Lodge BOLD 12 Inch Seasoned Cast Iron Square Griddle, Design-Forward Cookware

I will break this review up into a few parts: First, for the novice chef and/or paleo man/woman. Buy this grill, and buy yourself a bottle of "McCormick Montreal Seasoning". Now go buy as expensive piece of steak as you can afford. Heat the grill on medium, for about 4 minutes. Make sure the steak is room temp. Pat dry with paper towel. Rub a little olive oil on it so the seasoning will stick; then liberally sprinkle Montreal Seasoning on it. Put on grill. Cook to desired done-ness. You are now a better "cook" than 90% of Americans. If you are daring, also buy some "Old Bay" seasoning; my rule is generally, Old bay for softer non-root vegetables, seafood, and chicken. Montreal Seasoning for root vegetables, and red meat. This grill, Montreal Seasoning, and Old Bay seasoning, you are now a better chef than 94% of Americans. If that is all you wanted to know, you can stop reading this review here. Nerd stuff: Grill vs Griddle for cooking a steak; I use to cook my steaks on a griddle; but I have now switched a a grill. Let me give you a little bit of science behind it. When you cook a steak on a griddle, you get (near) full surface contact and so cooking time is a lot less. You sear the meat well, but you usually end up with a slightly tougher piece of meat but less cooking time because your contact patch is almost 100%. With the grill, the surface contact are just the grill marks; this has some effects that aid and assist in the tastiness of a steak. First, it leaves grill marks. So visually superior already to a griddle. Second, and perhaps the most important; as fat drips off; mixed with whatever seasoning you happen to be using or no seasoning at all; it drips into the "valleys" of the grill, and as it's heated, the fat starts to smoke and that smoke is sent up towards your steak, so you get a bit of smokiness that you don't get from a griddle. Third, because you aren't having a full surface contact like a griddle, your "latitude" of when a steak is done vs burnt is slightly longer. Your "buffer zone" for steak done-ness is slightly longer. This applies to your flame control as well; it's a bit more forgiving than a griddle. Finally, as the juices drip and are trapped in the grill valleys, and then are heated up and evaporate; they keep your steaks slightly more moisturized. How I learned to love this grill: I really loved this grill the first time I bought it. It seared well, made the good marks, and tasted great. Five stars, five stars! I screamed after my first steak from it. But when I finished my five star steak; and I had to CLEAN it; I was cussing and yelling "zero stars, zero stars". And so I cleaned it, tucked it away in the back of the pantry, and it did not see the light of day for YEARS. Who cares how good food tasted on it, if the cleaning negated all the good will from the food? So one day, while waiting at some office; I see a now overweight Jamie Oliver on TV, and he's grilling something. "You are only pushing a grill because when you are done, you have staff that cleans it for you." I silently thought as I watched him grill. When he finished though; he proceeded to clean the grill... on tv! And my jaw dropped as I watched him clean the grill to a brand-new condition without a lot of elbow grease and it about 20 seconds! So I'm going to share with you the very secret that made me fall in love with this grill all over again. Because the taste from it was never in question; it was always the cleaning! 2 x 20 Second cleaning this grill guide: There are two methods, and I will share both here. Method 1) When you are finished using the grill; and while the grill is still on the heat; slowly pour a SMALL AMOUNT of ROOM TEMP water (if you pour ice water, or very cold water, you might crack it). Let it boil and bubble for about 30 seconds,move gunk around with a spatula, chopsticks, or whatever you have. Then turn off heat. Now take it to the sink, under hot running water, use a stiff nylon brush and scrub it. You can't "scratch it or hurt it" so don't worry about it. Scrub under hot running water, it should be all done. Wipe dry; then dab with oil, wipe the oil so that every part is oiled, store away for next time use. Method 2) (The Jamie Oliver Way) This works if Method 1 has failed, or if you cooked, ate, and then came back to clean up later.. pour course salt (about a cup) onto the grill. (COURSE SALT PEOPLE, not fine salt) The salt will instantly absorb the grease and oil, and it acts as "scrubbing roughage". Now take a piece of paper towel; fold it and keep folding it until it's the size of a business card. Use that to scrub the salt on the grill. All the gunk will automagically be removed. When you are done, rinse under hot water; then paper towel dry. Then oil. Having learned out to spend less than 1 minute to clean this skillet; it is now one of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment. Cooking Tips: Place your food at a 45 degree bias on the grill; so your food is on a slat to the grill marks like this / / / / / not like | | | | |. When you flip it; go ahead and flip it. The next time you flip it though, reposition it so that it's 45 degrees the other way like this \ \ \ \ \. Then go ahead and flip it again. Plan for a total of 1 initial placement and 3 flips, so that each side has been on the cooking surface TWICE; once placed like / and the other time placed like \. This way, you will get the nice "X" grill marks on your food. Preheat it well; because the total surface area that comes in contact is not as much as you think it is; so give it a good 4~5 minutes of preheating; at least. Love, Marriage, Steaks: I once cooked a steak for a girl, and SHE MARRIED ME. While I cannot post my recipe for the best steak in the world here, as it's a 7+ page dissertation; I can tell you that I make the best steak in the world and I make it on this grill. I know some of you will argue that such and such steakhouse is the best in the world etc.. but it's not. My steak is the best; ask yourself, how many of those steaks are so good that it would make a girl marry you? I have eaten at the best steakhouses in the world; and I can tell you that if you have access to a good quality piece of meat; with this grill and some skills; you will be able to make a better piece of steak. My steaks have a slight salty crunch on the outside; soft, tender, and so juicy and flavorful you'd think a geyser exploded in your mouth. There are very few items in your life and lifetime that you can purchase for <$50 that will be with you for the rest of your life. This however, is one of those items. That's great and all you say, but what if you are a vegetarian? This is the perfect grill as well. I grill king oyster mushrooms with a little Montreal seasoning on it. AMAZING. Any vegetable you have; rub a little olive oil on it, sprinkle a little Old Bay or Montreal Season on it; and it becomes magic. If you want a piece of kitchen equipment that: Might stop a bullet Gives you beautiful steaks Gives you beautiful vegetables Is easy to clean Is healthy to cook on, unlike the chemical ladened non-stick stuff Sears beautifully Gives you those great grill marks Makes food taste like food again Makes others think you went to culinary school Done right, will make a woman marry you This is the item. TEN STARS.

