# What do I look for in a cast iron skillet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649 "2011-11-11T23:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/21 "2011-11-14T12:45:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I’d trade 20 Lodges for a single milled Wagner in decent condition. ( **Or pay 20x the price to get one on eBay,** which you actually don’t have to do). [No kidding](http://www.ebay.com/itm/WAGNER-ware-PIE-logo-RARE-size-13-SKILLET-cast-iron-WOW-/350403519550?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5195ad643e). :eek: More like 40x the price - $800 for a dirty skillet. That’s crazy. Lots of cheaper Wagners on eBay, though. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/22 "2011-11-14T15:58:22Z")
As long as it is suitably thick, cast iron is fungible. Old, no-longer-produced pans aren’t imbued with any +5 bacon frying magic. You’re paying collector’s prices for a somewhat rarish brand. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/23 "2011-11-14T19:12:06Z")
What I look for in a cast iron skillet is fricasseed chicken with dumplings on top… ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/24 "2011-11-14T19:48:14Z")
I feel like I’m the only person who loves my cast iron pans, but still doesn’t treat them with the deep reverence that others seem to. I have a few - some inherited from family, one found rusty and crusty at a junk store (paid $2), a couple from Goodwill - again in the $3-5 range, and a couple bought new. I do not wash them in pure spring water, with perhaps a wee scrub with some genuine sea salt, followed immediately by drying them with an irish linen tea towel… I wash and scrub them in hot, soapy water and usually throw them on a burner to dry. Sometimes they get rust spots and I use a curly kate to remove it. I don’t worry about the seasoning on them - they all seem to be well seasoned, despite my lack of effort to preserve it. I have meat pans and sweet pans because I don’t like onion flavoured French toast, but that’s about as complicated as it gets for me. I would never spend $149 for a cast iron pan. WOW! Keep your eyes open at garage sales and thrift stores, or just pick up a cheapo one from wherever. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/25 "2011-11-15T00:28:03Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Which is why this “milled is the best” thinking is bullshit. No matter what, you don’t cook on the iron surface, you cook on the layer of seasoning. The food never touches metal. Pebbled or concentric circles is irrelevant. I understand what you’re saying in principle, but it just isn’t my experience. I own two Lodge skillets and a Griswold. The only obvious immediate difference is the finish of the inside. The Griswold works much, much, much better. I can’t tell you why, but they’re all cared for the same, have been seasoned, maintained, and well-used, but the Griswold is way, way better for nonstick cooking. I’ll also mention that my Griswold has a spot of rough surface where (I assume) it’s rusted slightly below the seasoning. The surface is still seasoned. That one spot is _the only_ spot where food will stick. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/26 "2011-11-15T01:19:06Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > I understand what you’re saying in principle, but it just isn’t my experience. I own two Lodge skillets and a Griswold. The only obvious immediate difference is the finish of the inside. The Griswold works much, much, much better. I have to agree. I inherited two 8-inch cast-iron pans of unknown provenance when my wife’s grandmother passed away and the cooking surface looks like glass, it is so smooth. It is not a matter of decades of seasoning–that’s just the way the pan was made. (Apparently, it was “milled,” if I’m reading the comments here correctly.) While my Lodge (or something similar) cast iron pan performs well, it’s not at all like those milled cast iron pans, which really are almost like Teflon in their non-stick properties. It’s possible that my own Lodge still needs a few more years of seasoning. I don’t know why it would perform differently–in theory I would think it doesn’t matter once a base coat of seasoning is established–but it does, at least in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/27 "2011-11-16T00:59:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What I look for in a cast iron skillet is fricasseed chicken with dumplings on top… I just popped in here to make sure somebody had hit that straight line. Thanks, **kaylasdad**. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/28 "2011-11-17T04:00:14Z")
I have a no-name cast iron frying pan from a discount store and it’s fine. Better yet last spring walking my daughter to the bus stop, I picked a beautiful old Griswold “pancake skillet” off my next door neighbor’s trash. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/29 "2011-11-17T04:50:56Z")
Look for a “Harbor Freight” store in your area. (and do NOT let the man-of-the-house go with you…) ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649/30 "2011-11-18T05:16:47Z")
Back to the OP: You look for your 80-year-old mother, who has her grandmother’s chicken frying cast iron pan. Well, that’s my plan, anyway. Black as the dark side of the moon, and slick as — --- – - --------\*. \*Disgusting quote available on request. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-i-look-for-in-a-cast-iron-skillet/602649.md?page=1)