Alton Brown Swears By This $20 Cast-Iron Skillet from Lodge

If you have $20 to spare, you should buy Lodge’s 10.25-inch cast-iron skillet. Celebrity chef Alton Brown is a fan of that skillet, and for some — myself included — that’s enough approval to immediately add the skillet to cart.

One year ago, Brown took to Instagram to proclaim his love for Lodge’s skillet. “If I owned just one single pan, this would probably be it,” he captioned his post. It was followed by the necessary hashtags #notsponsored and #justafan because one can never be too sure when a celebrity’s personal endorsement is just that: personal. So what is it about this $20 pan that has celebrity chefs and common folks screaming its praises?

Besides the price, Lodge’s cast-iron skillet is an absolute beast of a pan. It can, and will, take a beating whether you’re cooking on the stovetop or over a roaring outdoor fire. While it doesn’t have the smoothest surface compared to more expensive options, it will heat like hell and cook all the god-damn steak you want.

Amazon

Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet

• $19.90 at Amazon
  $34.25 (42% off)

Why are we talking about this now? Well, in a recent interview with SF Gate, Brown elaborated on his love for the Lodge skillet. While he tells the publication that his favorite cast-iron skillet is from the now-defunct brand Griswold, “from a metallurgical standpoint, Lodge is probably the best around.”

Higher-end cast-iron skillets — like our Just Get This pick from Field Company or Finex, which Lodge acquired in 2019 — will have much smoother surfaces and be made of more luxurious materials. But as Brown notes, “once you’ve invested about 15 years into the surface for your Lodge, it’s hard to give away — even for fancier stuff.”

Lodge has been around since 1896, and with its penchant for making exceptional cast-iron cookware at affordable prices, it’s likely the brand will be around for another 126 years. Now, if Brown’s recommendation for this $20 workhorse isn’t enough to convince you to buy one, then you can at least get another cast-iron skillet you’ll have forever.

Price: $20

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