Is cast iron the original nonstick pan? Do recent innovations improve on this traditional kitchen workhorse?

products tested (listed alphabetically)

• Bayou Classic Heavy Duty 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet
• Cajun Cookware 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet
• Le Creuset Round Skillet, 11-Inch
• Lodge Logic 12-Inch Skillet
• Lodge Pro-Logic 12-Inch Skillet
• Olvida 13-Inch Skillet, Cast iron covered with nickel plate
• The Camp Chef SK-12 Cast Iron Skillet
• Wagner Collection Skillet, 11 3/4-Inch

See Product Comparison Chart

Over the past 30 years, nonstick skillets have taken the place of cast iron in most homes. But with disturbing reports about the effects of nonstick coatings on the environment and our health, we decided to take another look at cast iron to see if it's worth bringing back into the kitchen.

Cast iron has always been known to have a few advantages over other types of cookware. Its material and weight give it excellent heat retention for high-heat cooking techniques such as frying and searing. You can use it on the stovetop or bake with it in the oven. Its durability is legendary—many people are still cooking with cast-iron pans handed down for generations. Unlike most consumer products, cast-iron pans actually improve with time and heavy use.

Cast iron also has disadvantages. It's heavy and needs special care. It must be seasoned to prevent it from rusting or reacting with the foods you cook. Until its seasoning is well established, food will stick to it. You shouldn't use soap or steel wool on it, lest you strip off the seasoning. But manufacturers have been tweaking the design and materials to maintain its principal benefits while diminishing some of the downside. They have begun coating the surface with a variety of materials to either begin the seasoning process or render it unnecessary. In some cases, new coatings bonded onto the cast iron make soap and even the dishwasher no longer off-limits. Unfortunately, the one thing that didn't get better with innovation was price: Traditional unseasoned cast-iron skillets are a true bargain, costing between $11 and $20. Most preseasoned pans are also fairly cheap, at $15 to $30, but we found fancier pans that

hovered around the $100 mark.

There were several factors that distinguished the high-ranked models. First, they were seasoned by the manufacturer. Seasoning new pans in the oven creates oily fumes and a mess as shortening drips off the pan.

What's more, the unseasoned pans lagged behind the factory-seasoned pans in nonstick performance throughout our testing. Their lighter hue also produced lighter browning on the corn bread than the solidly black preseasoned pans.

Second, evenness of cooking without hot spots or heat surges was very important. We wanted a pan that wouldn't cool off too much when food was added and would quickly climb back to the desired temperature.

A third key factor was the diameter of the interior cooking surface, which made a difference when trying to accommodate multiple chicken breasts or steaks without crowding or steaming. We have a strong preference for the larger pans.

Weight was a thorny issue. While we preferred the bigger pans, they tended to be heavy and difficult for a smaller cook to manipulate in tasks such as swirling melting butter, pouring off a pan sauce, and flipping to release corn bread. Good handle design can help offset the problem.

Durability is one of the biggest virtues of cast iron. In the case of cast iron, you don't need to spend more to get more—simple cast iron pans were more resistant to scratching that enameled or nickel-finished pans.

PRODUCT TESTED		EGGS	STEAK	CORN BREAD	CHICKEN	DESIGN	PRICE*
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
	Lodge Logic 12-Inch Skillet Classic shape provided "plenty of room" in steak and chicken tests, but small handle made pan feel heavy when lifted. Eggs stuck "considerably" and took "tons of scrubbing" to clean the first time around but barely stuck and cleaned up easily the second time. Corn bread was crusty, with perfect release.	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$33.95
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
	The Camp Chef SK-12 Cast Iron Skillet Heaviest and thickest pan in the lineup was "a beast" to handle, but its heft made it shine in our cooking tests, where a consistent heat and deep sear were desirable. Right out of the box, we made scrambled eggs that didn't stick and corn bread that browned well and released perfectly.	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$25.99
RECOMMENDED
	Lodge Pro-Logic 12-Inch Skillet "Gorgeous" browning on the fried chicken and steak. Eggs improved dramatically from "horrible sticking" to "very easy to clean" by the end of testing. Handle is wide and well balanced, and loop-shaped helper handle is easy to grasp. Curved (rather than angled) sides made sauces easier to scrape up.	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$33.95
RECOMMENDED
	Le Creuset Round Skillet, 11-Inch "Pretty" pan was well proportioned and easier to handle than others. Sloping sides made eggs and sauce easier to scrape up. Achieved "beautiful crust" on steak and corn bread. On first test, eggs stuck ferociously, but results improved dramatically in second round, with minimal sticking. Can't use metal utensils or stack anything inside without damaging enamel finish.	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$109.95
RECOMMENDED
	Olvida 13-Inch Skillet, Cast iron covered with nickel plate Chicken and steak browned beautifully in this heavy, roomy, silver-colored pan with "steady heating." The fond for pan sauce was a little light on flavor, almost like the nonstick skillet. Eggs stuck a moderate amount, without much change as testing progressed: pan cleaned up easily. Dishwasher-safe.	★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$119.95
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
	Wagner Collection Skillet, 11 3/4-Inch Slightly less steady heating than higher-ranked pans, but good results shallow-frying chicken and searing steak. Eggs stuck moderately, even as testing progressed, and pan always required some scrubbing. Corn bread browned well but stuck to pan. Thumb-hold on handle is nice feature.	★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$19
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
	Cajun Cookware 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet Straight-sided pan was crowded while shallow-frying two chicken breasts and when searing a pair of steaks. Steak pan sauce had a slight metallic taste, indicating the acid had reacted with the pan. Eggs continued to stick in second round but cleaned up easily.	★ ★	★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	$15.61
RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS
	Bayou Classic Heavy Duty 12-Inch Cast Iron Skillet The bottom caused steep temperature drop when chicken was added to hot oil. Steaks cooked unevenly and with unsteady temperatures (too hot, then too cool). Pan was crowded and began steaming steaks. Scrambled eggs stuck considerably throughout testing. Cooking surface was roughest of the lineup.	★	★ ★	★ ★ ★	★ ★	★ ★	$12.99

*Prices subject to change.