About five years ago, I dove into cooking in and on cast iron in a big way. While I don’t really recall why or how I first stumbled on Lodge as a brand, I’ve been thrilled with them ever since. Great quality pans, superb customer service, and a wide range of products. The pans are easy to use, easy to clean, and very easy to maintain.
Best All-Around Pan
The first cast iron pan I ever bought was a Lodge 10.25″ skillet. It’s the one that you’ll see in the cowboy movies and the outdoor cooking shows. I love its versatility. It can go from the stove-top, to the oven, to the grill and back again. It can be used to saute chicken, make cookie-cake, or bake bread.
Get the pan: Lodge 10.25″ inch Cast Iron Skillet, Pre-Seasoned and Ready to Go
This pan really is my go-to pan. In the past few years, I’ve made the following nom-noms in this pan, and so much more.
In the Oven
- Pizza
- Fruit pies (apple, apple-pear, strawberry, strawberry rhubarb, and pumpkin)
- Roast chicken
- Roast vegetables of all sorts
- Massive chocolate chop cookies
- German pancakes
- Quiche
On the Stove
- Ground beef and ground turkey tacos
- Fried chicken
- Giant peanut-butter cups
On the Grill
- Grilled onions, mushrooms, and peppers
- Fried bananas
More Pan Recommendations Coming Soon
To be honest, this post was put together quickly in response to a kind tweet from Sal Ferrarello.
In the coming days, I’ll add further thoughts and recommendations for different cast iron pans and how I use them. I’ll share information on how I clean and care for the pans. And in due course, I’ll even share some of my favorite recipes.
Want More Cast Iron?
- You can check out my post about the best all-around cast iron pan.
- Make a sausage and egg breakfast sandwich is a cute little cast iron pan.
- Learn all about cleaning cast iron pans.
- Check out my cast iron pan starter kit.
- Peruse all of the articles in the Cast Iron category.
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