Lodge Logic L10SK3 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Lodge Logic L10SK3 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet
Customer Review: A fine skillet
Summary: 5 Stars
I've owned this cast iron skillet going on 4 years now and it's just great. I think there's a bit of nostalgia and obsession brewing with some of these reviews but honestly this pan delivers and from what I'm told, it's a healthier surface on which to cook. Growing up my folks had cast iron skillets that were just plain abused. I know there was soap used, I know there was steel wool used and never did I see anyone "season" or oil them. I actually like taking care of this pan and I've got everyone trained, if you use it, brush it, no soap dry it and spray a fine layer of vegetable or canola oil on it and put it back in the oven. If you're a person who doesn't clean pans until the next day or several days later, don't bother with this pan, you're too lazy to own one.
This item comes pre-seasoned from the factory and let me tell you it's a fine start that just improves with use and proper care. Follow the instructions and this pan will outlive all of us. I bought the Lodge brush when I ordered this pan and I'm still using that same brush, it's almost time for another but it's a good buy too. Make sure you educate everyone in the household on the care required for this pan. It's worth the effort, it's not a big deal, they clean up easily. It's fun to use and it heats your food like no other surface. My favorite thing to cook is simple breakfast potatoes, it browns them well and I use a lid from another pan set that fits perfectly. I did see some people complain of the pan cracking in half and that should be considered a factory blemish. If this were to happen to me, I'd return it for another one and chalk it off as a lemon. My skillet has served me well and I'm going to buy a smaller one and eventually replace all teflon surfaces with cast iron. Although I don't think I'm quite ready to fry an egg properly, I will figure out a way without having to use nine cubes of butter. ;-)
One thing to be aware of is the way cast-iron reacts with garlic and vinegar. I was sauteing garlic one day and somewhere during the recipe I dashed in a little rice wine vinegar and my garlic turned blue. It wasn't the most appealing color as it reminded me of food-gone-bad but I read later its a natural reaction between the iron surface, the sulphur in the garlic and the vinegar.
If you buy this pan, consider the slip-on handle pad and definitely buy the stiff brush from Lodge.
Customer Review: If you cook for a family, you'll love this pan
Summary: 5 Stars
Cast iron has it's own advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are that it's heavy for its size, it doesn't respond quickly to cooking temperature change and it can lose it's seasoning (the stick-resistant coating). The advantages are that it's heavy iron distributes and holds heat really well, it stays hot when it gets hot, and it's virtually non-stick if you care for it properly. To use this pan well, you'll want to get it hot first. Preheat it over high for at least 2 full minutes and check to see that it's good and hot by holding you hand over (NOT ON) the surface. You'll soon learn how to gauge the heat. Then, put your oil in, or spray the pan with non-stick spray, and put in your food. The high heat browns meat and sandwiches really well, making a delicious toasty crust on the outside that most high-end pans can't match. Then turn the heat down to cook the inside of the meat or sandwich. This will also brown your chicken very well too. I love it for Chicken Piccata. It's also great for cooking eggs or french toast. I acquired this pan about 6 months ago, along with it's companion 7-quart dutch oven and lid. I routinely cook for 6 people and would recommend this for a family of 4-6 adults and children. I use it at least 2 times a week - I use my 10-inch pan for breakfast as we eat at different times. This pan is big enough for 6 regular-size chicken boneless half-breasts (about 5-6 ounces each, not those insanely gigantic deformed breasts that weigh about a pound - those things are nuts!) or 4 quarter-pound hamburger patties without overlap. It would also hold 4 eggs without them touching, or 4 slices of bacon and two eggs at the same time. This pan gives superior performance at a very reasonable price. Warning -- you need a lid to fully utilize this pan. Also, if you do much pan-frying (like burgers or fried chicken), you'll need a spatter guard that's big enough. Use metal tools in this, especially flat metal spatulas, as plastic tools don't scrape the interior enough and after a while a nasty "gunk" builds up causing you to need to recondition the pan - a tedious job. Do an online search for more information on the care and use of cast iron, and have fun with your wonderful new skillet.Customer Review: Manufacturer's pre-seasoning doesn't work
Summary: 3 Stars
There are two main problems I have with this pan.
1. Handle is too short. The handle on my 8" cast iron pan is larger than this one. This is a big pan, and the handle needs to be 1" longer, and .5" wider to be able to easily maneuver this very heavy pan, especially when you consider that people will be wearing oven mitts, which leaves even less room. If you're not going to move the pan around much, it's not a big deal, but people who don't have strong forearms will probably have a problem with this. It is just way too short and thin for a pan of this size.
