Lodge Pre-Seasoned Carbon Steel Skillet - Use in the Oven, on the Stove, on the Grill, or Over a Campfire - 10 Inch

I had high hopes for this product especially being an owner of several Lodge cast iron products. Received the carbon steel skillet tonight and attempted the egg test. The pan appeared to be seasoned well per factory seasoning process like the other cast iron items I've received (no chips or dings). I added a generous amount of olive oil and let it heat a while on medium (gas burner). Cracked the egg and dropped it in and it stuck to the pan almost immediately. I've uploaded some photos of the egg's journey...# Pros- Lighter than cast iron- Rugged, and will be used on a campfire and grill- Should last a lifetime- Long handle# Cons- Nothing like the cast iron which passes the egg tests on first use- Price, more expensive than the cast iron but performed the worst on initial cookI will be scrubbing down the pan and re-seasoning it myself since other reviews mentioned the same problem I faced. The cast iron items get better with use so I'm hoping the same thing. First impression cooking with is pan was horrible. Hopefully I can update this review and increase the stars since I'm a huge fan of Lodge.# Update 2017-03-22I've had to bump it up from 3 to 4 stars. Second time using the pan, the egg did not stick! I had scrubbed it down with a chainmail scrubber and re-seasoned the pan on the stove top and not the oven. I added a light coat of vegetable oil to the entire pan after washing it. Then placed it on the stove top with high heat setting until it started smoking. I reduced the heat to medium and allowed it to cook in some more. I wiped down the pan after it cooled down. Then I heated it up again, added a little olive oil and cooked an egg that didn't stick. I've uploaded more photos of the 2nd time cooking an egg with this pan. I'm a very happy customer and will update this review as I use this pan more.# Update 2017-03-26I've had to bump it up from 4 to 5 stars. This carbon steel pan has become my favorite frying pan in the kitchen! My first impression cooking with this item was poor due to the factory seasoning. After using it several times and washing it properly, it's non-stick and works amazing. It's now my go-to egg pan. The factory seasoning seems to only help with actual continued seasoning. I'm pretty sure the factory seasoning is there just to keep it from rusting and it provides the new black finish look without the toxic metals/chemicals and paint that most non-stick frying pans come with. I haven't ran into issues that other people have reported with the warping issue. I use a gas range and heat the pan up on high with the biggest burner and experienced no warping. I noticed my pan has started to build up a nice patina with only several uses. For those who are experienced with carbon steel know what a good patina does and how it helps to prevent rusting. I'm very happy with this purchase and will be ordering the 12 inch pan soon. Next and final test will be using it at the campfire!

This is the best frying pan I have ever owned, period. My wife was very skeptical when I ordered this, but she is now in love w/this pan as well. It is so easy to season, to use and maintain, and we now have zero concerns about non-stick chemicals and the environment. This pan just works as we expect every time.We've tried various non-stick types, including ceramic, and they all provided inconsistent results, were easy to damage, can release dangerous fumes/chemicals if you overheat them, etc. In contrast, this little pan that could (I have the 10") is so reliable and flexible, you can use any cooking tool you want with it w/out worrying about scratching it, takes high heat w/out any issues and won't release chemicals, and clean-up is quick and simple.One reason I love this pan - just today I started up our gas cook top to make an easy-over egg and got distracted by my dogs and a phone call...a few minutes later I smelled something and noticed smoke billowing off the pan. If it was one of my non-stick pans I would panic about dangerous fumes, about ruining the non-stick finish, decreasing the pan's useful life, etc. In this case, no worries! I simply turned off the burner, waited a few minutes for the pan to cool a bit, put in a little canola oil and wiped the pan interior w/a folded paper towel (careful not to burn myself). A moment later I fired up the burner again and cooked my egg w/out incident or concern! Carbon steel victory!Clean-up is usually wipe it down w/a paper towel and some canola oil. If it needs a little more, we scrape it a bit w/one of the Lodge pan scrapers for sale here on Amazon (or you could use a stiff spatula), wipe the scraped bits out, add a little canola oil and wipe with a paper towel to finish. You can also use some salt to provide some grist to help with clean up if you want to, but we've only done that once, and only had to put the pan in the sink once to clean it up w/some hot water.This pan is more consistently non-stick than our ceramic pans have been - eggs, a great test of a pan, don't stick. I slide our spatula under them and they release and flip without issue. My wife has even made fried rice in the pan w/out problems! The only thing we avoid is high-acid foods (tomato sauce, dishes with high lemon content, etc.) as we have read that that can cause a metallic tang to the food. We do cook food that we season w/lemon juice or have tomatoes in them, but I wouldn't try lemon chicken in it, maybe. So far we've never tasted anything but the food we cook, it's been perfect.The pan puts the best "crust" on anything you want it to, and carmelizes onions way better than any non-stick I've ever used. It's light enough to "toss" (where you tilt the pan up in the front and shake backwards/forwards to make the food slide to the back jump up and back into the pan), but is heavier than an average non-stick pan, with a nice heft which we actually prefer, now that we have this pan. It's much lighter than a cast-iron pan.Obviously, I just can't say enough about how much we love this pan. Get one, understand and enjoy the use/maintenance differences, and you won't regret it.