Best Cast Iron Skillet? I Tested Lodge, Griswold, Smithey, Made In & More

Are expensive cast iron skillets actually better than cheap ones? And which skillet is truly the best?

To find out, I tested 12 cast iron skillets, including Lodge, Smithey, Made In, Field Company, Victoria, Stargazer, Finex, Lancaster, and even an 85-year-old Griswold.

Besides cooking with each for several months, I ran a series of controlled tests to measure how quickly and evenly they heat, how well they retain heat, how hot the handles get, whether they warp under extreme heat, and how cleanly they pour.

To see if skillets with a smooth surface actually release food better than ones with a rough surface, I cooked eggs in each skillet at the exact same temperature using the same amount of grease.

And to see how evenly each skillet cooks across the entire surface, I cooked three pancakes at the same time, with portions of each pancake positioned near the center and closer to the sidewalls so I could compare the browning.

I also compared the weight, cooking surface size, wall height, handle design, and thickness of each pan.

In this guide, I’ll show you which skillets performed the best, which ones I’d skip, and all of the test data so you can decide which one is right for you. I’ll start with the least expensive skillet and work my way up to the most expensive.

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Use the links below to navigate this review:

• Comparison Chart
• Test Methods & Results
• Lodge Classic
• Victoria
• Lodge Chef Collection
• Lodge Blacklock
• Stargazer
• Victoria Signature Series
• Made In
• Smithey
• Field Company
• Lancaster
• FINEX
• Griswold
• Which Cast Iron Skillet Is the Best?
• What I Learned From Testing 12 Cast Iron Skillets

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Comparison Chart

Skillet	Top Reasons to Buy	Top Reasons Not to Buy
Lodge Classic	Thick, durable construction; excellent heat retention; stayed completely flat; reliable food release	Heaviest skillet tested; short handle gets relatively hot
Victoria	Long handle; heats quickly; excellent heat retention; large pour spouts; stayed stable	Rough cooking surface; egg needed slight help releasing
Lodge Chef Collection	Best heat retention; lighter than Lodge Classic; even heating; sloped walls improve spatula access	Short handle; water can bypass the pour spouts if poured too quickly
Lodge Blacklock	Lightweight for cast iron; even heating; excellent heat retention; stayed stable	Uncomfortable handle with sharp edges; small pour spouts
Stargazer	Smooth surface; excellent egg release; long handle; large helper handle; flared rim pours cleanly	Handle edges dig into your hand; developed a minor wobble
Victoria Signature Series	Coolest handle tested; smoother surface; excellent pour spouts; relatively lightweight	Bottom became more concave during warp test; multi-piece handle has extra seams
Made In	Excellent handle; smooth surface; perfect egg release; tall walls; large cooking surface	Heat spreads slowly across the surface; developed a slight wobble under extreme heat
Smithey	Excellent heat retention; smooth surface; comfortable flat handle; large pour spouts; heat ring keeps it stable	Relatively heavy; seasoning can look blotchy while it builds
Field Company No. 10	Lightweight; easy to maneuver; heats quickly; smooth surface; flared rim pours well	Second-lowest heat retention; helper handle is small; warped significantly
Lancaster No. 10	Smooth surface; excellent egg release; comfortable flat handle; stayed completely flat	Handle got hottest in my test; small helper handle; average heat retention
FINEX	Distinctive design; multiple pouring points; smooth cooking surface; handle stays cool on stovetop	Heavy round handle can rotate in your hand; coil is difficult to clean around; relatively low heat retention
Griswold No. 10	Lightest skillet tested; heats extremely quickly; smooth surface; easy to maneuver	Lowest heat retention; worst egg release; uneven heating; vintage pan was already warped

Test Methods and Results

To compare these 12 skillets as fairly as possible, I ran each one through the same series of controlled tests. Here’s a quick breakdown of how I tested them, along with the results from the heating tests.

Heat conduction and distribution: I placed each skillet on the same cooktop at medium heat and measured the surface temperature in the center and near the edge after exactly two minutes. The center temperature shows how quickly the skillet heated, while the difference between the center and edge shows how evenly the heat spread during the short preheat.

