The Only Cast Iron Skillet Worth Buying, According to Food Pros

It's a really affordable, versatile pan.

My mom carefully cared for a large cast iron skillet all of my childhood, cooking everything from cornbread to weeknight tacos in it and dutifully drying and seasoning it between uses. It wasn’t until I moved to the South as an adult that I really appreciated her dedication to that pan. 

In Southern food culture, cast iron is so revered that families squabble over who will get Memaw’s skillet after she passes. I have played a bit with different cast iron brands over the years in various test kitchens, but when my daughter was born, I decided I needed my own (just in case I don’t inherit my mom's), so I bought a Lodge cast iron skillet.

I’ve been cooking in and caring for that skillet for 12-plus years now. Recently, I reached out to a few other food writers and recipe developers to see which cast iron skillet they reach for the most when cooking for themselves, or for testing recipes, and, of course, they all said the same thing: Lodge Cast Iron. 

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Lodge Cast Iron Is Accessible, Reliable, and Indestructible 

Lodge Cast Iron has been making cookware in Tennessee for over 125 years, making it the oldest manufacturer of cast iron in the United States. If you bought a new skillet in the last two decades, it is likely a Lodge.

“I'm a ride-or-die Lodge girl. It's been the brand most familiar to me growing up, so it stuck with me,” shares Shawanda Mason, a food writer who lives near Lodge’s foundries. Unlike other legacy cast iron brands (think Wagner and Griswold), Lodge has survived dips in cast iron cooking’s popularity through innovation in both their forms and production. Most notably, Lodge developed a method for pre-seasoning skillets, making them easier for those new to cast iron cooking to use. 

“I never really shopped around to figure out what my favorite brand of cast iron is because I bought two Lodge pans about 12 years ago, and they are both still in perfect condition!” cookbook author Dan Whalen reveals. “I love that they're extremely affordable, virtually indestructible, and will outlive me. I've had my Lodge skillet for 15 years,” Simply Recipe Senior Editor Megan Scott says enthusiastically. 

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As is the case with most cast iron cookware, Lodge’s cast iron skillets are virtually indestructible. Thanks to their even heat distribution and ability to hold heat, they produce deep brown crusts on everything from cornbread to smash burgers. “I have a 12-inch Lodge skillet I use for deep frying and making steaks,” adds Whalen, “and also for smash burgers. I’ll bring my Lodge grill pan out when I am cooking outdoors or camping and cooking over the fire.” 

Mason, on the other hand, loves her 15-inch Lodge skillet for weeknight cooking (nachos and chicken thighs, for example) and says, “I love it specifically for recipes that call for both stovetop and oven cooking because they're easily transferable to the oven.” 

A 12- or 15-inch skillet is great for nachos and smash burgers, but if you’re looking for a versatile and still easy-to-maneuver size, Lodge’s 10.25-inch skillet is perfect and can be found for about $20. Smaller skillets work well for baking things like cornbread and biscuits or a breakfast frittata, while the large skillets are great for big family meals and browning meat or roasting chicken.

If you’re looking for a new Lodge pan, you can readily find it at most Target and Walmart stores, and once you have one, you’ll be cooking it for years to come.