Lodge 10.25 Inch Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Combo Cooker - Dutch Oven & Skillet Set for Camping, Baking & Outdoor Cooking - Black

VERY heavy. Lots of TLC required. Versatile. Multi-generational. Reasonably priced. Lodge seasoned CI-made in USA.First of all, for those of you who care about country of origin, rest assured that Lodge seasoned cast iron is made in the USA (the enameled Lodge cast iron however, is made in China).Before I delve into the review of this LCI, let me just warn my readers that CI is rather heavy! If you have arthritis or a weak arm and had, you may want to consider a lighter-weight cookware.Now on to the “meat” (pun intended) portions of this review…Cast iron is a forgiving but high maintenance mistress! She will forgive almost anything (even allowing her to rust!!!), but she does require a little TLC before, during, and after each use. The TLC she needs is:1. Before using: season CI1) Cast iron must be seasoned before any use; luckily, Lodge double seasons its cast iron so that customers may use the product right out of the box, but if you need to re-season the cast iron product, follow these steps:i) Scrub CI well in hot soapy water.ii) Dry thoroughly.iii) Spread a thin layer of oil (I like avocado oil, but vegetable or canola will suffice) over the CI (interior, exterior, handle, all parts).iv) Place CI upside down on a middle oven rack and turn on the oven and allow to heat to 550°. (PLEASE refrain from placing the CI into an already heated oven; the CI heat gradually in the oven as the oven works its way up to 550 degrees F)(1) ***NOTE: temperature depends on the oil being used to season (AO has a high smoking point, but VO and CO have lower smoking points; this means that if you are using VO or CO, you need to set the oven to 400 degrees instead of 550).v) Place foil on a lower rack to catch drips.vi) Once the oven temperature reaches 550 degrees, “bake” the CI for 50-90 minutes.vii) Turn off the oven and allow the CI to cool inside the oven.***Reminder: temperature depends on the oil being used to season (AO has a high smoking point, but VO and CO have lower smoking points; this means that if you are using VO or CO, you need to set the oven to 400 degrees instead of 550).2. During usage: use a “fatty food” the first time you use the CI implement.a. Personally, I love any excuse to fry bacon, so I always “break-in” my CI with bacon slices; however, there are many amongst you who are unable to partake in bacon for religious, moral and ethical, or environmental reasons. For those amongst you who cannot use bacon, cook a food that requires deep frying.b. Pre-heat the CI before using (every single time) or your food will stick and crumblei. NOTE: Although I ALWAYS pre-heat my CI for cooking, I rarely do so for cake-baking; for cake-baking I used a very liberal amount of my home-made pan release “goo” to fully coat the pan, and I pour the cake batter right into the pan; works every time!3. After using: wash and re-season (NO, not the detailed steps mentioned above)a. After using the CI, and while it is still hot, wash using scorching (wear heat resistant gloves as to not burn your hands) water and salt (refrain from using chemical cleaners)i. NEVER wash in a dishwasher (OMG)b. Dry completely and thoroughlyc. Spread a thin layer of oil over the CI (interior, exterior, handle, all parts) and place the CI on the stove top to heat for about 10 minutesd. Store CI in a moisture free environmenti. NEVER store food in CIii. NEVER store CI in fridge or freezerSo that is the TLC required for a CI pan or pot, but there are still several things to keep in mind:A. NOT everything should be cooked in cast iron!(1) Avoid cooking acidic foods in CI (yes, it is okay to finish the dish with a small squeeze of lemon (not when skillet is hot) or a few drops of vinegar, it is okay to add tomatoes and tomato paste to the dish you are cooking, but it is NEVER okay to stew tomato prolonged periods, deglaze with vinegar, or lemon juice to foods while they were still hot on the skillet)(2) Avoid (at least in the beginning when your cast iron is still getting TLC) sticky foods (fried eggs, omelets, pancakes, scrambled eggs, fried rice, crepes, etc.) as they will definitely stick to your CI; this is not to say that you will not eventually be able to fry eggs or make crepes on your CI, I do all the time, but you will need to have reused and reasoned you CI many times before it becomes fully non-stick.(3) Avoid cooking delicate fish (flounder, tilapia, etc.) In CI because the delicate fish will not tolerate the heat retained by the CI (an asset when searing steak) and will fall apart when flipped.(4) Avoid (particularly before your CI becomes super well-seasoned) using the same pan for savory and sweet as the CI does retain flavors; in other words, using the CI to bake a vanilla cake immediately the day after using it to make garlic chicken may make your vanilla a tad too garlicky!(5) Avoid using CI to cook foods that require lengthy periods of simmering, boiling, or steaming as the lengthy simmering, boiling, or steaming will strip your CI of its hard-earned seasoning.Are you still reading? If after reading the previous portions of this review, you are concerned about the TLC necessary to maintain CI, then I really recommend you consider other cookware options. (Caphlan non-stick is a viable alternative); if on the other hand, you are still reading, then you are not dissuaded from investing in CI cookware, and I am glad of that!There are numerous benefits to cooking and baking in CI:1) Cast iron is extremely sturdy and is very difficult to ruin. (If you do ruin a CI pan, you can restore and reclaim it!).2) Cast iron heats up evenly and retains heat incredibly well, which makes CI excellent for searing meat, baking corn bread, making pies, baking crusty bread, etc., and for keeping food warm as you serve it!3) Cast iron is healthy; yes, that is true! During the cooking process a trace amount of iron is absorbed into the foods, and when the foods are consumed by you, you are getting some iron into your system (a healthy by-product of CI cooking).4) Cast iron is quite versatile. You may use CI for almost everything (you make slow cook a lamb leg to perfect or make a three-layer birthday cake for your daughter in CI). Additionally, CI goes from cupboard, to stove-top, to oven, to camp-fire, and to dinner table! Talk about versatility!5) Cast iron is of heirloom status; it lasts for generations! I personally have a huge collection, and I plan to bequest my CI to my daughter (it shall be written in my will-not kidding).So, to re-cap:CI is a rather heavy type of cookware that offers great versatility, heats evenly, retains heat well, requires pre-seasoning and re-seasoning, and is multi-generational. And, of course, Lodge is an excellent CI brand. Lodge was founded in 1896 and is one of the very few remaining companies that still produce seasoned CI in the US (in the Lodge foundries in Tennessee). Lodge products are sturdy, versatile, heirloom-quality, and of course reasonably priced (as compared to the more expensive companies).I have been using CI (especially Lodge) for two and one-half decades (yes, ¼ of a century) now, and I will NEVER use anything else! A purchase of Lodge CI cookware and bakeware is a very sound investment indeed!