(gentle music) - If taken care of
correctly, cast iron skillets will last a lifetime. So buying the right one is important, and Adam's here to tell us more. - Cast iron is an interesting
story these days, Julia, because 100 years ago, there
were a lot of small producers in this country that made their own pans. But these days, most cast iron pans are actually imported from China, where cast iron was
developed in the 5th century. However, in the last decade, smaller producers have
started to pop back up. And they're going for a
couple of the characteristics of the old pans that disappeared
with mass production. Lighter weight, you know, cast
iron pans are totally heavy, and also a smoother surface. In the mass production,
they're cast in these molds. They don't really hand polish them. But the smaller producers
are hand polishing them. We got super curious
about this, of course, so we decided to test them. We have our lineup of 11 cast iron pans. They're all 12 inch,
they're all pre-seasoned. The days of cast iron being
reliably cheap are gone. The price range was stunning to me, $20 at the low, to $295
for a cast iron pan. - (whistles) Hello. - Yeah. This one was the lightest one of all. Usually they range from
six to eight pounds. You know, that one's a
little easier to handle than some of the heavier ones. - This is how I really test it. - (laughs) I'm gonna step
away while you test that. - [Julia] Yeah, that is pretty light. - But you know, in our test, testers found that actually it didn't sear
or brown food quite as evenly. It ran a little bit hot because
it was a little bit lighter, and simple formula, less
mass, less heat retention, less even browning. The second part of the
story, though, is the finish, these really smooth finishes. I mean, feel this one
compared to that one. - [Julia] Oh, this is nice. This is almost like non-stick. - Yeah. Testers love these smooth finishes because they were super easy to clean. Yeah. - [Julia] It's like a nail file. - I hear that. You don't have to get a manicure tonight. These were easy to clean, easy to season, they had great stick resistance,
so that was a real benefit. In terms of dimensions,
in every piece of cookware we like as much cooking
surface as we can get. It was about 10 inches for these guys. One of the pans fell a little bit short, that one down on the end. - Ooh, look at this handle. - Yeah, that's a great handle. - This thing's heavy. And yeah, look at that, small. - These are definitely hefty pans, so you want to have a good
beefy handle to hold on to, and testers liked handles that were larger rather than smaller. You can tell that one down
there, that's really big, although it may not be comfortable
for the smallest hands. This one here, both the primary handle and the helper handle, try those out. A little skimpy, just a little skimpy. In the end, it was one of these
pans from a smaller producer that took the top spot. This is the Smithey Ironware number 12. Feel that baby. - Ooh. - [Adam] That was among
the heaviest of the pans from smaller manufacturers. Look at that surface, it's beautiful. - [Julia] Oh, it's nice. - It was super stick
resistant, easy to season, easy to clean, testers loved this pan. It was not, however, inexpensive. It was $200. If you want to spend a little bit less, we have a best buy, which is
old faithful Lodge cast iron. That's the Lodge 12
inch cast iron skillet. It's heavy. Actually, by the end of the testing, even though it was a little
rougher at the beginning, it was smooth and stick resistant and well seasoned, and it's $43. - Oof, quite a difference. - [Adam] Yeah. - And both of these winners
are made in the U.S. - Absolutely. - I like that. So there you have it. If you want a really
nice cast iron skillet, check out the Smithey
Ironware number 12 for $200, or for the best buy, check
out the Lodge 12 inch cast iron skillet for just $43. - Thanks for watching "Cook's Country" from America's Test Kitchen. So what'd ya think? - Leave a comment and let us know which recipes you're excited
to make, or just say hi. - Now, you can find
links to today's recipes and reviews in the video description. - And don't forget to
subscribe to our channel. - See you later. - Alligator (laughs).
