Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet for Indoor and Outdoor Use. Induction Frying Pan. Oven, Grill and Metal Utensil Safe Skillet Frying Pan with Pouring Lips. Made in The USA. 26 cm/10.25 inch

The quality is good—it's heavy, sturdy, and built to last. It offers great heat distribution and retains heat superbly, making it perfect for searing and achieving an even cook. I find it easy to clean, and by making sure to oil it after cleaning, I’ve had no issues with rust. This skillet is absolutely a good long-term investment and will only get better with age and use. A perfect 5-star product!

Not all cast iron pans are the same. I have several Lodge pans of various sizes but needed a dedicated steak on. I cooked two sirloin steaks which turned out fantastic. Even temperature over the whole pan is essential. This is probably the best cast pan I have ever used.

Brilliant. Absolutely love it. Once properly prepared you can taste the difference.

Like most people I've gone through my fair share of non stick pans and skillets in the past and really wanted a long term option that was going to improve the taste of food and the way it was cooked. I wasn't too concerned about cost due to spending a lot of money on pans in the past, then having to replace them after a while, which is really a false economy. Lodge, a US brand, have a great name for quality and you can literally use them on anything from camp fire to barbecue to stove. I've had mine for about 6 months now, enough time for a decent review and have to say it's been excellent and somehow it seems to make the food taste better (could just be in my head !) A couple of points to be aware of though, the pan is heavy! I'm 6 foot 2, average build and it can get difficult to manoeuvre when dishing out of it. Not a major problem as you can bring your plate to it instead but that might not work for you all the time. My wife who is 5 foot 3 and quite petit, cannot realistically dish up with this pan. Another point is, make sure you keep this pan well seasoned. Using oil to cook with it all the time kind of defeats the point, when it is seasoned well you need very little oil, if any to cook even the trickiest of foods, like fried eggs. Seasoning the pan is straight forward enough, a little olive oil on kitchen towel, rub all over the inside and outside of the pan, then put in the oven on 200c for an hour. Job done. If you don't do this, food will stick or you will have to use a lot of oil. Both of these reasons means you won't get the most out of the pan and defeats the object of having it in the first place. Lastly, it gets hot, really hot. I currently have the recommended silicone handle on it (see Silicone Handle review) and this is okay but definitely doesn't allow you to pick the pan up without an oven glove after half an hour of using it, which again isn't a problem but there could be a better solution. I have recently looked into the leather 'Lodge' handle cover which is supposed to be absolutely brilliant for the heat distribution but also about £20. That would however be worth it for a life time of oven gloveless pan use, with no burnt hands ! I'll review this when I get it. I have concentrated on the more negative points but only because these are the niggles that stop it from being the best utensil in your kitchen, ever! However, from a positive perspective I will say that it's the best pan/skillet I have ever owned. The heat distribution gives you the consistency and control you realise you need to get the food cooked thoroughly and as said above, it just seems to make everything taste that much better. Especially when cooking Steak, the quality immediately becomes evident, being able to get from rare to well done with accurate consistency, making the pan well worth the money alone for that reason in my eyes.

I have been through a lot of pans from different makes for cooking dosas and rotis which need very high heat and retain heat on my ceramic hob. Traditionally, cast iron pans are used for making dosas due to their heat retaining capacity. Having read several reviews of different pans, Lodge had some of the best reviews but I was prepared to be disappointed. The package was delivered within couple of days and protected well with bubblewrap and box. After a quick wash and a few rounds of oiling/heating/cooling, I made an omelette which came out okish but the dosas would get stuck. For the next few days, I used the pan to warm scones, toast sandwiches and anything that would need butter/oil and heat. If food got stuck, I would let it cool, gently scrape it off, wash with plain warm water, season and cook again. After many trial and errors, realised that the pan worked best if heated gently to the desired temperature and then reduce the heat by one setting for ceramic glass hob. In the beginning it would need a lot of oil but now that the pan is well seasoned, it hardly takes a few drops. Within a few days, the pan was well seasoned and it was a breeze to cook omelettes which fluff up. The pan has been used to cook sabzis, curries, dosas, rotis, pancakes and anything Indian that needs a pan and it has not gone wrong yet. For past 5 months, this pan has been used everyday and it is a joy to watch the dosas come out crispy or soft, depending on the batter. It is not washed often, just wiped clean after use and rub some oil while its still warm. The pan itself is really heavy and gets really hot while cooking. As it is used everyday and heavy, it has not moved from the hob to avoid dropping it or scratching the glass hob. There are several makes available for much lesser price but not sure of their performance. Lodge comes with very high standards and it is worth investing in a good pan as cast iron cookware is a one off investment if cared for well.

Excellent pan, pre seasoned and easy to maintain. No rust has formed as of yet. I ensure I dry it thoroughly after washing. I could probably cook two 8oz steaks comfortably in it at the same time.

Cast iron frypans are as good a wok substitute as it gets for those without gas cookers. If you treat them exactly like a wok - seasoning with oil and heat, no detergent - they are exactly as non-stick as you need them to be. I checked the reviews here that warned against frying eggs straight away with a new one of these Lodge skillets. But the first fry I wanted to do when the skillet arrived was fried rice. Luckily, that involves only needing broken up fragments of well-scrambled egg. I did another little season just for good measure - a rub of oil and a low heat for an hour - then fried a few of the other ingredients in plenty of oil - fish cake, onions, etc. Then I had a go at the egg, with 1-2 tbsp oil. It stuck a bit, but scraped off the bottom while frying without unreasonable amounts of trouble - and as noted, fragmented egg bits is what the recipe needed anyway. And with iron pans, a bit of scraping will only give you more iron in the diet, and more delicious crispy bits. So: first low-expectation egg-fry = reasonable success. The next fry I did was Chinese fried egg and tomato. Now, tomato actually eats away at iron frypan seasoning, but hey, sometimes a girl's gotta have fried tomatoes. This again involved a scrambled type egg form. I fried the beaten egg first, with about 1 1/2 tbsp oil. It was actually already fine - only a very small amount of scraping required. After this dish, there might have been a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. And then this morning I thought I'd be ambitious and go for an omelette. After first frying up the mushroom filling, I did the egg in about 1 tbsp oil and it came out perfectly, no sticking or breaking at all. I am optimistic about the next egg fry being able to deal with a whole fried egg, with progressively less oil required. Teflon shmeflon. Also, I ordered the special handle-mitt but in the meantime, a teatowel wrapped around the handle with a rubber band is doing me fine. I probably should have saved myself the 9 quid.

I've been very impressed with this product, I can imagine that provided it's looked after well it's going to last a very long time. As you'd expect, it's worth seasoning the pan when you get it and after that just a bit of oil after each use should keep it in good shape. I've mostly used it for cooking steaks and have had very good results, at this price point (~£50) I'm happy with the quality and the way it cooks. Works just fine on my induction hob.