Cast Iron Skillet

gtcharlie

Decided to purchase a cast iron skillet to use on my egg for steaks and the like.   Can anyone recommend one from Amazon?  Pre seasoned or not?    Best way to take care of it after use?    Would like to go with as large as possible probable or at least large enough to accommodate 4 steaks.   I have seen people mentioning cutting off the handle but not sure I have the tools necessary to do so.   Thanks.

dldawes1

What size egg ?

Some of us set up our signature line to include egg size....so everyone knows.  

I just bought a Lodge from flea markets or whereever and they work fine for me. 

I bought a 20" from Cabellas ( while on sale) so I would have that size.

I have several lodge DOs and a 14" griddle. No problems with any of them.

I have 4 serving platters for serving hot at the table.

For care...I just wash with water and put on a very thin coat of veg oil for storage.

Someone will likely provide more info.

Angela

What size egg?

The Lodge 17 inch skillet which has two loop handles fits on the large egg, but the handles will overhang so the lid won't close.

The Lodge pizza pan which is 14 inches will fit in the large and the lid will close. 

Big Green Egg also sells half moon reversible grill griddle, you can use one or two of those. 

I own all the ones listed above, plus a bunch of others. 

As far as care, I wash with dish detergent and a scrubby sponge or plastic scraper as needed and dry over heat ( oven, egg or stove). I prefer lard for seasoning. 

gdenby

Lodge pre-seasoned pretty much dominates the market. They are good. You might also consider a Le Creuset enamelled skillet. They have a small advantage of being slightly smoother, and you don't have to worry about maintaining the seasoning.

There is a good article available at seriouseats.com about the 7 common myths about cast iron. Among which are tips on how to maintain them.

Note that the current Lodge offerings are not as good as the old Griswold and Wagner brands. Those were usually made w. a polished bottom. Almost non-stick even w/o the seasoning. Sometimes you can find those at 2nd hand shops, tho' its unlikely you will find one big enough for 4 steaks. And they probably will need reconditioning. A variety of those show up on Ebay, sometimes as found, and cheap, or reconditioned and expensive.

If you are thinking of cutting off the handle, consider getting a baking steel. While you won't be frying anything in them, they work fine for searing, and do double duty for pizzas.

gtcharlie

Thanks for the replies.   Sorry about not listing my egg size-- it is a large.  I will take a look at the seriouseats site for sure.    And I like the idea of a baking steel.   Will most likely only be using it for searing so that sounds like a good option.  

gtcharlie

Angela said:

What size egg?

The Lodge 17 inch skillet which has two loop handles fits on the large egg, but the handles will overhang so the lid won't close.

The Lodge pizza pan which is 14 inches will fit in the large and the lid will close. 

Big Green Egg also sells half moon reversible grill griddle, you can use one or two of those. 

I own all the ones listed above, plus a bunch of others. 

As far as care, I wash with dish detergent and a scrubby sponge or plastic scraper as needed and dry over heat ( oven, egg or stove). I prefer lard for seasoning. 

I like the idea of the 14 inch pizza pan.  Looking on the Lodge site it lists the dimensions as being almost 18 1/2".   It fits fine in the large egg and the lid will close without raising the grid?   And is it deep enough if I like to do something like fish with a decent amount of butter being used? 

Angela

gtcharlie said:

Angela said:

What size egg?

The Lodge 17 inch skillet which has two loop handles fits on the large egg, but the handles will overhang so the lid won't close.

The Lodge pizza pan which is 14 inches will fit in the large and the lid will close. 

Big Green Egg also sells half moon reversible grill griddle, you can use one or two of those. 

I own all the ones listed above, plus a bunch of others. 

As far as care, I wash with dish detergent and a scrubby sponge or plastic scraper as needed and dry over heat ( oven, egg or stove). I prefer lard for seasoning. 

I like the idea of the 14 inch pizza pan.  Looking on the Lodge site it lists the dimensions as being almost 18 1/2".   It fits fine in the large egg and the lid will close without raising the grid?   And is it deep enough if I like to do something like fish with a decent amount of butter being used? 

With the handles it is 18 1/2" It just fits in the large BGE on the grid. The lip on the pizza pan is about 1/2 inch by my measurement. I use it all the time for roasting vegetables, baking pita bread, or almost anything I'd use a sheet pan for. 

SmokeyPitt

I think the pizza pan will be a good starting point.  There may be times you want a deeper skillet but just add more pieces to the collection.  I have an 8 inch lodge skillet that was only about $10 and I use it all the time on the egg and in the house.  It is nice to have a smaller piece to do some sides, for example cheesy skillet poh-tay-toes. 

gtcharlie

I do have a cast iron dutch oven which I have used for chili and the like on the egg so this will be my second piece in the "collection".   Funny how these things grow.   Now I need to find a place to store all this stuff.

gdenby

gtcharlie said:

I do have a cast iron dutch oven which I have used for chili and the like on the egg so this will be my second piece in the "collection".   Funny how these things grow.   Now I need to find a place to store all this stuff.

It gets worse. Much worse.

blasting

I'm weeding through my cast iron currently.  The collection grew to the point of being a little ridiculous.  

I would suggest the pizza pan first.  Second would be a 12" skillet with the handle cut off.  This is probably the most common size.  I also like a bigger skillet such as the 15" or 17".

I think those three pieces, plus the DO you already have will cover most tasks.  Then as you have a specialty need you can add to your collection.  I'm referring to pieces  such as a drop biscuit pan, cornbread pan, and loaf pans for banana bread etc.

I would strip the factory seasoning.  Electrolysis or oven clean will suffice.  Lots of info on youtube.  Then, some 60 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander works wonders for the cooking surface prior to re-seasoning.  It's not aggressive enough to damage the pan, but it does a lot to smooth things out.

You will also need a 12" for certain things like cobblers etc, unless you'll be using the DO for that.