Skillet	Center After 2 Min.	Edge After 2 Min.	Difference
Griswold	506°F	372°F	134°F
Victoria	444°F	362°F	82°F
Stargazer	434°F	350°F	84°F
Field Company	432°F	330°F	102°F
Victoria Signature	407°F	337°F	70°F
FINEX	398°F	293°F	105°F
Made In	392°F	262°F	130°F
Lancaster	387°F	297°F	90°F
Lodge Classic	359°F	299°F	60°F
Lodge Chef Collection	343°F	353°F	10°F
Smithey	336°F	285°F	51°F
Lodge Blacklock	326°F	294°F	32°F

Heat retention: I heated each cooking surface to 400°F, removed the skillet from the heat, and measured the surface temperature again after exactly five minutes.

Skillet	Surface Temp. After 5 Min.
Lodge Chef Collection	228°F
Smithey	217°F
Victoria	215°F
Lodge Blacklock	215°F
Lodge Classic	211°F
Stargazer	207°F
Victoria Signature	204°F
Lancaster	204°F
Made In	196°F
FINEX	191°F
Field Company	183°F
Griswold	168°F

Handle temperature: I boiled water in each skillet for 10 minutes, then immediately measured the temperature of the primary handle in the middle where I would normally grab it.

Skillet	Handle Temp. After 10 Min.
Victoria Signature	81°F
Made In	84°F
FINEX	86°F
Victoria	90°F
Stargazer	95°F
Lodge Chef Collection	96°F
Smithey	97°F
Lodge Blacklock	98°F
Lodge Classic	100°F
Field Company	100°F
Griswold	103°F
Lancaster	104°F

Egg test: I heated each skillet to 325°F, added exactly 1 teaspoon of oil and 5 grams of butter, and cooked one egg to compare how easily it released.

Pancake test: I cooked three small pancakes in each skillet, with portions positioned near the center and closer to the sidewalls so I could compare browning across the cooking surface.

Warp test: I checked the bottom of each skillet with a straight edge before and after heating it to 425°F on a powerful induction cooktop and holding it there for two minutes.

Pour test: I poured water from each skillet into a standard drinking glass to compare how cleanly the pour spouts or flared rims directed the liquid and whether it spilled or dripped.

Lodge Classic

The Lodge Classic is made in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and it’s the least expensive skillet I tested. It has a rough cooking surface, pour spouts on both sides, and a short handle.

At 5 millimeters thick and 8.1 pounds, it’s the thickest and heaviest skillet in the group. Because of the thick construction, it heated slower than most of the thinner skillets. After two minutes, the center measured 359°F and the edge was 299°F.

But it retained heat well. After heating the surface to 400°F and letting it cool for five minutes, it was still 211°F. That put it near the upper end of the group and only 17°F below the top-performing Lodge Chef Collection.

It also stayed completely flat after I heated it on a powerful induction cooktop at 425°F for two minutes, which was not the case with some of the others.

Despite the rough cooking surface, the egg didn’t stick at all. It didn’t slide quite as freely as it did on some of the smoother skillets, but the difference was pretty minor. And in my pour test, the spouts worked well with no spilling.

This skillet performs great, but I’m not a fan of the handle. At only 5 inches long, it’s one of the shortest in the group. After boiling water for 10 minutes, the handle reached 100°F, which was also toward the hotter end of the test.

Victoria

The Victoria skillet is made in Colombia, and like the Lodge, it has a rough cooking surface with pour spouts on both sides.

It’s a little lighter at 7.2 pounds, but the biggest design difference is the handle. At 7.1 inches, it’s more than 2 inches longer than the Lodge Classic handle and stays cooler.

It was also one of the fastest skillets to heat. After two minutes, the center reached 444°F, second only to the vintage Griswold. The edge reached 362°F, an 82°F difference.

It retained heat slightly better than the heavier Lodge Classic. Five minutes after reaching 400°F, the Victoria surface was still 215°F, tied with Lodge Blacklock for third-best overall.

It also performed well in the warp test. There was only a very slight gap in the bottom before heating, and I didn’t see any meaningful additional warping afterward.

The egg stuck slightly at first and needed a little help from the spatula, but once it released, it moved around the pan easily.

In the pancake test, the portions closer to the center browned more than the portions near the sidewalls, which happened with almost every skillet.

The handle measured 90°F after boiling water for 10 minutes, a full 10°F cooler than the Lodge Classic.

For a relatively inexpensive skillet, the combination of a long handle, quick heating, strong heat retention, large pour spouts, and stable construction is impressive.

