The Best Cast Iron Pans

Cast iron pans are not all built the same.

Sure, they’re all made of iron (along with some carbon and silicon), but the similarities end there.

Some are smooth, some are pebbled, some are enameled, some are heavy, some are light, some are seasoned, some have short handles, some have pour spouts, some have rolled rims, and some even have handles that stay cool when cooking.

These details are easy to overlook, but together, they define your cooking experience.

When buying a cast iron pan, you're investing in a tool that will last your entire life (and then some). Cooking with the best pan for your needs will pay off every single day for the rest of your life.

Our Cast Iron Research

To figure out which cast iron pan is the best, we scoured the internet for data, tested pans ourselves, and built a comparison table with our high-level findings. We also wrote a full guide below that explains all the different factors that make cast iron pans great.

To browse more extraordinary cast iron products on August, click here.

Cast Iron Pans Comparison

Name	Weight (kg)	Cooking Surface (in)	Depth (in)	Surface Finish	Size Options	Country of Origin	Helper Handle	Rim Features	Pre-Seasoned	Warranty	Dishwasher Safe?	Price (2024)

Cast Iron Surface Finishes

There are three main categories of cast iron surface finishes: pebbled, machined, and enameled.

Pebbled Cast Iron Pans

Cast iron pans are made by pouring molten iron into a sand casting. Once cooled and sanded, the resulting pan typically has a pebbled texture. Lodge sells their pans this way, without a machine polished finish. This lowers manufacturing costs, but can make food more susceptible to sticking and makes it harder to clean stuck-on food.

Machined Cast Iron Pans

Machined pans have smooth interior surfaces, ranging from mirror smooth to a micro-textured finish. This machining process costs more, but produces an aesthetically pleasing surface that enhances the non-stick properties of cast iron pans and makes cleaning easier. Smithey pans use a mirror smooth finish, while Field adds microscopic grooves and Borough Furnace applies a micro-texture finish to help seasoning adhere to their pans.

Lancaster, Finex, and Stur also use a machining process on their pans.

Enameled Cast Iron Pans

Enameled finishes are coatings of glass that seal the surface of a cast iron pan. Enameled cast iron pans do not need to be seasoned, and will not rust if exposed to water. Le Creuset and Vermicular pans are even dishwasher safe. However, enameled cast iron is more susceptible to chips and cracks from physical and thermal shocks.

Seasoned vs. Unseasoned Cast Iron Pans

Most cast iron pans come pre-seasoned with multiple coats of oil and are ready to cook with. However, pre-seasoning quality and the types of oil used can vary between brands. Field applies 3 layers of organic grapeseed oil by hand to bake the oil into the pores of their pan. Borough Furnace uses 3 layers of organic flaxseed oil, and some of the other brands listed use canola oil, sunflower oil, or vegetable oil blends.

Stargazer is the only brand that offers the option of buying an unseasoned version of their cast iron pan. This may be useful if you do not like the particular blend of oil or style of seasoning from a given manufacturer, but in general, most people opt for a pre-seasoned pan.

No matter which option you choose, each meal you cook with your pan will begin adding layers of your own unique seasoning with the oils you cook with.

Cast Iron Pan Durability

Cast iron pans are famous for their durability. Take care of yours, and it will last generations.

Since they are made with no moving parts or plastic components, and are often made from a single piece of cast iron, the limiting factor to the durability of these pans is the cast iron itself, which can last for centuries when cared for.

In fact, most of the pans listed above have lifetime warranties, speaking to the confidence each manufacturer has in their materials and workmanship.

If you really want to nitpick, one could argue that pans with thin handles or those with impurities in their iron may be more prone to failure, but these are extreme problems, and lifetime warranties are there to protect you against these kinds of rare pan failures.

The more likely cause of a cast iron pan failing is improper care from its owner. Rust can develop on the surface of raw cast iron if the pan is put in the dishwasher, neglected, or left exposed to moisture. It is possible to fix rust damage, but in cases of extreme corrosion, the effort required to fix the pan may be more than the cost of buying a new one.

Enameled vs Raw Cast Iron Durability

One notable factor in the durability of a cast iron pan is the presence of an enamel coating.

Enameled cast iron pans do not need any seasoning. The enamel coating protects them from rust, and this makes them more durable than raw cast iron against corrosion.

However, enamel coatings can chip or crack if the pan is dropped or placed in cold water while it is still hot, since glass and iron have different rates of expansion under heat. Raw cast iron pans are more durable against physical and thermal shocks.

Your choice depends on whether you prefer durability against corrosion, or physical and thermal shocks.

The Lightest and Heaviest Cast Iron Pans

Cast iron pans are known for being heavy. And while some cast iron pans live up to this stereotype, others are relatively light. Some even weigh less than popular stainless steel pans.

Vermicular’s Enameled Cast Iron Pan is the lightest cast iron pan, with their 10.2” pan weighing in at just 1.09kg (2.4lbs). The weight savings come from their aluminum handle, along with more shallow 1.6” walls compared to the 2” average depth for the other pans on our list.

Smithey’s Cast Iron Skillet is the heaviest cast iron pan, with their 10” pan weighing in at 3.04kg (6.7lbs). This comes from using thicker pan surface walls than other manufacturers.

Less weight makes it easier to move your pan while cooking. If you lift your pan 10 times each day, one extra pound on your pan means lifting an extra 2 tons of weight every year.

On the other hand, more weight improves heat retention. This is something cast iron pans already excel at, but extra weight on the pan bottom can help you get a steakhouse-quality sear.

While cutting down on weight may sacrifice some heat retention, even the lightest cast iron pans have better heat retention than stainless steel pans.

Ultimately, your choice will come down to your preference for saving weight or getting an even better sear while cooking.

The Best Cast Iron Pan Handles

The handle of your cast iron pan is your primary connection point to the food you’re cooking.

Every time you flip food, pour sauces, lift your pan from the stove, or hang it on a hook for storage, you depend on your handle.

The Vermicular Enameled Cast Iron Pan, Skeppshult Skillet, and Finex Cast Iron Skillet handles all stay cool while cooking thanks to their aluminum (Vermicular), walnut (Skeppshult) and stainless steel and brass (Finex) constructions. Finex’s handle has a large circumference for those with large hands.

Among the pans that use cast iron handles, Field’s Cast Iron Skillet and Stargazer’s Cast Iron Skillet have large handle cavities that cut weight and reduce the heat transfer to the handle.

Borough Furnace uses a unique forked handle design for the same reason. Their handle is the only one with no hole for hanging the pan when not in use. However, their large helper handle on the opposite side of the pan does have a hole.

Cast iron handles will still get hot over time, but with the pans listed above, you may find that simple tasks like re-heating leftovers can be done without an oven mitt.

The Best Helper Handles

11 of the 13 cast iron pans listed above have helper handles or lips directly opposite from their primary handle. These helper handles offer an extra point of support when lifting heavy pans or moving food to and from the oven, but add extra weight to the pan.

Vermicular’s Enameled Cast Iron Pan, the lightest cast iron pan we found in our research, does not have a helper handle, nor does the Lancaster Cast Iron Skillet.

Field, Finex, Stur, and Skeppshult have small helper lips, Smithey has a larger lip with holes for hanging your pan, and Borough Furnace, Stargazer, Victoria, Le Creuset, and Lodge have large helper handles with space to fit your fingers between the handle and the pan (even while wearing oven mitts). Made In also has a helper handle with an opening, but it is not large enough for your fingers to fit through while wearing oven mitts.