Lodge 8 Inch Carbon Steel Skillet - PFAS-Free Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel Frying Pan for High-Heat Searing - Long Handle Design for Omelets, Grilling, and Campfire Cooking - Made in the USA

Having only had non-stick and stainless steel pots and pans it took some time to learn the best way to cook with carbon steel and cast iron pans but I love them now. I got rid of all our non-stick cookware even though they were expensive top brands and non-PFOA. Some were scratched and I read scratched non-stick pans are unhealthy to use. It seems like the non-stick pans keep evolving to some other chemically made coating because the previous one turned out to be toxic. Now I cook only with carbon steel, cast iron and high quality stainless steel. I use stainless steel for boiling soups, pasta and acidic food like marinara sauce but carbon steel and cast iron for pretty much everything else. Using the care and cooking information from Lodge on their site has helped immensely and we keep noticing that what I cook just tastes better! I love that you can heat the carbon steel pan and seer the outsides of foods without drying out the interiors. You can scrape whatever sticks and use stainless steel utensils without worrying about damaging the pan. It took a while to develop a non-stick quality that is possible in carbon steel cooking with oil seasoning. We have a whole food plant based diet (except for the occasional eggs our pet hen gifts us) and the vegetables taste amazing! The WFPBD gurus often recommend don’t cook with oil but I personally would rather take my chances with oil than non-PFOA coatings. Also, carbon steel and cast iron is better for the environment. I don’t know how to keep my discarded non-PFOA pans that are damaged out of a land fill! I also got a cast iron cleaning kit on Amazon that has a mesh metal tool that helps scrape off anything that sticks. I had given up on a small cast iron pan I bought years ago when it rusted after I washed it and it sat in my cabinet unused. I read the directions again on how to care for it and now it is one of my favorite pans. The rust cleans up and you just season it again. I wanted to try carbon steel after reading it was lighter weight than cast iron and French chefs prefer it. The care is pretty much the same for both carbon steel and cast iron but carbon steel is lighter weight. One benefit of cast iron that carbon steel doesn’t have is that I can build up muscles just lifting it. LOL. This pan is a good size for many recipes and has become one of my go to favorites.

This is the best frying pan I have ever owned, period. My wife was very skeptical when I ordered this, but she is now in love w/this pan as well. It is so easy to season, to use and maintain, and we now have zero concerns about non-stick chemicals and the environment. This pan just works as we expect every time. We've tried various non-stick types, including ceramic, and they all provided inconsistent results, were easy to damage, can release dangerous fumes/chemicals if you overheat them, etc. In contrast, this little pan that could (I have the 10") is so reliable and flexible, you can use any cooking tool you want with it w/out worrying about scratching it, takes high heat w/out any issues and won't release chemicals, and clean-up is quick and simple. One reason I love this pan - just today I started up our gas cook top to make an easy-over egg and got distracted by my dogs and a phone call...a few minutes later I smelled something and noticed smoke billowing off the pan. If it was one of my non-stick pans I would panic about dangerous fumes, about ruining the non-stick finish, decreasing the pan's useful life, etc. In this case, no worries! I simply turned off the burner, waited a few minutes for the pan to cool a bit, put in a little canola oil and wiped the pan interior w/a folded paper towel (careful not to burn myself). A moment later I fired up the burner again and cooked my egg w/out incident or concern! Carbon steel victory! Clean-up is usually wipe it down w/a paper towel and some canola oil. If it needs a little more, we scrape it a bit w/one of the Lodge pan scrapers for sale here on Amazon (or you could use a stiff spatula), wipe the scraped bits out, add a little canola oil and wipe with a paper towel to finish. You can also use some salt to provide some grist to help with clean up if you want to, but we've only done that once, and only had to put the pan in the sink once to clean it up w/some hot water. This pan is more consistently non-stick than our ceramic pans have been - eggs, a great test of a pan, don't stick. I slide our spatula under them and they release and flip without issue. My wife has even made fried rice in the pan w/out problems! The only thing we avoid is high-acid foods (tomato sauce, dishes with high lemon content, etc.) as we have read that that can cause a metallic tang to the food. We do cook food that we season w/lemon juice or have tomatoes in them, but I wouldn't try lemon chicken in it, maybe. So far we've never tasted anything but the food we cook, it's been perfect. The pan puts the best "crust" on anything you want it to, and carmelizes onions way better than any non-stick I've ever used. It's light enough to "toss" (where you tilt the pan up in the front and shake backwards/forwards to make the food slide to the back jump up and back into the pan), but is heavier than an average non-stick pan, with a nice heft which we actually prefer, now that we have this pan. It's much lighter than a cast-iron pan. Obviously, I just can't say enough about how much we love this pan. Get one, understand and enjoy the use/maintenance differences, and you won't regret it.