Lodge Chef Collection

The Lodge Chef Collection has the same rough cooking surface as the Lodge Classic, but the walls are a quarter inch shorter and more sloped, which makes it easier to slide a spatula underneath food near the edges.

The handle is also slightly longer, the walls are thinner, and at 6.3 pounds, it’s almost 2 pounds lighter.

Despite the lighter construction, it had the best heat retention of all 12 skillets. After heating the surface to 400°F and letting it cool for five minutes, it was still 228°F. Smithey was the next closest at 217°F.

I also noticed that the bottom was slightly concave. That may help explain another unusual result.

After two minutes on medium heat, the center was 343°F while the outer cooking surface was 353°F. It was the only skillet where the edge was warmer than the center, and it had the smallest center-to-edge temperature variation in the entire test.

That also showed up in the pancake test, where browning was a little more even than most of the others.

Fortunately, the slightly concave shape didn’t get noticeably worse during the warp test, and the skillet remained stable.

In the egg test, it stuck slightly at first and needed a little help from the spatula, but once it released, it moved around the pan easily.

The pour spouts work, although some water can bypass them if you pour too quickly.

The Lodge Chef Collection is one of my top recommendations because it gives you much of the durability and performance of the Classic in a lighter, easier-to-handle design.

Lodge Blacklock

The Lodge Blacklock has the same rough cooking surface as the other Lodge skillets, but it’s thinner and lighter and has a longer redesigned handle.

At 6.1 pounds, it’s the lightest of the three Lodge skillets I tested.

It heated more evenly than almost every other skillet. After two minutes, the center measured 326°F and the edge was 294°F, a difference of just 32°F. Only the Lodge Chef Collection had a smaller variation.

It also retained heat very well. After five minutes of cooling, the surface measured 215°F, tied with Victoria for third place.

And it stayed stable during the warp test with no noticeable change.

The egg stuck slightly at first and needed a small nudge with the spatula, but after that it moved around the pan easily.

The biggest issue for me is the handle. It gets very wide where it connects to the skillet, then narrows toward the end, and the edges feel sharp and dig into your hands.

The pour spouts are also pretty small, so water can spill over the rim if you pour too fast.

Stargazer

The Stargazer is made in the USA and has flared rims instead of pour spouts, a large helper handle, and the longest handle in the group at 7.6 inches.

Unlike the Lodge and Victoria skillets, the cooking surface is smooth. Because of that, it performed extremely well in the egg test. The egg released immediately and slid around the pan without any help from the spatula. The flared rim also poured cleanly.

Stargazer was one of the fastest modern skillets to heat. After two minutes, the center measured 434°F and the edge was 350°F.

However, that 84°F difference shows that the heat hadn’t fully spread to the perimeter during the short preheat.

Heat retention was middle of the pack. Five minutes after reaching 400°F, the surface measured 207°F.

In my warp test, it started completely flat, but after heating, the center bowed outward slightly, which resulted in a minor wobble.

The biggest differentiator with this pan is the handle. The deep groove gives your hand something to grip, so the skillet doesn’t twist when you’re holding it with a towel or oven mitt. But the edges dig into my hand, so despite being long and secure, it’s not very comfortable.

Stargazer is a good skillet, especially if you value a long handle, smooth cooking surface, and flared rim. I just prefer the handle designs on Smithey and Made In.

Victoria Signature Series

The Victoria Signature Series has a more high-end look than the standard Victoria.

The cooking surface is smoother, the walls are thinner, and the split-style handle has a separate metal piece in the middle.

It heated fairly quickly. After two minutes, the center was 407°F and the edge was 337°F, a 70°F difference.

Heat retention was average. After five minutes of cooling, it measured 204°F.

In the egg test, it stuck slightly at first, but once I loosened it with the spatula, it moved around the pan easily. The pour spouts also worked really well with no noticeable spilling.

The biggest issue was the warp test. The bottom was already concave before heating, and afterward that gap became larger.

A concave pan can still sit flat and stable on the cooktop because the perimeter remains in contact with the surface, but oil poured into the center tends to flow toward the outer edges rather than staying evenly distributed.

I like that the handle stays cool. In fact, at 81°F after 10 minutes of boiling water, it was the coolest handle in the entire test.

But I prefer the simpler one-piece handles on most of the other skillets because there are fewer seams and parts to clean around.

Made In

The Made In skillet is made in the USA, and it has a smooth interior, tall walls that curve gradually into the cooking surface, and large primary and helper handles.

