Lodge Square Pre seasoned Draining Grilling Reviews Summary

Durability

Pros:

• "This pan should last decades, and you’ll have a great seasoning on it whenever you cook."
• "With proper care, it will last forever!"
• "It will most definitely last my lifetime."
• "As long as cast iron pans are taken care of correctly (oiled after washing), the rust will be kept away and the pan will last forever."
• "About half the price of the countertop kitchen grills, but this lasts forever!"
• "These will last you a lifetime as long as you keep it dry from water."
• "The Lodge cast iron could last many hundreds of years if taken care of properly."

Cons:

• "Initially received a damaged pan but the company sent a replacement."
• "The product arrived damaged."
• "Opened the packaging and noticed the coating has a small chip."
• "Received my lodge grill pain today.....hard to believe but there was a significant crack in the side of the pain."
• "It had broken through the packaging box and the handle had a large chip in the end."
• "When she opened it, it was in 2 pieces."
• "I'm sorry to say that this Lodge grill pan arrived at my home with the smaller handle broken off."

Weight and Handling

Pros:

• "With the hand holder I had no problem holding the pan."
• "It's heavy that's for sure. But it's evenly tempered and I can't imagine a lighter weight skillet would hold super high heat and sear steaks or a thick piece of fish like this one does."
• "This smaller pan turned out to be pretty manageable."

Cons:

• "It is also way too heavy for me, I need both hands to handle it."
• "Product looked terrible. Handle is awkwardly bent/warped making it extra heavy to handle."
• "Too heavy of a pan to lift for this old fart and is SO difficult to clean between the raised grill marks."
• "The handle had real sharp edges and packaging was poor."
• "Heavy, watch out for the hot handle when you move it."
• "It is so heavy wow. This thing will not fall off the stove."
• "Was looking forward to this pan but it's heavier than my cast iron dutch oven! Ridiculously heavy!"

Cooking Performance

Pros:

• "It cooks meat efficiently leaving nice crust and marked lines."
• "It got wonderful heat distribution on an electric stove."
• "Cooks steak, chicken, pork chops with perfect grill marks and does a great job."
• "The pan heats up fairly quickly and sears beautifully."
• "Leaves wonderful char marks on meat."
• "Great grill pan for searing steaks and chops on grill."
• "The heat distribution on this pan is perfect."

Cons:

• "The pan was not hot where the induction coil were not hitting it, so all the corners were unusable."
• "Maybe we aren't using it right, but this just leaves burn stripes on the food and doesn't cook well between the marks."
• "The toxic fumes fill the house with toxic smoke!"
• "Every single time, the food stuck like crazy and I literally had to pry it off with tongs and a butter knife."
• "I can cook burgers like a champ on this pan, but low fat meats like chicken breast tend to stick no matter what I do."
• "Not really happy with this...it kind of take long time to heat."
• "I did not like the fact that everything cooked in it tastes smoked."

Cleaning and Maintenance

Pros:

• "It’s easy to clean plus I bought those cleaners that fit between the ribs."
• "Is surprisingly easy to clean, especially with the Lodge scrapers for cast iron."
• "Cleaning works well with the grill pan scraper I bought from Lodge separately."
• "It cleaned up great with a little course salt and a brush."
• "Bought this specifically for steaks when weather is stormy to cook inside. Preheated and oiled, and it added nice crosshatch grill marks to the steaks. Afterwards, poured a little water into the pan while warm. It was much easier to clean than anticipated."
• "Cleaned up OK, although the grooves are a bit challenging."
• "It was also fairly easy to clean and re-coat with a little oil."

Cons:

• "This iron is almost impossible to clean."
• "The problem was trying to clean the pan afterwards."
• "Because of the rough texture of Lodge cast iron and the narrowly spaced grooves, I found it impractical to sand the cooking surface down and re-reason with flax oil."
• "It’s not easy to clean and upon the first wash it seems to rust even though you try to dry it as soon as possible."
• "Didn't last first time use, used on medium heat, put some canola spray oil to avoid meal to stick into pan, after cleaning got rusted, paint started to fall, total waste of money."
• "The rough pebbly texture makes it difficult to clean."
• "Downside is cleaning."

Quality and Manufacturing

Pros:

• "Well made, and in America! Heavy duty."
• "Top quality product."
• "Excellent cast iron grill pan at a fabulous price!"
• "This company does it right. I have a few of their pans and they last a lifetime."
• "I have always purchased lodge cast iron. The quality is outstanding plus it is made in America."
• "This is a very economically-priced stove top grill, from the leader of cast iron kitchen products, Lodge."
• "Nice strong pan that will be around for your great grandkids."

Cons:

• "But there was a small chip in the finish, right next to the handle."
• "Lodge finishes their pans poorly due to their manufacturing process and the need for the marketing gimmick of 'preseasoned' pans."
• "Update - Because of Lodge's inferior manufacturing process, these eventually lose their coating and begin to rust."
• "This pan is coated with a toxic substance that liquidates when it heats up."
• "The product is terrible, it rusted on the first use. This is officially a threat to human health."
• "I would recommend getting a basic cast iron before getting the grilled. Lodge is an excellent company, but this particular model is hard to clean and is not ideal to use."
• "This is not the real cast iron cookware its a generic cookware set it made me sick to my stomach has a high intense smell like old oil."