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

I always wanted a cast iron skillet, and I'm *so* glad I finally got one. For starters, it cooks everything better -- which has made cooking almost like an all new thing for me. For example, when I got up this past Saturday, I said to myself, "gee, I wonder what it would be like to make the world's best pancakes?" and then I cooked pancakes on this cast iron skillet, and said to myself, "this REALLY IS the world's best pancakes. Does not get better than that!" Cooking everything I've ever cooked before has literally become a whole new experience. I've also had a number of times in my life where I bought things thinking if I bought it, I'd do more of something I wanted to do. For example, I've bought instruments wanting to play instruments, or bought games wanting to play some games with friends. In almost all cases, I buy that thing and proceed to not do anything with it beyond using it a couple times. Not with this. I'm discovering more and more that when you have the right tools to make delicious things, cooking is so much more fun than I ever thought it would be. I *look forward* to cooking. And, hell, even cleaning -- because while cast iron is a lot less scary to take care of than some people think, it does require work. And I kind of feel like with my new skillet, it's kind of like a new pet. And one that I love. But like a new pet, it sometimes needs attention that can't be too delayed. Previously, I'd have left a dirty pan in the sink for hours... maybe days. Now, I clean it up right after I eat, because it's my new 'puppy' and it needs its cleaning now. There's been a weirdly fulfilling ritual to this, though, that's connected me to my kitchen -- plus, I enjoy this new cleaner kitchen I've been keeping almost as much as I've been enjoying the food that I've eaten! To think a fairly small purchase has changed so much about me in such a short time -- and made me appreciate so many new and different things -- is, well, damn. I love it. A few little caveats: This ended up being a bit bigger than I expected, but that's my fault for not comparing the measurements to my existing pans and skillets. I thought this was a 'standard' sized pan (whatever 'standard' is), and it ended up being a good deal bigger than the biggest pan I had before. That said, I actually *really* like the size. This makes cooking a lot of things that was challenging a lot easier -- I made a *giant* thing of made-from-scratch Mac and Cheese (enough for 12 people!), and this actually managed to fit the entire thing. (And the fact that I could use one pan for the stove top *and* the oven was nice.). I also enjoy how much easier to is to flip things, and how there's extra space if I want to cook a couple different at the same time. Another nice thing: if you're cooking burgers or hot dogs, you can cook the meat in the center of the pan and have *plenty* of space around the sides to heat the buns, and this makes them extra tasty. It is a bit heavy, however. I'm able to handle it with one hand (though that took a little getting used to), but a member of my household in her mid to late 60s isn't. Still, she's able to handle it much easier than she thought the first time she picked it up because of it's second handle. Consider this the Great Sword of the kitchen -- a number of people are going to need to use its two handles to use with ease. The last caveat: If you've never used cast iron -- like I've never used cast iron -- *wow* do they get hot, and they *retain* their heat. I took the advice of all the blog articles I've read and seasoned it a few extra times before my first use, and the first time I took it out of the oven I burned myself -- right through my oven mitt. If you pick this skillet in the oven at very high temperatures, make sure to use both the silicone hot handle holder and a *good* pair of oven mitts. My burn was very minor because I had the oven mitts on, but they were crappy, cheap oven mitts. I immediately threw them out and bought a good pair of oven mitts on that were designed to be able to protect at 450. I haven't burned myself since, but it's definitely something to be careful about.

This cast iron skillet is awesome! Quality made and comes with a clear lid which lets you see when things get done like melting cheese on top of certain dishes. I love that it was pre-seasoned prior to being shipped but I still added some extra virgin olive oil and let it sit on the heat for 20 minutes with a few of my favorite seasoning flavors before cooking with it. It's the perfect size for a family of three, should you need more space, the 14 inch would probably better but the 12 inch skillet is perfect for my family. The best part is the price! Many cast iron skillets cost more than $50 but I got this for $30 and it's a sweet deal! The warranty is great, the build quality is awesome and the food taste great cooking in this skillet. I highly recommend buying this skillet, you won't be sorry!

Great pan and size. Caught on sale and worth it! Has become one of my "go to's" for cooking. I did season it a few times myself before using it. I do recommend doing that.

Overall good product. I'm not impressed with the extra texture on the surface of the inside of the pan, but otherwise a nice pan, top came w/ slight dent, but fits snugly if I want to steam something . That said, it's what you might expect of a cast iron, heavy, head holding and large.

Love this skillet, I have a 12 in but needed a 10 with lid. It came pre-seasoned but I added avocado oil before use. I had it on my Traeger at 425 cooking onions in beef tallow. It heated up and cooked. I wiped out added more oil and put up. May buy another

Nice skillet love that it has a lid. I only used it on top of the stove. Easy clean-up. Nice weight.

This pan is of good weight. My husband has been dilligent about seasoning it. He takes good care after washing it to season and heat in oven. It seems to cook well and is useful on top of stove and in the oven. I am used to modern pans, so the slow heat up is different for me. Once it is hot, it does retain heat well and cooks evenly. it is fairly non stick when seasoned. My husband really likes using it for cooking. The absence of worry about chemicals leaching into food is a plus as well. This is a well made pan and we will have it for a long time.

Handle is too small for 12" size - meaning not enough leverage to lift and hold heavy skillet with just handle. For comparison, the handle on my 10" CI skillet is 5 3/4" (and not easy to lift one-handed when full), while the one on this 12" skillet is 4 3/4", despite the added weight of larger size/ capacity. Returned unused. (it might be fine for cooking, I don't know. lid is a nice thing to have.)