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I use my Grandmother’s 100 year old Lodge everyday! She lived near the factory all her life and I inherited several - I think of her every time I use them ❤️ I did buy a Lodge 12 inch a few years ago and it performs perfectly also. It is one of my go to graduation present along with how to use and maintain as well as a math lesson on cookware costs

I have the 8", 10" and 12" Lodge Classic skillets. They start out a bit tough to use when new, but with proper maintenance, the more you use them, the better they get. They are the stars of my kitchen.

I inherited a lodge skillet from my mother, who inherited it from her mother. I'm in my 70s, so I estimate that my Lodge 12" cast iron skillet has been going strong for a century and performs just as flawlessly as it did when it was new.

I am new to cast iron cookware , purchased a Lodge set and so far it is great to use , and a side note if you ever get attacked while in the kitchen just pickup the skillet and start swinging

Quality of the material itself? My oldest one was purchased by my grandparents when they married. It is fantastic now, but I will let you know about durability in time. Currently, at 116 years old, it is the finest piece of cooking equipment I have ever used.

My wife and I love our Lodge Classic 12" skillet. We've had it for over a dozen years. We use it so much, it's place in the kitchen is always on the stovetop. We never put it away.

I have a 12" a 10" an 8" and 2 flat round and a couple dutch ovens for fire pit cooking . I LOVE Lodge . I do a light seasoning after every cleaning. After cleaning I stick pan on my gas burner, heat up a bit and add a light bit of oil. Cast iron is my favorite thing to bake cornbread, brownies and some cakes and breads . Finally got a gas stove and love cooking with cast iron even more than before . Thanks so much for great videos..

I own and cook regularly with many different skillets, including vintage Griswold, vintage Wagner, vintage Lodge and contemporary Lodge. Many of the vintage skillets are over 100 years old. I love cooking with cast iron and use it for most purposes. I prefer cooking with the vintage pans and use them most frequently. But I still use contemporary Lodge skillets regularly.

I have so many Lodge items that my wife just shakes her head when I walk on with another one! My favorite is the 8" when I cook breakfast for myself, the 10" when i cook for us both. I mainly use the 12" for camping. We both use the 8" for cornbread, but I probably like the cornstick pan best for cornbread. The older and darker they are the better.

I'm a lodge fan, but I have two sizes of their carbon steel pan. I cook on one daily. I do have a giant cast iron lodge pan and some Dutch ovens that I take camping. I actually have TONS of vintage cast iron, but rarely use it, my favorite is a 1930's Wagner. Cast iron is fun to collect. I think what the tests you preformed also demonstrate is how mass impacts performance. With the classic lodge having the most mass it was the longest to heat via thermal conduction which makes sense, it also held heat the longest. What might be surprising is that having more mass also translates to faster heating via induction.

If you don’t like the pieces of paper sticking to the pan when you dry, it, don’t use a paper towel. I would think the easiest way to dry it reliably would be to put it on the stove and heat it up a little.

I have owned Lodge skillets since I got married 57 years ago. I love them. They perform consistently well and there are never any surprises with the results. I do think my older pieces that were made before they started doing the pre-seasoning are smoother finishes and seem to season better. But I love them all. I have skillets in sizes 8", 9", 10.25, 12" and a 2 quart Dutch oven, a 10"round griddle and a rectangular griddle.

You can go to the Lodge store in Tennessee and get a “seconds” pan. Much cheaper and same great quality.

I've got a Lodge Blacklock. Much lighter weight than any cast iron I've ever felt, longer, forked handle that doesn't get as hot as quickly, came triple seasoned from the factory, & still performs just as well as the classic Lodge my mom has. It is about 3 times more expensive than classic Lodge (though $60 for a 10" is still not that bad for such a great performing pan, plus I got it for closer to $40 thanks to working in a kitchen shop), but that's really the only drawback I can think of.