2. The pre-seasoning is worthless. As soon as I got the pan, I followed the instructions, which only consisted of rinsing in hot water. Then I put it on a burner and set it to high to preheat. I have been using cast iron pans for a long time. I have three other cast iron pans that are beautifully seasoned, and I have self-seasoned cast iron at least 20 times. I know how to care for these pans and how to use them. Within 5 minutes of putting this pan on my stove, the middle of the pan started to turn grey, meaning that the seasoning was burning off. Within 15 minutes on high with nothing in the pan, the seasoning was completely burned off and I was left with a grey pan. I then had to take a drill and sanding pad and remove all of the manufacturer's seasoning, wash it completely with soap, then re-season the entire pan (properly). Once I did that, it was fine.
Thankfully I left it on the burner for awhile before putting food in it; otherwise all of that seasoning would have probably burned off onto my food. Check the picture that I uploaded today to see evidence of the seasoning burning off. Ideally, I should be able to put this pan in the oven at 500 degrees, then transfer it directly to a burner on high, which is well above the temp I had it on, and it should be okay.
Aside form the handle problem and this, it is a great pan and I'm sure I will have it for years to come, but don't trust the manufacturer's seasoning and do it yourself.
Customer Review: Good but Not Perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I've used this pan for about four years now. I use it exclusively and it is easy to care for ***AS LONG AS*** you keep acidic foods such as tomato sauce and wine out of it. If you ever partially take off the seasoning with an acidic food, what a ***CHORE*** it is to get the seasoning right again. You will have to SCRAPE off the remaining seasoning somehow and reseason all over again (which is no big deal if you cook sausage or bacon). I messed up the seasoning in my cast iron dutch oven and I never did manage to get it right again -- maybe if I set aside two hours and used steel wool or something else requring a lot of elbow grease.
Second and bigger issue with this pan is that it does not heat evenly as most everyone claims. I make a lot of pancakes on this thing and I always have to turn the cakes 180 degrees halfway through coooking on either side. Otherwise, the halves on the inner side of the pan will burn before the outer facing halves cook properly. This has been so with both gas burners in my two homes. Maybe it would fare better on an electric range that has evenly distributed heat elements. But the rings would have to expand pretty darn wide. I don't know.
The last issue, which some have already pointed out, is that the pan is neither level nor smooth. But these two defects have not affected my cooking as I don't concern myself too much with careful oil use (just use olive) and the sesoning still keeps the surface fairly trouble free. But I sometimes wonder if all pans wouldn't be as stick-free with my liberal applications of the olive oil.
I have worked around the above issues (imperfect seasoning and all) in cooking all sorts of things except blinis. Blinis just come out better on teflon -- hands down.
As a side note to some of you who may be hoping get some extra iron into your diet, I doubt this pan will help much. I originally started using cast iron cookware because I don't eat red meat and was anemic. I use cast iron almost every day, but I am as anemic as ever.
Customer Review: Amazon doesn't know how to ship a skillet
Summary: 2 Stars
This review isn't about the product itself but about how Amazon ships it. Cast iron skillets are supposed to be just one large piece of iron but what I got was three shards of useless metal. Apparently whoever packed this thing failed to realize the importance of packaging materials. They put one sheet of paper into a box that was way too big for the skillet and shipped it UPS ground, which puts its packages through A LOT of abuse (I know b/c I used to work for them). There needed to be at least ten to fifteen more sheets for a box that large and a product that heavy. Anyone with half a brain would know that a heavy iron object with a handle sticking out wouldn't be able withstand all the abuse that goes on during the shipping process without proper packaging. Now I have to wait another week or two for a replacement and battle the crowd at the post office to ship this back to them.
I've posted pictures on this page showing the damage and the box and (lack of) packaging material.
I just got a replacement a few days ago and lo and behold, it happened again! Amazon REALLY doesn't know how to ship this thing. For the second time in a row, the packers failed to provide the proper amount of packaging material. If you look at my pictures on this page, you'll see what I'm talking about. According to UPS shipping guidelines, something like this skillet needs at least 2-4 inches of bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts - a sheet of brown paper just won't cut it. I called Amazon to see if they could send out the next one with the proper packaging materials but the rep couldn't speak English well enough to understand my concern. He said he'll just send out another one via 2nd day air - this will help a little but the box still needs more padding. We'll see how the third package turns out. As for the skillet itself, it looks like it'd be great to use and 12' appears to be a good size. But I suggest to get it at some place other than Amazon!