This is a decent pan. I LOVE black/blue steel pans and griddles. Best natural nonstick cookware you can get. Even if your housemate(s) or significant other messes it up, you can bring it right back to mint with a little effort (very little effort, but a few hours of time). That being said, there are better pans out there if you're willing to pay a bit more. To clarify, here are my quibbles with this pan. First, the surface is textured and rough. Not as bad as a lot of new cast iron pans out there. But I also have a Matfer Bourgeat 12 5/8" fry pan and I have a black/blue steel griddle. So I know how smooth the surface can and should be. The plus of a smooth surface is that after a short seasoning, eggs float on the pan as if on air. It took MUCH longer to get the surface of this Lodge pan to perform similarly. On the other hand, I've read that the seasoning on a smooth surface is more easily damaged. Not sure if that's the case. But given how easy it is to reseason a smooth surface, this has not been an issue for me. I have had to preseason the surface of this lodge pan after our au pair messed it up ... twice. The Lodge is much more of a pain to reseason given the time/number of seasoning sessions needed. Second, I really dislike rivets inside the cooking area of a pan. They are a pain to clean. These are a bit easier, given that they season like all other parts of the pan. But residue still builds up and is difficult to get out. There are other steel fry pans, like Matfer Bourgeat, where the handles are welded to the main body for a riverless design. I MUCH prefer this. In sum, if you're on a tight budget or if every once of decreased weight is important, look no further. But if you can spend $15 to $30 more (depending on size), then go with something like Matfer Bourgeat with a smooth surface and no rivets. It will still be significantly lighter than cast iron, though the Matfer Bourgeat are a bit thicker, and thus heavier, than the Lodge carbon steel pans.

I have in recent years become more and more obsessed with carbon (black) steel pans. I wanted to get away from Teflon and other synthetic non-stick surfaces, with their questionable health effects, but cast iron just makes for a terminally heavy pan, especially in the larger sizes. Carbon steel seemed like the answer, but I have run into some trouble getting them to be truly non-stick. The secret to a truly non-stick carbon steel pan is two part: (a) start with a pan made by the right manufacturer, and (b) prepare to invest some time in the seasoning process. Pans made by some manufacturers just never seem to become non-stick, no matter how long you work on curing them; and there is no carbon-steel pan on earth that is non-stick right out of the box. These Lodge pans - I now have two - are relatively inexpensive (considering how much you can spend on fancy French versions), solid and well-made. Really folks, they are just as good as - if not better than - the fancy French ones you find at Williams-Sonoma. They come "pre-seasoned", but they aren't even close to fully-non-stick straight from the box. But with a little patience and care, you can get them to be perfect. Read on: (1) Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Wash the pan thoroughly with dish-soap and a brush. And this should be the LAST TIME soap ever touches the pan. (2) Dry the pan thoroughly with a paper or cloth towel, then let sit in the oven for 15-20 minutes. (3) Using an old oven mitt (careful: it's gonna get a little oily) remove the heated pan from the oven to a heat- and oil-proof surface. Then turn the oven heat up to 500 degrees. Yes, you read that right, as HOT as that oven will go. (4) Working quickly while the pan is still hot, squirt about three-quarters of a tablespoon of oil into the pan (the far-and-away best is Flaxseed oil, canola is semi-OK but flaxseed is noticeably better; DO NOT use olive oil), and, using a clean paper towel, rub the oil all over the inside of the pan, then the outside and bottom, and finally the handle. Cover every square millimeter of the pan! Let sit on a rack or another oil-proof surface for 5 minutes. If at any time you see any fibers from the paper towel coming off onto the pan, STOP, get a new paper towel and wipe the fibers off completely! (5) Then - and this is REALLY important! - get another clean paper towel and WIPE OFF ALL THE EXCESS OIL. You want just the thinnest possible coat of it left in the pan. Too much oil and you will be scrubbing gooey crud off your precious pan with steel wool later and starting all over! (6) Then put the pan into the 500-degree oven for TWO FULL HOURS. Set a timer. Don't worry if the oven isn't fully at 500 degrees when you put the pan in, it will get there soon enough. There may be some light smoking after a bit, but that's normal. But if it starts smoking too much, you put too much oil on, which you absolutely should NOT do!! (7) After 2 hours, turn off the oven but DO NOT open the oven, DO NOT TOUCH THE PAN. Let it sit ANOTHER two hours as the oven slowly cools. (8) After two hours cooling, the pan will still be warm, use that oven mitt. You will notice a very thin black layer on the steel now, baked onto the steel. This is the base layer of your "cure" or seasoning. Immediately wipe on a new layer of oil, this time canola, NOT flax (doesn't really taste good!). Again, you DO NOT want too thick a layer of new oil: just enough to add a solid sheen to the surface of the pan. (9) The first time you use the pan, add a liberal layer of cooking oil in the bottom of the pan first. The pan may not pass the "fried egg test" the first time; if it doesn't, scrape off any cooked-on bits left afterwards with a soft (plastic) spatula, and oil the pan again before you put it way. It may take 2 or 3, or 4 or maybe more tries before the pan becomes fully non-stick, but HAVE PATIENCE. It will get there eventually. And once you have your pan in that perfect non-stick zone: (a) NEVER use any kind of soap or you many have to do the whole process over again, and (b) ALWAYS wipe a thin layer of oil onto the pan (both sides!) before you put it away. With proper care, the pan will never rust and last longer than you will..!