Over the years, I just can’t tell you how much cookware I’ve actually thrown out and thrown away. However, all my cast-iron cookware still works great both my inherited vintage cast-iron and my new lodge(newer) I haven’t actually bought new cast-iron cookware from Lodge(or anywhere else) for the last 10 - 15 years probably however, it all works great.The Lodge classic is the best value out there(flat out man) don’t worry about short handles on a Lodge classic.I cook on a gas stove, and the weight of my lodge is actually ideal. The skillet doesn’t slide all over the cooktop of the stove. And as far as the little tiny dimples inside the bottom of the skillets(and cookware in general) Lodge manufactures isn’t necessarily to save money. I suppose it could actually save a couple of pennies in the manufacturing process however, please bare in mind here folks, the people that design and manufacture Lodge cookware are tops at what they’ve been doing for a for a long time now. Those dimples are there for a reason, carbon collects in the bottom of that pan. The more you use it the more the carbon will collect in the bottom of the pan in between the little dimples and even after you clean it ( if you’re cleaning it correctly) the carbon remains in the bottom of that pan the more you cook with it. I use a little canola oil or olive oil and sometimes I even use pork lard to make fried potatoes and onions, and as the gentleman stated here earlier these pans wonderful for baking bread and other things in. We also use our big classic cast-iron Lodge skillet to make the best thick stuffed pork chops you could ever possibly imagine. When I serve those, they lick the platter clean lol. To help deal with the weight of the large Lodge cast-iron skillet develop a two hand approach use two potholders one hand on the long handle on one side and a potholder and hand for the shorter handle on the other side. You don’t want to touch a cast-iron skillet when it’s up to temperature, don’t ever put your fingers up through the shorter handle between the handle and the skillet when it’s up to temperature/hot or you’ll burn yourself so bad you’ll have to go to the emergency room,,,use potholders you don’t need to be moving a heavy hot cast-iron pan around to begin with in the first place it’s far too dangerous. If you’re thinking about getting a cast-iron pan I don’t think you could beat Lodge. You don’t need all the fancy stuff. The short rounded walled chef series pan looks nice and I imagine it is however, those short sidewalls will end up being a pain in the A Double,,,every time you try and flip something over food may slide up to the top of those short walls and and end up dripping grease down over the side.and you’ll have to be constantly wiping it off something to think about..

Good job. I'm Lodge all the way for cast iron. I'd probably prefer a smoother finish but it's not a major issue for me. I've made many omelets in a small Lodge two handled skillet without any sticking.

Lodge doesn’t “not smooth” their cast iron, they media blast it to obtain that surface. The texture is intentional

I just purchased the Lodge 10.25” skillet. Says it is pre-seasoned, but I had to go through the seasoning process after first use because food was sticking. After seasoning, it is everything I hoped it would be, very pleased with this skillet, have spent a fortune on non-stick pans, wasted money, my Lodge will serve us well for many years to come. Only concern is the weight, have to be very careful, we have a glass cooktop, don’t want to crack or scratch it.

I’ve got a couple of them. I rarely use my high end stainless set anymore. My 10” and 12” are my goto skillets. I’ve had my 10” for about 7 years now, and it’s glass smooth now due to constant use. I enjoy mine so much that I’m giving a set to friends as wedding / Christmas gifts.

I'm living in Russia, and I use the Lodge dishes. It's sincerely the best I've ever seen

Have had a Lodge 12" (and others) for over 30 years and it functions better than the day it was purchased. My only complaint? Weight which has become a bigger issues as I age.

I finally got around to getting the classic Lodge 10 inch. It’s the perfect size, thickness and balance for my kind of cooking. Joins the somewhat thinner 12 inch Wagner I’ve cooked on for 40 years. But when it’s time for a hardy red sauce, the enabled cast-iron Staub skillet with the heavy lid comes out.

Thank you for this great comparison! It confirms some of my opinions and answers some of my questions.

I have several Lodge skillets with long stainless handles and stainless helper handles. Aside from their awkward weight, they have been great performers on the stovetop and in the oven. I happen to think they look pretty good, too. THANK YOU for this review video!

Buying lodge puts food on my friends an neighbors tables, so as a local, I am biased. So its nice to see them test well.