At 7.9 pounds, it’s the second-heaviest skillet I tested, behind only the Lodge Classic.

The handle is 7.5 inches long, almost as long as Stargazer’s, but I prefer the shape. The shallow groove gives you good control without sharp edges digging into your hand.

It also stayed remarkably cool during my stovetop test. After boiling water for 10 minutes, the handle was only 84°F, second coolest overall.

In my heat tests, the center heated fairly quickly, reaching 392°F after two minutes. But the edge was only 262°F. That 130°F difference was the second-largest gap in the entire group, behind only Griswold.

That result matches what I’ve noticed during months of cooking with it. This skillet takes longer for heat to spread across the entire surface. But if you let it heat gradually for a few minutes, it cooks evenly and it’s great for searing.

Heat retention was toward the middle-to-lower end of the group at 196°F after five minutes.

The smooth surface performed extremely well in the egg test. The egg released immediately and slid around the pan with no sticking. The pour spouts also worked perfectly in my test with no dripping.

In the warp test, it started completely flat, but after heating, the center bowed outward slightly and the pan developed a minor wobble. So you need to be careful and preheat slowly, especially on induction.

Made In is still one of my favorite skillets in this group. I really like the large cooking surface, tall walls, smooth finish, and handle. You just need to give it enough time to preheat.

Smithey

Smithey is made in Charleston, South Carolina. It has a smooth cooking surface, large pour spouts, and a heat ring around the bottom that allows for some expansion while keeping the skillet stable.

The cooking surface is 4.9 millimeters thick, almost as thick as the Lodge Classic, but the sidewalls are only 2.8 millimeters. So you still get a substantial base without carrying unnecessary weight in the walls. The skillet weighs 7.2 pounds.

The handle is shorter than Made In and Stargazer at 5.3 inches, but the wide, flat shape is comfortable and gives you excellent control when tilting the pan.

It also doesn’t want to rotate in your hand the way a rounded handle can, especially when you’re using an oven mitt or towel. The three holes in the helper handle give it a unique look while also adding places to grip or hang the skillet.

In my tests, it heated slower than some of the thinner skillets. After two minutes, the center was 336°F and the edge was 285°F. But that relatively modest 51°F difference means the heat was spreading more evenly than it did in most of the group.

It also retained heat extremely well. Five minutes after reaching 400°F, Smithey measured 217°F, second only to the Lodge Chef Collection.

The smooth surface was perfect in the egg test. The egg released immediately and slid around the pan without sticking.The large pour spouts also poured cleanly and accurately.

In the warp test, the center bowed outward slightly after heating, but the heat ring kept it from extending far enough to make the skillet wobble. It stayed stable on the cooktop.

One thing to know about Smithey, Made In, and some of these other skillets with smooth cooking surfaces is that the seasoning can be harder to build evenly at first.

The finish can look blotchy or fade in spots, especially after high-heat cooking. That’s mostly cosmetic.

Over months of cooking, the seasoning gradually darkens and evens out. In the meantime, make sure you dry the skillet thoroughly after washing so exposed areas don’t rust.

I’ve used Smithey for over two years, and it’s still one of the cast iron skillets I reach for most often.

Field Company

Field Company is made in the USA, and it’s the second-lightest skillet I tested. It weighs just 5.5 pounds and has a smooth cooking surface, thin 2.3-millimeter sidewalls, and a flared rim instead of pour spouts.

The thinner, lighter construction makes it easier to pick up and maneuver, and it heats quickly. After two minutes, the center reached 432°F, making it one of the fastest modern skillets in the test. The edge was 330°F.

But because there’s less mass to hold onto that heat, it had the second-lowest heat retention in the group. Five minutes after reaching 400°F, the surface was down to 183°F. Only the vintage Griswold cooled faster.

Low heat retention can be a pro or a con. The temperature fluctuates more when you add cold food or when you’re trying to keep oil at a steady temperature for frying. However, it also responds more quickly when you adjust the burner.

The smooth surface performed well in the egg test. After a slight nudge, the egg slid around easily without sticking. And despite not having pour spouts, the flared rim poured cleanly.

I like the primary handle, but the helper handle is the smallest in the group, so there isn’t much to grab onto.

The biggest issue was warping. Field has a heat ring around the bottom, but after heating, the center bowed outward far enough to extend beyond the ring. That caused the skillet to wobble noticeably and even spin when I tapped the handle.