we had a beater of an old cast iron pan that was in bad shape but my husband was very attached to it, I bought him this one & he's mad he was so stubborn to hang on to the old one, he absolutely LOVES this pan, uses it daily, usually twice a day! great for cast iron lovers!

Very good quality! Money well spent.

Purchased this pan to sear roasts before transferring to the oven. I am very happy with the size, the design, and the heft. The pan measures 12 inches square and includes grill ridges that extend almost to the edge of the cooking surface. The cooking surface has a 3/4-inch tall lip surround. The main handle and assist handle are well sized for the pan and seem sturdy. This pan is heavy. The pre-seasoning on this pan is pretty decent, but is not as smooth as the type of seasoning you would get after years and years of use. However, it's a good start -- I figure it'll smooth out over time. When I use this pan, I toss in some salt between the ridges before I put the meat on the pan. The salt helps to absorb and prevent juices, etc. from sticking between the ridges (makes for easier cleanup). And since the salt is between the ridges, the meat never gets salty. Also, I let this pan heat up for a good five minutes before searing. Cooking with Cast Iron is great, but only if you use it under the correct circumstances. One of the reasons Cast Iron still has a use in the kitchen is that it has an extremely high heat capacity -- higher than any other metal used in the kitchen -- once you get the pan hot, it stays hot (even if you drop in a cold steak). If you need a pan that can quickly respond to changes in temperature, I'd recommend getting a Stainless Steel pan. Another point to remember is that Cast Iron is not truly "non stick" -- no matter how much you season it, or how "pre-seasoned" the pan is (or how much the manufacturer claims it is). It is, however, "stick resistant" provided the pan is seasoned and you use enough fat (butter, oil, lard, etc.) while cooking. If you require a non stick surface, then you're probably better off with an Anodized Aluminum pan. The only down side to using Cast Iron is cleaning it. Cast Iron should never be washed with detergent and should NEVER be washed in the dishwasher. The reason for this is simple -- detergents cause the seasoning to disintegrate. The seasoning on a Cast Iron pan is nothing more than polymerized fat (fat that is solidified in the presence of heat) -- it sounds gross, but its perfectly normal. I use salt to clean my Cast Iron. After I'm finished cooking, I let the pan cool a bit (to the touch), scrape/wipe out the residue, then rinse it under warm water. Then I pour in a thick helping of table salt and use the backside of a (rinsed) scour sponge to grind the remaining residue out (the salt works like sand paper and doesn't destroy the seasoning). I rinse the pan and repeat with the salt until the salt crystals stay relatively white. Once the cleaned pan is rinsed and dried, I warm it for a few minutes on the stovetop and apply a little oil with a paper towel. The pan is now ready for storage.

Nice skillet/grill. nice finish, but can be better with a little sanding job to have a smoother finish but if you do that, you will have to re-seasonned it. the advantage of doing this, is that your surface will be smooth as if it was 30 years old! but not necessary, just a bonus for the effort. i use it a lot for breakfast and for steaks in 800°F degree pizza oven! i put it in the oven, and when it is super hot, i grill my steaks on it! SOOOOOOOOOOO good!

Super Skillet, solid structure undergoing seasoning more updates to follow. Well post seasoning made some Tandoori Grilled Chicken and it turned out finger licking good. Impressed by this skillet.

Very good quality griddle. Came very well packed in 2 strong boxes. The seasoning was already in place and spotting 2 "dots" on the sides made me question if it was damage or rust but thankfully it was just the hanging of the pans in the seasoning process. I'm over cautious with seasoning so did 3 rounds after washing. We primarily use this for dosas(south Indian savoury crepes) and it turned out well. If you've not used an iron skillet for a long time, it'll take time to get used to it. Food did get stuck couple of times, but it was mainly because of lack of oil in the middle. The MOST important of having an iron skillet is seasoning and storing it properly. If this is a hassle, it's not for you. The only "con" of this griddle I would say is Lodge does not make smooth pans or griddles anymore and it can be a difference in the type of food you cook. Overall, love it!

The size is huge, not something that we are used to seeing around a house. It's heavy too. Note that one needs a large burner to heat the griddle evenly; a normal gas stove is simply not up to the task.

Need to be careful with maintaining heat. Too much heat will make the pan stick with food. Using it for Dosa, works well. Had issues sticking due to too much of heating and after maintaining medium heat, it works well.