Have a 12 inch standard lodge in the home, when I'm camping/hunting I use lodge to cook on and after a quick clean a hand warmer. It radiates heat for a long time

I just bought a cheap cast iron skillet from Amazon probably south american origin, does the job just fine... have cooked dozends of meals with it already, love it for what it is. After all cast iron is cast iron! Would love to try carbon steel pans, but have not yet bought one, because the cast iron does the same as the carbon steel, cooking wise!

The internet is full of arguments for smooth surface over texture but my experience is textured is best. Waste of time to destroy the factory seasoning and smooth it out. I’ve only done this when restoring an old rusty pan. Pay attention to seasoning and nothing cooks or cleans up like cast iron. Good review.

I got my Lodge classic in 2020 at the start of the pandemic as I planned to cook every day. It’s my first cast iron and I was afraid of the high maintenance. I paid around $20. Turned out it was the best purchase I had. I thoroughly enjoy it.

In my possession are a number of Lodge skillets from 4” to 12” plus a Dutch oven. With the exception of the 4”, All were used on a wood stove so it became necessary to burn them out fairly often which grandfather did, then it became my responsibility to scour them with sand and a brick bat. The old fella passed in 1959 and the skillets came to me. I have no idea how old they are, but this I do know, soap has never been applied. Occasionally I will put them in the oven and apply the oven cleaning heat then re-cure.

How many products do you buy that get better the more that you use them?

I bought three of the Lodge classic a few years ago and have been very happy with them.

Nice content, I also learned a lot from your videos about steel and hexclad cookware. One note: As imperial units are only used in the US it would be super nice if you could either use metric units instead or add overlays giving the equivalent in metric units for the rest of the world. Keep up the good work!! 🙂

I have my grandmother’s Wagner. Love it.

I’m coming up to 4 years and I have no complaints whatsoever ❤

I think you should compare Lodge to Victoria. Victoria is also reasonably priced.

Best pan review channel on the internet without a doubt. I only have a lodge iron skillet and I have had zero issues with sticking and maintaining the season. They are AFFORDBLE and perform. I frequently use my cast iron lodge for searing so I like the mass. I heat it in my oven to 500 degrees to get even heat then sear my steaks. It holds the heat perfectly. I also love my lodge for baking and pizzas.

Lodge cast iron will smooth out with use over time. I have Lodge pieces I bought new 30 years ago when I got married and they're just as smooth as my Wagner and Griswold pans.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE LODGE!!!!!!!!

I have a 10 and a 12 inch lodge skillet; neither hold the seasoning as well as my Wagner skillet. They do the job but my Wagner is my favorite.

Both onne for my dad a cupel of months ago the presisening is holding up great. Especially considering how bad he is whit maintenance

I do own a couple of Lodge cast-iron things. The square grill pan and 5.5 qt Dutch oven. I use both of these regularly. I also have a 9 inch or so round skillet, which I hardly ever use. My favorite skillets are a small Crescent F'dry from the 20s or 30s, and a pre 1960 10.5 inch Griswold. Those babies are just the bomb, super smooth, and so much lighter weight than the new Lodge's.

I get my Lodge cast iron cheaply from Walmart. They always perform well for me. The 10.5 " high sided pan with matching low sided pan lid combo is great for baking no kneed bread. My only complaint is that the 12 inch pan is heavy, but great for pancakes. Rough cooking surfaces will smooth out with long use and have presented no problems. Their enameled Dutch ovens are good for acidic foods and soups.

I own several brands of old USA cast iron but Lodge is the best deal for anything new for me. Induction heating is my favorite way and iron really works well there. Your review is excellent stuff.

Lodge is an amazing deal....I cook with modern, vintage and all cast iron in between. They all have their place....and Lodge is as solid as any.