I've been using it for a week or so- I looked at reviews and complaints, and was careful to season it. I wiped it with oil and heated it til the smoking pretty much stopped and let cool, 3-4 times. I use a little oil when cooking anything but I did that with nonstick pans already so nothing different. I was skeptical but whaddya know, the eggs didn't stick! Potatoes didn't stick either-the biggest difference I see from past pans- I've used nonstock, ceramic, cast iron and stainless steel- is that the pan heats up quickly, I don't need to use as much heat to get it hot either. It cooks faster, sears better, and cleans up like cast iron. It's not as heavy as the cast iron but heavier than steel. People who show pix of a lot of ugly gunk in it didn't season it or use it correctly. One note, I was annoyed there were chips on the edge when I got it and decided to ignore them. But as I used the pan, the seasoning covered up the chips again and they're gone! Bottom line is, if you aren't the type to take care of pans or take time to season it now and then, go with non stick easy peasy. If you don't want to cook with chemical coatings, but want a nonstick surface your stainless can't give you without the weight of cast iron, this is your pan! I paid a lot more for my Made In pan that lasted a few years, thus will last a lifetime- and get the silicone handle cover, you definitely need it.

This is a pretty good pan for $50. It comes seasoned but the seasoning scrubs off with the nylon side of a scrubby sponge so you really have to season it yourself a bunch of times by baking it in the oven with a coating of oil (I use avocado oil. It has to be baked for 1 hour in a preheated oven at 500-525, then allowed to cool inside the oven naturally). Still, I haven’t had the effect I see in YouTube videos where an egg will naturally release from the surface and slide around in the pan, but maybe in a couple more weeks I’ll see more progress (as I have only had the pan for a few days, but have cooked oil on the stove top and baked oil in the oven to season it in addition to preparing various types of foods with butter and fats). I know many people use grape seed oil to season carbon steel but I won’t use toxic seed oils for anything, ever. Don’t fool yourself into thinking this pan isn’t heavy either. It weighs about the same as my 10.5 inch cast iron skillet. And, unlike the cast iron, the handle is thin with uncomfortable edges. The handle is sturdy, and longer than a cast iron skillet handle (as seen in any photo) so it does give a bit more leverage. Also, it does not cook evenly (on an expensive gas stove top) as stated in the heading of the review section. But, I have yet to find a pan that has exactly the same temperatures around the circumference of the surface. Even my 25 year old All-Clad Steel Skillet does not have exact and perfect temperatures on the surface. All in all, I think I would be writing the same review if I had spent $100+ on another brand. So, I’ll keep at it and hope it becomes as non-stick as ceramic (which I am trying to get away from for other various reasons).

This pan isn’t great out of box. I am a huge lodge fan, I have endless cast iron pans of theirs. Lodge cast iron like this carbon steel pan come very rough. My cast iron that’s fine, I’m ok with, over time they smooth out. But smoothness is why I wanted carbon steel, that and the weight difference. Anyway, if you want this cheap pan to be a million times better, break out an orbital sander, various sand paper grits, and go to town. I went from 60 grit up to 2000 grit, made a mirror smooth finish. Afterwords I was scared I did too much, but after a handful of seasonings with canola oil on my BBQ grill, I’ve since been able to make none stick eggs, pancakes, you name it.

