Lodge 17 Inch Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet - Dual Assist Handles - Use in the Oven on the

Not too long ago, my wife and I had been discussing replacing our most used aluminum, Teflon coated skillet. The Teflon was chipping off, and my wife and I didn't think that was very healthy. We have a Lodge 12" cast iron skillet, but we needed something bigger since we were used to the size of our old 14" skillet. We decided to take a chance on the Lodge 17" skillet, and we're very happy with our decision. The pan came to us double boxed, and packed very well for a 15 Lbs. package. Even though the pan is pre-seasoned, I recommend seasoning it yourself. This is very easy, and it takes only an hour. Slather the inside of the pan with the oil of your choice, I use canola, but any will do. Turn your oven on to 350 degrees, then put your pan upside down onto the top rack, and cook your pan for an hour. If you go hotter, the oil in the pan will start smoking really badly. Also, put a piece of tin foil on the rack under the pan to catch the drippings. This pan is huge, very heavy and stable. Having such a large cooking surface is a joy. If you use this pan on your stove you can put this pan across two burners, although on mine it makes it across 1 1/2 burners. Make sure that you allow longer for cast iron to heat up, but once it's hot, it will retain the heat very nicely. Everyone says not to go over medium heat, but I find that you need to stay well below medium or else you start to burn off your oil or butter. The first night that I had it, I cooked chicken fajitas, and they turned out great. I noticed that the main cooking zones were right over the two burners, even though the whole pan got hot. As I was cooking the chicken, I moved the more cooked pieces to the sides of the pan, and rotated the uncooked pieces into the hot zones. I did the same thing when I was cooking the onions and peppers. If you use this pan on a barbecue you could get a much more even heat. Cast iron skillets are made for cooking breakfast. One morning I cooked eggs, and my home made bacon at the same time, there was plenty of room. Pancakes turned out perfect, lots of room for flipping. One morning I needed to cook bacon for four people, so I just lined the whole pan with a layer of bacon and put it in the oven at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Not only did it come out perfect, but the clean up is much easier using that method. Several reviews I read said that the reviewer was returning the pan because everything stuck to the pan. For pancakes and eggs, you have to coat the cooking area liberally with butter. Every time that you cook another round, you need to put more butter or oil on the cooking surface. General cast iron cleaning and care is pretty easy. After I finish cooking, I pour off the oil, I scrape out any dried material, then I rinse the pan out with hot water and a scrub brush. You can use some dish soap during the light scrub, it won't hurt the season. Towel dry the pan, and put a light coat of oil inside the pan. Then, put the pan back on the stove and warm the pan back up to evaporate any water left on it. Any water left on the pan will cause rust. If you ever get any rust, just scrub down with a green pad and re-season. If you get this pan and take the time to learn how to cook with cast iron, you will never want to cook on anything else. The size and quality of this pan is phenomenal. Read more

Upon receiving, I sanded the inside surface smooth with fine sanding cloth and reseasoned. Something I recommend to anyone new to cast iron. The benefit of this pan is that it is large enough to use like a round griddle on the stovetop, but with walls. There will be a hot spot over the burner in the center and a warming perimeter. This allows you to cook something like mushrooms, then onions and peppers, then pushing them to the perimeter, cook a protein to make fajitas or similar fashion for fried rice, lo mein, hash ect. It is large enough to make a great roasting/baking pan for large family meals and I use it for making tortillas, naan or pita bread on the stove top using the center hot spot. The disadvantages are the weight, which is substantial, need for a little upkeep and if you aren't used to cast iron, a bit of a learning curve. I do not have a cover for it but I suppose one could be found or improvised. It will certainly last longer than myself as I have skillets that belonged to my grandparents and are probably more than 80 years old. Even it cast iron starts to rust and looks like it's ruined, a bit of sandpaper and elbow grease will usually bring it right back and lodge is a bit thicker than older pans and can use a bit of thinning down and smoothing. I store mine in the oven where it helps maintain even heat while baking. Read more

This skillet is ginormous! I bought this as part of a christmas gift set for my wife. we have a large family and we cook for everyone. this pan is now our go to for family meals. i like to brown meat for sauces and then deglaze the pan with the sauce. the seasoning/coating is the basic lodge seasoning. it work but could be better. a few coats of your favor seasoning method will help with the non stick capabilities. it doesn't come with a lid, though i don't feel i need one for this pan. in typical cast iron fashion it cooks evenly. if you have a larger/wider range this pan is great, i can spatchcock a chicken and cook the whole thing in the pan at one time. great pan at a great price. Read more