I’ve had my Lodge cast iron skillet for 20 years. It’s been through a lot of mishandling and learning experiences on my part, but it’s come back time and time again and is now a well-seasoned mainstay in my kitchen. Completely nonstick and reliable. Best $20 I ever spent.

kudos to lodge for selling great cookware at an affordable price. let's be real, iron is cheap cheap, BUT it is heavy AF, so i imagine the shipping costs must be insane. i can't imagine the trucks getting loaded out of there factories, how bogged down they must be. i've tried to pick up a stack of them and couldn't, felt like an anvil! i don't have lodge, just a few odd brands of cast iron. one is korean, and really rough, with a weird shape but screw on wooden handles, which is an amazing feature, and no pour spouts, and a 10" one with a smooth surface. surface wise. my smooth one is like the premium cast iron skillets, and the korean one like a lodge, but both are able to cook eggs with no mess (must use oil or butter). i love them both.

I grinded/polished the surface on my trusty old Lodge 12" skillet a few years ago, and I enjoy the smooth surface for cooking and cleaning. Use a silicone carbide strip disk for the bulk of the work and sand with increasing fineness. Blue the surface with a stovetop on high before seasoning and you'll have a beautiful result.

I bought a large 12 inch standard skillet about two years ago and I have been very impressed with his performance and compared favorably against some skillets I have that are over 100 years old I’ve been completely satisfied with

I've had a 10" classic lodge for 30+ years and it is the most used pan in my kitchen. I roast, bake, and fry in it.

Awesome video thank you I'm looking for a lodge pan. Do you have any videos on oil splatter pan covers?

I bought one of those red silicone handle holders, and found out that unless I take a death grip on it, the handle (and consequently the pan) will turn inside it when I try to lift a pan. The first time it happened, I lost a pan of food all over the stove. All it's good for is scooting the pan around on the stove, and regular potholders work just fine for that. I haven't gotten around to throwing it out, but it lives in the bottom of a drawer.

Ive had my Lodge classic frying pan for about 8 yrs and it’s the most reliable piece of Equipment for cooking. It takes 5 minutes to clean and season and it’ll give you a lifetime of work.

Technically speaking, the lodge can't be beat, especially for the price. I bought my 10 and 12 a few years ago for only $7 a piece, by stacking some coupons on an already running sale at kroger. But that doesn't stop me froming owning and enjoying both field and stargazer, and supporting other american manufacturing companies.

I have been cooking with my Lodge Classic cookware for 51 years. The pots, pans and skillets from my cast iron collection are my favourite cooking vessels. Almost all of my cast iron cookware is Lodge.

Cast iron has become so trendy. It's been a long time since I've run across good cast iron in the second hand stroes. Everyone is hip to it now. 😒

Results are pretty much as you would expect based on the weights of the pans, but the biggest difference is with the efficiency of the induction burner. I've never cooked with one, but after seeing these results, I'm more impressed with that combination with a heavier pan.

Take a look at the Victoria brand cast iron made in Colombia. I got the 12" a little while ago for $17 on sale ($25 regular price). The handle is longer and more ergonomic than the standard Lodge and the pan itself is similar to the Lodge Chef Collection.

You can take a lodge and use an angle grinder to smooth it out. My husband did this to mine and nothing sticks, I’m so happy he did this to my cast iron! 😊

I would love to see a new vs vintage cast iron video. I have an 80 year old Wagner cast iron pan that is smooth and magical.

I always burn off. seasoning that comes on the cast iron and season it myself . In my experience this is better seasoning than that waxxy stuff put on at factory. I was told that's more for protection against any rusting during shipping and while sitting on store shelf .

I bought a Lodge 12-inch skillet from Walmart about 25 years ago. It was unseasoned because back then they hadn't started "preseasoning". I think it cost $12. I use it to this day, regularly. An amazing thing.

I have a 12" Lodge skillet and a griddle that I absolutely love and use daily! I only get other brans when I am rescuing them from a flea market or elsewhere!

I have a 10" and 12" Lodge. I sanded the bottom smooth on both and now they work great.

We love our Lodge pans! We have the Chef collection in doubles of different sizes. We have a couple of the Lodge round griddle pans, great for pancakes and French toast! We also have a really big Lodge cast iron wok which is great for cooking Chinese food. I also love my five Lodge bread pans, having five pans allows me to bake fairly large batches of bread. Lodge is definitely my favourite cast iron pan!

Whether it's # 1 or in the top 3. American made and very good .

