up than others and is an investment.
Key Specs
Serious Eats / Taylor Murray
The Competition
FAQs
What's the difference between bare, seasoned, and enameled cast iron?
You have two choices if you're buying a traditional cast iron skillet: bare or pre-seasoned. Bare skillets require you to season the pan yourself before use. It's increasingly common to find pre-seasoned skillets, though, which have a layer of protective seasoning already built up by the maker. Cast iron companies say this allows you to cook with the skillet straight from the box (in other words, no pre-seasoning required), but it's worth noting that no cast iron pan is nonstick right out of the gate.
Enameled cast iron, like the cookware from Le Creuset and Staub, has a porcelain coating that doesn't require nearly as much care as traditional cast iron (that is, it doesn't need to be seasoned). Still, it won't develop seasoning or become more nonstick over time. And while cast iron is incredibly durable, the coating on enameled cast iron can chip or crack. We tend to favor traditional cast iron over enameled.
Do I need to pre-season my cast iron skillet?
It depends. If you buy a completely bare cast iron skillet, you will need to season it before cooking—at least once—to build up a layer of seasoning. If you purchase a pre-seasoned (also known as "factory seasoned") skillet, it's up to you whether or not you want to add a layer of seasoning before cooking.
How do you season a cast iron skillet?
To season a cast iron skillet, first wash (warm, soapy water is okay!) and thoroughly dry the pan. After hand drying, we recommend placing it on the stovetop for a couple of minutes to make sure all of the water is truly gone. Then, rub it all over (yes, even the exterior and handle) with a neutral, high-heat cooking oil (canola, vegetable, etc works) using a paper towel until the cast iron is evenly coated and looks just a little greasy. Then, place it in a 450°F oven for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes is up, repeat this oiling and baking three to four more times. For more information on seasoning, head here.
Will food stick on cast iron?
Cast iron does not have a nonstick coating. However, over time and with regular use, a seasoning is built up. This seasoning is improved with fat, so it pays to use your cast iron for tasks like frying bacon and roasting chicken thighs. (Vegetarians can still build up a quality seasoning with regular oiling after use.) The more seasoning on your pan, the more naturally nonstick it will be.
What's the best fat for seasoning a cast iron pan?
There's no need to buy specialty oils for seasoning your cast iron. Although flaxseed oil is a popular choice, we've found that it flakes off with time and don't recommend it. Instead, you can use affordable, easy-to-find vegetable oils, such as canola or corn oil. Unlike other cooking oils (like olive oil), they have a high smoke point.
Is cast iron non-stick?
The more seasoned your cast-iron skillet is, the more non-stick it'll become. However, it'll never be Teflon-level nonstick (which is a common myth about cast iron) and you shouldn't expect it to be. On the other hand, there is no question about whether or not it's non-toxic cookware.
What's the best way to clean a cast iron skillet?
To soap or not to soap your cast iron? We find soap and water to be an efficient tool for cleaning cast iron. A non-scratch sponge, your usual dish soap, and a little elbow grease will get your pan clean without stripping away any hard-earned layers of seasoning. (Those layers become polymerized onto the pan during the cooking process.) It's important to immediately dry the pan well and oil it over moderate heat.
What should I do if my cast iron skillet rusts?
Rust can build up on a cast iron if the pan has not been properly cared for—and the biggest culprit is moisture. If you soak cast iron pans for hours or overnight before cleaning them, you'll likely notice rust on the cooking surfaces, sides, or bottom of the pan. Ditto if you let your pans air dry in the dish rack after cleaning. The appearance of rust is annoying, but it doesn't mean you should toss out your pan. It's just a sign that the layers of seasoning have broken down, and you'll need to get rid of the rust in the pan.
What foods shouldn't be cooked in a cast iron skillet?
We don't recommend cooking acidic things for a long period of time in a cast iron skillet, like a low-and-slow simmered tomato sauce. However, something like a pan sauce would be fine. We also don't recommend cooking things that are super delicate or prone to sticking in a cast iron skillet, like scrambled eggs or crepes.
Should you oil a cast iron skillet every time?
To keep your cast iron skillet well-seasoned and rust-free, we recommend giving it a light rubbing of oil after cleaning. We'd avoid using any flavorful or low-smoke point oils (like olive oil), however, and would stick to a neutral oil like canola.
Is it healthy to cook in cast iron?
Yes, it is healthy to cook in cast iron. For starters because of, well, the iron. "Most of us think of iron as a nutrient that women need—and we do—but it's also a key nutrient for everyone! Iron helps shuttle oxygen throughout our entire body, it helps with muscle metabolism, making hormones, and more," says Brierley Horton, M.S., R.D.. "Anyway, research has shown that the iron content of meat and vegetables doubles when you cook them in cast iron. And other foods (peas and other legumes, spaghetti and apple sauces) increase in iron, too. Put super simply, cooking with cast iron helps you get more iron in your diet."
Why We're the Experts
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Cast Iron Cookware.