Utopia Kitchen Cast Iron Frying Pan 12 Inch, Cast Iron Chefs Pan, Pre Seasoned Skillet, Safe Grill Cookware for Indoor & Outdoor Use, Black

I was obsessed with Le Creuset and bought every pan, pot, and skillet they made — always the enameled versions because I knew nothing about seasoning. I thought it would be complicated, and didn’t understand the purpose so the enameled version seemed easier, but I became very disillusioned with it because the food would stick and it was so difficult to clean! I moved away from cast iron for a while, but I quickly realized there is no better pan to cook with than cast iron if you want food that tastes amazing and has great heat conductivity, you want cast iron!I decided to buy this skillet , which was very reasonably priced. I learned all about seasoning, and I could not be happier with this purchase! It does come with one coat of pre seasoning, but you want several coats for optimum performance, and I learned a shortcut.For the first seasoning , I heated my oven to 400 degrees. Then, using flaxseed oil, I rubbed the flaxseed oil into the top,, sides, handle and lip of the pan. Next you take a dry paper towel and thoroughly wipe off all of the excess oil from every surface. Next get a baking sheet and turn the pan upside down and place it on top of the baking sheet. Apply a coat of flaxseed oil to the entire bottom, sides, and handle of the pan, and then with a dry paper towel, wipe off all of the excess oil. Next put the pan in the oven for one hour. Turn the oven off and allow it to cool for one hour before removing. This one complete seasoning allows you to coat the bottom of the pan, but for the next three coats of seasoning, this can be done entirely on the stove top in about 15 minutes. Again, take another coat of flaxseed oil and rub it into the pan on the sides and the handle and the outside, but not the bottom. Turn on a medium flame and let the skillet sit on the flame for 4 minutes. I moved it around a bit with tongs until the entire pan appeared dry. Let it sit for 2 minutes and apply another coat of seasoning. I did this 3 times so that in total (including the coat of seasoning it came with), there were 5 coats of seasoning. Afterwards, I cooked a steak. Not only did it taste amazing, but I learned how important it is to properly season the pan! The non stick surface worked perfectly when cooking, and cleaning the pan was a dream! Nothing stuck to the pan, and it was clean in 2 minutes!Le Creuset is just overpriced! Cast Iron is cast iron, and this pan will last forever! Do not put it in the dishwasher or it will rust! You can completely refurbish a rusted cast iron pan, but it’s a process so don’t let it rust’You will not be disappointed with this pan! Look up the video from Gordon Ramsey on YouTube of how to cook a perfect steak. Follow his simple directions, and you will have a steak that will rival any five star restaurant!

Absolutely amazing. High quality and perfect. Use it everyday. The size is perfect for average size family.

I bought this based on the price. When I received it, I checked it over. The enamel coating looked good and the inside was smooth and appeared well-seasoned out of the box. I gave it a light rinse, then set it on a little heat on my stove and gave it a light oil coating. I did not do anything else to "season" it. I let it sit for a day. I put some butter in it, heated the pan, and dropped an egg into it. The egg was cooked perfectly. There was absolutely no sticking. I cut the egg into three pieces, one for me and one each for my dogs. We all agreed the egg was delicious. This was the smaller, 8-inch pan, and I will be buying the larger 10 1/4 pan in the future.

I ordered this little frying pan, thinking it would be just right to make a quick grilled cheese or English muffin. Unfortunately, the sandwich bread that I use is too big to fit. - My fault for not paying closer attention to how small 6.5" actually is. I haven't tried to grill an English muffin, but it should fit. I don't eat eggs, but it's probably just right for one fried or poached egg.

Very heavy-duty cast-iron skillet. Nothing sticks to the pan and it's easy to clean and re-season if necessary. Large enough for big recipes. Wish it had a lid--only disappointment.

I was really impressed with this cast iron. I used it next to another one that cost three times as much when I was cooking a bunch of ribeyes for a family party and this one worked just as well and cleaned up quickly and easily. Although the care instructions say to use a light detergent to clean it, I never use anything on cast iron. Clean them and season them and they're ready for the next awesome feast! Highly recommend!

UPDATE:Okay people, it's been a little over a month since I posted this review and how I re-seasoned it. I added another picture showing how much darker the color is, and it's still smooth as glass! And it will continue to get darker the more I use it!Okay people, I've had this cast iron skillet a few weeks now and here's my thoughts.When I got the skillet every surface of the skillet inside and out was very rough like sandpaper. So here's how I fixed it.I took an orbital sander and sanded it down the inside of the skillet. Then I took some Scotch Brite and used a lot of elbow Grease and scrapes all around the rest of the skillet until it was smooth. Then I took some oil, I usually use flaxseed oil, but was out so I used grapeseed oil and put a thin coat all over the pan with a lint free cloth. You could use any high smoke point oil you want. Then I preheated my oven to 400 degrees and put the pan inside upside down. Let it sit in there for an hour and turned the oven off. I let it rest in there overnight until the next day when it was cool and did the same thing, this time at 350 degrees. The next day I did the same thing one more time at 350 degrees.And now the skillet is really smooth top and bottom, and is re-seasoned, top and bottom. Nothing sticks to it, heat distribution is great because it's cast iron, and I can use it for virtually anything that I want to cook. And it goes from stove to oven without worrying about damaging the skillet.The thing is every time after you cook you have to clean it, without soap! Put it on the stovetop on medium heat to make sure you totally dry it off, get rid of the water! And while it's really warm want to put a quarter-size spot of oil on the bottom and take a lint free cloth and coat the inside on the skillet with that oil. This is called seasoning your cast iron skillet and it must be done every time after you use it!First few months I'll be using non-stick cookware on it until it gets a really good coating of seasoning on it. After that I could use metal cookware but for the meantime I'm just going to use nonstick cookware to protect that coating. If you re-season the cast iron skillet this way if it will have a bronze color when you're done seasoning, this is to be expected! It will get darker in time if the more you use it and the more you season it. You can look on YouTube and find many tutorials on re-season a cast iron skillet this way.If you take care of this pan it can last you a lifetime, or more, you can pass it down to your kids.