I have 3 lodge skillets, 2 dutch ovens, a pizza pan, and a chicken fryer. They are a good deal, but: 1) I've sanded most of them to make them smoother. 2) Victoria is an even better deal but they don't have the variety. The Victoria skillets have the same heavy bottom, but the sides are thinner/lighter and the handle is much bigger and more ergonomic.

Found a 10.25" Lodge classic skillet in my local grocer and didn't stop to think much outside of "OOo cast iron!" Picked it up immediately and did some post-acquisition research into care and maintenance on cast iron cookery because of all the superstition and stuff about actual washing of the things. So far I'm about a week in, and it feels way more non-stick than the pans that actually claim to be non-stick. There are many tutorials, but always get the feeling that my care and maintenance might be just a tad off. I think I'm doing good but we'll see how we're doing down the road.

I think the black lock griddle is the best. I love cooking on it, and the large skillets are absolutely instructive and the best.

Yes, Lodge is. No matter what people say is "the truth".

I know my lodge 12” is the best snd I didn’t need Serious Eats or Food & Wine to tell me; although i trust both those organizations very much especially Serious Eats.

I like my old rescued and reconditioned Wagners from times gone by. They’re lightweight and well designed. Lodge skillets always felt overweight and clumsy. I have several sizes ranging from about 6” up to over 12”. I have a variety of lids that fit well enough.

Are Lodge cast iron skillets the best? Probably not, but they are the best value. I bought the three sizes pack at Walmart 5 years ago for around $30 to be used as a white elephant gift. The Christmas party was cancelled and I kept the gift for myself and have been using the skillets ever since. Love these things!

For what they cost, everyone who likes to cook needs a Lodge cast iron. It is true, properly cared for, they do get better with age.

Fantastic video as usual.

Now I can't say for everyone. I have so many cast iron pieces that range from 156 years old to 8 years old that I still use. Now when I get a new cast piece no matter the brand the first thing I do is get the sander and the 100 grit paper. Then I get the flaxseed oil to start seasoning. That's the only reason I have a gas grill. To do first 6 to 8 coats of seasoning. After that it's just keep applying. As I build most of my own tools for cooking with my cast I am pretty proficient at seasoning iron. I would never use a new cast piece right out of the box. I tried it once years ago and it was a terrible experience. Never again. In fact it was just 8 years ago when I bought my first glass covered last piece. Lodge brand. I use it a lot. It was the first out of the box piece I used without anything. I really like it. My main reason for liking lodge is they are heavy duty compared to many others. I have a total of 8 brands. The lodge gets used the most.

While I’d love to have a vintage pan or two, like a Griswold, I’m convinced the Lodge cannot be beat at the price point, or on pure performance. While your tests were interesting, the real test is how well these skillets cook. That’s affected significantly by the understanding of the chef on how cast iron skillets work, and how to take care of them. Those data have very little to do with the tests conducted. It was still interesting, and I’d share your conclusion, but as a test professional I kind of had to point that out. With that said, proper cleaning and re-seasoning after every cook (not the full deal, but applying a good high-temp fat like canola oil to a hot/warm pan) turns the Lodge skillets into masterpieces that simply don’t stick. They are simply awesome. In a dream kitchen I’d have a complete set of Lodge cookware, including the ceramic coated double oven that’s in my kitchen, and a couple of carbon steel skillets for more French-style pan searing. I’d cheerfully get rid of my Calphalon and OXO non-stick stuff…Lodge is just that superior. And given I’m 6’3” and the better part of 250 lbs, the weight isn’t an issue. :)

You could do like I do and use what you inherited. I have a Griswold skillet and some Birmingham Stove which are still going strong today. In age, they are close to the century mark.

The best cast iron hands down is Le Creuset. I bought some Lodge to see what it was all about, it was woeful, I gave it to sister and she came to the same conclusion and just outright binned it and went and purchased some Le Creuset for herself.

I've got a pretty old lodge 12" skillet, but it is too heavy for convenient use, I use the more expensive (and thinner and lighter) 10" "Blacklock" skillet much more often.