Lancaster

The Lancaster is made in Pennsylvania, and it looks and feels a lot like the Smithey. It has a smooth cooking surface, large pour spouts, a flat handle, and a heat ring around the bottom.

At 6.2 pounds, it’s significantly lighter than Smithey despite having the same 4-millimeter cooking-surface thickness as several other skillets in the group.

The smooth surface performed perfectly in the egg test. The egg released immediately and moved freely. The pour spouts worked great too.

After two minutes of heating, the center measured 387°F and the edge was 297°F, a 90°F difference. Heat retention was average at 204°F after five minutes.

Lancaster performed really well in the warp test. It started flat and stayed flat after heating, with no wobble or noticeable change.

The handle shape is comfortable and gives you good control, but it gets noticeably hotter than some of the others during stovetop cooking.

After boiling water for 10 minutes, the handle measured 104°F, the hottest result in the test. The helper handle is also fairly small.

FINEX

FINEX is made in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, and it’s easily the most distinctive-looking skillet in the group.

It has an octagonal shape, a smooth cooking surface with rougher inner walls, and a stainless steel coil wrapped around the handle. The shape is mostly aesthetic, but it actually works well for pouring.

Instead of dedicated pour spouts, the corners give you multiple places to pour from. In my test, they poured cleanly with no meaningful spilling.

The smooth cooking surface also performed well in the egg test. It needed only a slight nudge before the egg moved around freely.

I do wish the inner walls were finished as smoothly as the cooking surface. The transition between the polished base and rough walls makes the interior look less refined than some of the other premium skillets.

Heat performance was toward the lower end of the group. After two minutes, the center measured 398°F and the edge was 293°F, a 105°F difference. After the heat-retention test, it cooled to 191°F, third-lowest overall.

It also warped slightly during the induction stress test, but not enough to cause noticeable wobbling.

FINEX says the coiled handle stays cooler on the stovetop and cools down faster after you take the skillet out of the oven. In my stovetop handle test, it performed well. The handle measured 86°F after boiling water for 10 minutes, third coolest overall.

But I also compared FINEX with regular cast iron handles after heating the skillets in a 400°F oven. The FINEX handle was still too hot to touch after 15 minutes and didn’t provide the dramatic cooling advantage I expected.

The handle is also very thick, round, and smooth, so the skillet can rotate in your hand when you’re tilting it, especially with a towel or oven mitt.

And because the coil isn’t removable, grease and moisture can collect underneath it around the cast iron shaft, where it’s difficult to clean and dry.

FINEX certainly looks different, and some aspects of the design work well. But I don’t think the coil handle provides enough practical benefit to outweigh its downsides.

Griswold

Griswold is a vintage cast iron brand that’s highly regarded by collectors and cast iron enthusiasts. These skillets are known for being thin, lightweight, and very smooth.

The company made cookware in Erie, Pennsylvania for decades, but the original factory closed in 1957, so you can’t simply walk into a store and buy a new one today.

This No. 10 has the large Griswold logo and is believed to have been made sometime between 1939 and 1944.

At 4.8 pounds, it’s the lightest skillet I tested, and the cooking surface is only about 3 millimeters thick. Because of that, it was the fastest skillet to heat.

After only two minutes, the center reached 506°F, by far the highest temperature in the test. But the edge was only 372°F, resulting in a 134°F difference, the largest gap of all 12 skillets.

It also had the lowest heat retention. Five minutes after reaching 400°F, the cooking surface had fallen to 168°F. For comparison, the Lodge Chef Collection was still 228°F and Smithey was 217°F.

The cooking surface on this Griswold is extremely smooth, but surprisingly, it had the worst result in my egg test. I had to work the spatula underneath the egg to release it, and a small amount stuck. After roughly 85 years of use, the seasoning isn’t perfectly even and there are small pits and marks in the surface, which likely played a role.

This skillet was already warped when I bought it, which is one of the risks with vintage cookware. After the warp test, the problem became more noticeable and the pan wobbled and spun on the cooktop. Even with the warping and age, it still cooks really well.

It’s extremely easy to maneuver, pours cleanly, and responds to temperature adjustments much faster than a thick modern cast iron skillet.

I wouldn’t buy vintage cast iron expecting it to outperform a good modern skillet. The appeal is the history, craftsmanship, collectibility, light weight, and the experience of cooking with something that’s been around for generations.