Revised 4/14/2014: This pan has stood the test of time and is my favorite in my current "kitchen" which is really my bedroom. The kitchen in my house was getting too crowded for me so I set myself up with all the cooking appliances I need in my room. What I found out is that, on the right burner that has even heat, this pan is 4 stars because the seasoning does improve on use, but you still have to use enough oil to cover the high point in the center. About that high point: it's a serious disadvantage on most cook tops or on a copper plate, but on the one I bought for my bedroom, it's actually a benefit. The burner is raised so fits up into the bottom curve of the pan while the pan still sits directly on the surface of the stove. It's cooler around the outer edge of the pan of course, but it's not bad to have a cooler place to move food that's mostly cooked already. By the way, this is these are the burners I'm using the pan with now: http://www.amazon.com/Waring-DB60-Portable-Double-Burner/dp/B000I16B18 and I'll be giving it 5 stars when I get around to rating it. Revised 9/19/2013: Lowered the score to 3 stars because even with a thick piece of copper between the pan and the electric heating element, I can't get even cooking heat because the bottom of the pan is not flat and does not flatten when heated. It's higher in the center so the center doesn't touch the copper. The copper plate spreads the hot spots and makes it hottest in a large ring closer to the edge of the pan. Also, the copper plate makes it so there's less of a difference between the hot spots and the cool spots. If this pan was flat, or flattened on being heated, I would've left it at 4 stars. The nonstick properties of seasoning the pan are supposed to improve with cooking, but that can't happen if it's not possible to season it on the stove top because the heat is so uneven. In other words, if food keeps sticking to the point that you have to scrape some of the existing seasoning off with the food, then how can the seasoning improve? It degrades instead. I still have to reseason it in the oven, though not as often. I've started simply using more oil in my cooking - this is not even close to nonstick no matter how well seasoned. In fact, I'm using the high point in the middle of the pan as an indication of how much oil to use. When the high point is covered in oil, I've added enough oil. I also use a metal spatula. The combination of frequent reseasonning in the oven, lots of oil while cooking, and a metal spatula, produces very tasty food, but probably higher in fat than I was hoping for. A 12" cast iron pan would be flat and so when placed on the copper plate would produce much more even heat. But I wouldn't be able to touch the short handle on a cast iron pan without protection as I can with the long handle on this pan. I also don't like the straight up sides on cast iron and extreme weight. I really like this pan because of how it looks more than anything else. The slope on the edges is useful for turning food more easily and something about the thin hard steel appeals to me. I got the 12 inch pan which ends up having a 9.5" bottom. My largest heating element on my electric stove is 7.5" and doesn't even heat evenly through that 7.5" at all. The pan does not distribute the heat either. Despite what many seem to think, cast iron isn't all that good at spreading heat either no matter how slowly you heat it. This pan is worse than cast iron as far as spreading the heat. The good thing about this is that you don't need to protect your hand from heat when touching the handle since the heat does not spread through the steel at all. The bad thing is that unless you're deep frying or stir frying, you'll not be able to get your food cooked evenly and it will stick in the cool spots. Also, holding the long handle towards the end where it's always cool, this pan will feel even heavier than cast iron with their short handles. You need a healthy and strong wrist for this pan. Speaking about sticking, the initial seasoning is good for preventing rust, but it's not non-stick at all. I used the cheapest vegetable oil in the supermarket (which if you read the ingredients is soybean oil) to put additional layers of seasoning onto the pan. Soybean oil is probably the best oil for this so don't waste money on flaxseed or something. Before realizing the heat wasn't spreading at all, I tried to season it on top of the stove. That doesn't work since most of the pan doesn't get hot enough on the stove and it becomes obvious that the pan is only getting hot where the heating element under it is getting hot. So, after scrubbing off any food and bad seasoning, I coated it with oil using my hands and then wiped off most of the oil with toilet paper then put it in the oven upside down and set the heat to just over 450 Fahrenheit. I took it out after an hour and let it cool and repeated 2 more times. I used both an oven mitt and potholder to get the pan out, singeing them a little. The result is pretty decent although I still end up getting food stuck - especially meat - so that I have to re-season it frequently. I'm thinking about getting a thin metal spatula which should get under the meat producing a good sear instead of leaving the seared layer of meat stuck to the pan. Getting an even source of heat will help with the sticking issues as well, so I've decided to buy a 1/8" thick 10" square piece of copper costing almost $80 after shipping. Since the bottom of the pan isn't flat, only the outer perimeter of the bottom of the pan will be in contact with the copper - but this might work out just fine since the heating element doesn't reach the outer perimeter. By applying more heat on the perimeter, it may help to flatten the pan somewhat as well. I will update this review when I get the copper. Of course, the copper ends up making this inexpensive pan very expensive. If I do end up with even heat though, I think it will be the only way to get a pan that can be seasoned to have even heat and it's not more expensive than the pans with copper layered into them. Oh yeah, the pan is not flat as another reviewer complained. A small amount of oil placed in the middle of the pan will flow down to the outer perimeter of the pan. In response to that reviewer, someone said the pan flattens on being heated. That does not happen and couldn't because the outer perimeter isn't getting very much heat since it's 1" past the edge of the heating element and the pan doesn't distribute heat. If anything, heating the middle and not the edge would just further expand the middle raising it above the edge more. I will update this review to report if setting the pan on copper helps to flatten it more. I'm thinking it might because it would then be the perimeter of the pan that is in contact with the copper so it might get hotter on the perimeter, relaxing the fold there, and maybe flattening the pan.