Lodge is addictive💙

Cast iron is what it is, so actually hard to go wrong. But Lodges short coming is the short handle. Though it's not a huge difference in practice - it does come into play, but only because cast iron is what it is, there are multiple options in the same price range with a longer handle that there is really no reason to chose Lodge unless it's the only option in it's price range.

Love my lodge! I have almost a whole set, but seven and nine Court Dutch Evans, it’s 1012 and 14 inch frying pans, as well as pizza pans loaf, pans, and sheet pans. If large makes it, most of it I have it.

I have several Lodge skillets, all purchased new. I have seen videos that suggested smoothing the contact area in the skillet. It has been a question as to if that was worth doing.

I purchased a Lodge Blacklock a few years ago. How did you not include this line? It is their premium product and is half the price of the Stargazer. It is smoother and much lighter than their lower end stuff. The Blacklock line is comparable in weight to the better made carbon steel pans. The Blacklock line is where it's at.

The 12” Lodge skillet is the most useful and versatile kitchenware made. Fry, roast, bake, braise- on any heat source indoors or out. You can treat it like a rented mule, you can’t really hurt it. Add a cast iron lid and it is a shallow roaster, baker, braiser- the Lodge lids from their dutch ovens fit their matching skillets. No other cast iron skillet maker is this versatile. Use it for a lifetime and will it to your grandkids.

I have 2 lodge 10', wagner 8' and an unnamed 12'. I love them all equally. The Lodge have a rough bottom, but it doesn't seem to matter in terms of nonstick. My older lodge is about 5 years old and it's almost seasoned to smooth now, and my other lodge is 2 years old and still quite rough. My older Lodge has a crack through and through on the rim near the handle, but it appears to be at the time of manufacture not shock or wear, and it doesn't seem to be spreading. I wrote to Lodge and they asked me for photos, then they simply sent me a new pan without asking for the old one back. Thanks Lodge! I totally agree with the paper towel fluffs left in the Lodge.

I would say for the money yes it is

I soak mine in Dawn dish soap after each use. I don't worry about the non stick portion of the pan.

I had one I used almost every day for years that was great to use, however, after it was resurfaced with the angle grinder it was wonderful. The cast iron of the 1800’s was put through a process of smoothing that’s not done today so it was not necessary for the pioneers to smooth it out with stones, lol! It boils down to you do you and others can do them but that doesn’t make you or them an expert on cast iron; it’s just a preference…

My wife and I have a few of them (Lodge, that is.) Now I have an inkling to make some cornbread for dinner tonight.

WTH, you're better off buying a couple of antique Griswold skillets. You can use them for a lifetime, and when you're done using them, you can pass them along or sell them at a profit. (Oh, for the record, Griswold pans have polished smooth bottoms.)

Use Costco’s blue shop towels. They leave no fiber when wiping out the pan

It’s rather simple to smooth the surface of a Lodge skillet. A small orbital sander and a medium grit paper can make it a short task. Then just follow a cleaning and re-seasoning regimen on the pan.

Bought a L classic 2 years ago. Love it, just made cornbread this morning. 1 problem: I'm 15 lbs heavier.

The cat iron skillet my parents had when i was young anyways got washed in soapy water and wasn't non stick at all. It wasn't easy to use. it wasn't until I moved out that i bought my own, learned up, and taught my parents got to use theirs.

The trick with Lodge or any other cheap cast iron is to take a orbital sander to the inside of the pan before you even heat it the first time. get that factory "preseason" off down to smooth iron, then season it 3-5 times with grapeseed oil. you want that thing to be slick as a babys butt inside. that way you dont need to use a lake of oil to keep stuff from sticking. you should be able to crack an egg in there and slide it around no problem. use a wooden spatula to clean it while its hot after your done cooking, you dont need to use soap, leftover grease is good for it. and NEVER soak it in the sink, if you need water just use a little splash to rinse and dry it off on the stove completely, do not let it air dry!

I love my lodges although i dont know which deries they are from bought at different times ...still the best tools i have in the kitchen

I just can't get over how rough the surface of Lodge stuff is. Good quality old cast Iron I've used is much smoother, and no it's not from the seasoning, you can see they are machined that way.