Lodge Logic Pre-Seasoned 12-Inch Skillet

I succumbed to the cast iron cookware religion after reading an article in our local paper talking about how great cast iron was. They mentioned the prep, seasoning and upkeep a bit but sort of glossed over… that. I was happy to see that Amazon carried Lodge, which was the brand mentioned in the article. After I placed my order I found to my disappointment that the same Lodge pieces were available cheaper at the local big box discount store that starts with a "W". And even though the pans are "pre-seasoned", there are entire blogs and websites devoted to the convoluted task of properly seasoning cast iron- the pre-seasoning is dismissed as inadequate. There are instructions on baking your pans, coated in oil or Crisco, in a 500 degree oven for several hours, with warnings to disable all your smoke detectors and open the windows (no kidding) due to the smoke that will be produced. The wife quickly ruled that no such procedure was going to occur in our home. Other methods involve sanding them down with sandpaper before seasoning. The bottom line is that unless you are prepared to go through a lot of effort, cast iron may not be for you. I tried another suggestion about heavily oiling the pan and cooking bacon for the first time or two to generate some seasoning. The bacon still stuck anyway. Fans of cast iron say that the black, burnt on remains of the last meal add character and flavor to the next meal, but to me it does not seem appealing. You're warned not to use dish soap or the dishwasher for your cast iron, only hot water. Unless you are a true cooking fanatic with LOTS of time on your hands to deal with the prep and cleanup on cast iron, you may want to stay away. This probably explains why people have fond memories of the cast iron cookware of yesteryear, our grandmothers had time to do this, plus Teflon had not been invented yet.

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This 12 inch skillet is a nice size to cook for a family of four. This is my second Lodge cast iron product. I also bought the 7 quart dutch oven...nice size for a big pot of stew. I rate this item a 4… star because it roughens up my stainless steel cooking utensils. My spatula has rough edges as if I've scraped it across concrete. The same goes for my spoon. It would have been nice to have a smoother cooking surface. I'm just hoping with use it will smooth out. Even with this drawback, I have just ordered the 5 quart dutch oven, and the pre-season combo cooker. I just love that I can heat up the pan as hot as I want without any worries!

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Pre-seasoning on this skillet was kind of a joke. I'm a complete newbie to iron skillets, so I didn't understand this. However, after proper seasoning, I'm quite happy with this product. We use it to make… fried chicken, cook bacon, make gravy and all sorts of other wonderful things. The fact that it's 12 inches makes it large enough to cook a good amount of food when entertaining others. We are quite pleased with our purchase and as a young couple trying to learn all the new cooking techniques we can, this was a great addition to our arsenal of pots and pans!

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I was so excited to receive this skillet. It can cook a lot of food at once and is very low maintenance. Food stuck at first, but after about 2 uses it was seasoned and non-stick. My only disappointment… is that it does NOT distribute heat evenly. I tried making pancakes this morning and there's room to make 3 at a time, but they are not evenly browned. They each have a defined, curved border where the pan is cooler. Still tasted good!

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