Which Cast Iron Skillet Is the Best?

So which cast iron skillets are actually worth buying, and which ones would I skip?

On the less-expensive end, Victoria and the Lodge Chef Collection are my top picks.

Victoria has a long handle, heats quickly, retained heat better than I expected, pours cleanly, and stayed stable during the warp test.

The Lodge Chef Collection is lighter and easier to maneuver than the Lodge Classic, and it had the best heat retention of all 12 skillets. Its slightly concave bottom also produced the most even short-term heat distribution in my test.

The Lodge Classic is also a great option if you want something thicker and more substantial. It’s extremely durable, retains heat well, stayed completely flat during the warp test, and even released an egg without sticking despite its rough surface.

If you want a smoother cooking surface and a more refined design and don’t mind spending more, Smithey and Made In are my favorite premium options.

I’ve used Smithey for over two years, and it’s still one of the pans I reach for most. It combines excellent heat retention, a comfortable and secure handle, large pour spouts, a smooth cooking surface, and a heat ring that helps keep it stable.

Made In has my favorite handle of the group. The cooking surface is extremely smooth, the walls are tall and useful, and it cooks very well once it’s fully preheated. The main thing to understand with Made In is that you need to give it time. During my two-minute test, the center was 130°F hotter than the edge.

Field, Stargazer, and Lancaster are all good skillets, but each has enough of a drawback that I wouldn’t choose it over Smithey or Made In.

Field is extremely light and responsive, but it had the second-lowest heat retention and developed the most noticeable wobble in my warp test.

Stargazer has excellent egg release and pouring, but the edges of the handle are uncomfortable.

Lancaster performed very well and remained completely stable during the warp test, but its handle was the hottest of the group.

Victoria Signature, Lodge Blacklock, and FINEX are the three modern skillets I’d be least likely to recommend.

The Victoria Signature has a cool handle and performs well, but the bottom became more concave during the warp test and I don’t love the multi-piece handle design.

Lodge Blacklock performed well in the heat tests, but the handle is uncomfortable and the pour spouts are too small.

FINEX performs fine, but the large round coil handle can rotate in your hand, is difficult to clean around, and didn’t cool as quickly after oven use as I expected.

As for Griswold, Wagner, and other vintage cast iron, I’d look at those more as collector’s items.

They can still cook extremely well, and the light weight and smooth surfaces make them enjoyable to use. But I wouldn’t pay a premium expecting a vintage skillet to outperform a good modern one.

If I could only choose one skillet from this group, I’d pick Smithey. If I wanted a less expensive option, I’d choose Victoria or the Lodge Chef Collection. And if handle comfort and a larger, deeper cooking surface were my priorities, I’d choose Made In.

What I Learned From Testing 12 Cast Iron Skillets

The biggest takeaway from all of these tests is that price doesn’t automatically translate to better cooking performance.

Some premium skillets have smoother finishes, more refined handles, thinner walls, and nicer design details. Those things can make a skillet more enjoyable to use, especially if you plan to keep it for decades.

But inexpensive cast iron can perform exceptionally well. The Lodge Chef Collection had the best heat retention. Victoria was one of the fastest skillets to heat. And the rough Lodge Classic released an egg without sticking.

I also wouldn’t choose a skillet based solely on whether the cooking surface is rough or smooth. The polished surfaces on Smithey, Made In, Stargazer, and Lancaster provided excellent release, but the smooth vintage Griswold performed worst in that test. Seasoning condition, temperature control, and how you cook matter just as much as surface texture.

Weight is another tradeoff rather than a simple advantage or disadvantage. Field and Griswold are light and responsive. They’re much easier to pick up and adjust quickly when the burner is too hot. But they also lose heat faster. 

The thicker Lodge and Smithey skillets respond more slowly, but once they’re hot, their temperature is steadier. That makes them especially good for searing, frying, and other situations where you don’t want the pan temperature to decrease when you add food.

Finally, none of these skillets heat perfectly evenly after only a couple of minutes. Cast iron conducts heat relatively slowly, so the area directly above the burner heats first.

If you want even browning across the entire surface, preheat the skillet gradually for several minutes. That’s especially important when cooking multiple pancakes, burgers, or other foods spread across the pan.

All 12 skillets can cook great food. The best choice comes down to which tradeoffs matter most to you: weight, heat retention, handle design, surface texture, pouring, stability, and how much you’re willing to spend.