Large, quality pan

My partner and I cook together and we really took our time to test this pan and make sure we got it right, since this was our first experience with cast iron. While the included guide covers the basic I would HIGHLY recommend anyone buying this or considering buying it to do your research on if cast iron is right for you. We’re still not sure if it's right for us (it’s a lot of work compared to regular pans), but can definitely see the appeal.

For example, many people think cast iron heats evenly, this is not the case for the metal and it’s prone to heat spots, but it does cook more evenly upwards. So like, it will cook the steak in the middle, even if it’s thick, as opposed to ending up burning the surface before the middle is cooked well.

There’s a lot of quirks and care that you’ll need to know if you’re deciding whether or not to go cast iron for the first time and it’s a lot of work, so make sure you definitely do a lot of research or you risk needing to fix the pan that you ruined. One common thing about cast iron you hear that’s 100 percent true, is that you shouldn’t put it in the dishwasher. However, you can and should wash it, just make sure to dry it carefully and even heat it a little afterwards to make sure it’s bone dry. If you have a glass cooktop, never EVER slide it around. Always lift.

Specifically speaking of this pan, it comes pre-seasoned, but still recommends you season, which we did. Because cast iron takes so long to cool, we did the seasoning process 3 times over 3 nights. When they caution you (on guides) to use very little oil and make sure it’s wiped off, they mean it. I used so little oil and still ended up with sticky spots that meant I had to put it into bake again.

However, once it was seasoned I really enjoyed it. This pan is much bigger than I expected and while there’s a lot of downsides of cast iron, like the need to use pot holders, there are lots of benefits too. One of the first things we cooked was pancakes. Since I make Scottish style ‘drop scones’ they are very dense and almost never cook well in the middle before the outside is burnt. Of course, we didn’t have this issue with cast iron and the pan worked like a dream.

This pan comes with a good quality lid and a silicone handle (both things some brands don’t include and that usually cost extra), both of which are essential for having the full cooking range and staying safe. If you’ve seasoned it well, it’s basically non-stick and it works extremely well for breakfasts, meats and pretty much anything. I got some recommendations for what to cook first and the common suggestions were pizza, dutch baby and cornbread, but I recommend starting with something simple like a cooked breakfast or pancakes.

Overall, this is a great pan that does exactly what’s advertised and is a really good, lower cost introduction to the world of cast iron cookware!