**If you found this review of use, please “like” using the thumbs-up button below. Thank you.**If you would like to read more of my reviews (when I post reviews), please select “follow” button below. Thank you.I've seen some reviews on this pan rated at 1-star that claim it's "not real cast iron" or that they have a "coating" when they see spots like the one I have pictured. These people don't seem to understand cast iron or the factory seasoning process.What's actually happening here is that when it's pre-seasoned at the factory, they hang the pan on hooks. Those spots are just where it was hanging during that process. It's not "damaged", it's just how it comes. If there are any cracks in the pan, then that is a different story. All you need to do is rub a bit of oil on the spots, heat, and go about your day. Within six moths of regular use, you won't even be able to find where the spots were. The second picture in my review is what the spot looked like after just one round of seasoning, and I haven't even cooked on it yet.I will say that Lodge could do a better job of packaging these pans for shipping. I received mine in a box with just a sheet of brown paper between the pot and lid, and no padding at all. Then again, this isn't delicate glass cookware, it's thick, heavy cast iron and is literally bulletproof.My cast iron skillets and cookware are my most priced. But you got to know how to treat them. I'm tired of reading reviews that complain about rust, educate yourself on how to use them, to not use soap when cleaning etc. After rinsing, I add some oil and let it sit on a hot plate, then wipe it off with a paper towel. Done!If you have rust spots, oil it and leave it in the oven for an hour. Check out youtube for more specifics. A bit cumbersome, I know but so well worth it!Had this set for 12 years. Our non-stick skillets come and go but this set is still around and works even better than new. We use the bottom part for deep frying and bread making (with the lid on). We use the lid/skillet section for great skillet corn bread and pan pizza. The seasoning is good enough to fry eggs and omelets without any sticking.It's nice to have a brand-new non-stick skillet for making that perfect French omelet, but this skillet will do it too. And it will out-live you if you take care of it. And even if you don't take care of it... It will still out-live you.If you mess up the seasoning (I won't deny I've messed up a skillet's seasoning way back when I was learning), it is a simple task to throw it in the oven with the self-cleaning cycle to burn off all that seasoning and start over again from scratch and get that pristine, like-new finish again. With a Teflon skillet... only thing to do is throw it in the trash.Over the years this set will grow on you just like a great classic car and will be your best friend.I bought these a couple of years ago and used a couple of times but it seemed like a little hard work. My reasoning is that food stuck quite easily even though I followed the seasoning instructions from the Lodge web site, but on the skillet, things stuck very easily and on the large pot, it seemed to rust a bit through the black seasoning and things stick easily. So they were put away in the cupboard.Since that time I have been to shops and noticed that the more expensive brands like Staub and Le Crueset, have a lot smoother surface to begin with. (Some people would argue this isn't the issue and that a rough surface can also be non stick, probably true, but I want a good useable pan, without rust). So I am willing to try again rather than just take up cupboard space and I am currently following some Youtube videos to refinish the surface properly and start from scratch. (Apparently its mentioned in the video that Lodge is poorly finished, probably as a result of cutting costs over the last few years). I am in the middle of the process and I have to say it is fairly hard work and really the pans should have been better made in the first place. I will do that then reseason a few times then see if that improves the pans.If the pans dont improve after the resurface and reseason than I will give them to charity for someone else to play with and do what I should have done in the first place and buy a quality European pan and put it down to experience. Will update soon, hopefully with some good news.Thanks for readingI wish I had started out with one of these, having discoloured my creuset casserole and burnt myself several times into the bargain. This is absolutely ideal for baking a 1 kg sourdough loaf.I bought this combo to bake bread. It really transformed my loaves, they now look professional. Can easily put 1-1.1Kg of dough in it and get perfect oven spring (10cm heigh in the bread). The Good: Relatively inexpensive (prices do fluctuate a lot), virtually indestructible, good heat retention, made in USA. The Bad: Quality control at Lodge is slacking - there are small holes, chipped edges - none which affect performance but are visually annoying, cast iron requires special care (in cleaning and oiling/seasoning), the weight!. My main gripe is with visual imperfections, otherwise it's a great combo. I ended up sanding the insides and edges with a 180 grit sandpaper and then re-seasoning myself (common way to improve the product). The end product is smoother and nicer to use. These pans will probably outlive me...This is really the perfect starter set for anyone wanting to get in to cast iron cooking - or even if you already own some and want a 10" pan and a dutch oven/deep pan. You can fry in it, roast in it. It's also great for baking larger loaves of bread. This is such a versatile set. I've attached photos so you can see the size.The combo comes with the usual Lodge pre-seasoning. It's not the smoothest and I'd recommend you wash/scrub it to remove some of it and season the set yourself before first use.I can't say this enough - this is a great combo at a terrific price.Me encanto quede facinada lo utilizo para hacer pan y fue una excelente compra, precio, calidad, tiempo de entrega lo super recomiendo