Sure enough: I cracked an egg into the pan and fried it with absolutely no oil, and in the end it slid out easily. The initial egg I fried in oil slid off the pan so easily that I was curious about what would happen if I used no oil at all. Food simply did not stick to its surface. The pre-seasoned coating is what earned this cast-iron skillet its top ranking. The Best Straight Out of the Box: The Victoria Skillet In some cases, I added more than one layer of seasoning to the skillet to assess how that would improve the coating (more on that below).ġ. I then tested fried and scrambled eggs on each skillet again to see how each pan responded to a round of seasoning. Then, I scrubbed the pans, coated them lightly in oil, and baked them to create one layer of "seasoning". I also scrambled eggs using oil on the skillets before I seasoned them. First I fried eggs in oil on each skillet straight out of the box. Frying and scrambling eggs is an effective way to test the level of nonstick coating on the pan because eggs have a tendency to really stick. I tested the 12-inch variety of all six pans. But did the extra expense translate into better performance? The two expensive varieties were Finex, which costs about $280, and the Field Skillet, which costs about $100. The cheaper varieties were Victoria, Lodge, and Camp Chef, which can all be found for $20 to $30 on Amazon. The price of the skillets we tested ranged from about $20 to $280. Nowadays, most cast-iron skillets come "pre-seasoned," though, as our testing proved, that factory pre-seasoning is more of a head start on the seasoning you'll need to do at home. Back in the day, you had to build up that seasoning yourself after buying the skillet. The seasoning on a cast-iron pan is a built-up coat of hardened, polymerized fat that resists moisture and creates a nonstick surface. When we talk about "seasoning" on a cast-iron skillet, we don't mean flavor enhancers like salt and pepper. How non-stick is the pre-seasoned coating? We wanted to know: are the fancy new design features really valuable and worthy of the higher price tag? What's the best cast-iron skillet money can buy?ġ. At Epi, we wanted to test these newer, high-dollar models against a no-fluff brand like Lodge and other highly ranked economical skillets. But good cast-iron pans will endure long after this passing craze-in fact, when properly cared for, they can be passed down for generations.Īs part of this newfound popularity, newer models like the Field Skillet and Finex have arrived on the market. And with that Marie Kondo anti-clutter trend, the cast-iron skillet's versatility at sautéing, frying, and baking, and its ability to go from oven to table, is even more appealing than ever. We're all newly aware of harmful chemicals sometimes used in nonstick pans, and a properly seasoned cast-iron skillet has a natural nonstick coating. We're all feeling that nostalgic pull towards classic American goods that are durable and well-made-and you don't get more old-school than a cast-iron skillet. It's official: Cast-iron skillets are having a moment right now. Photos by: Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell and Christopher Testani.
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