Field Company vs Lodge: 10¼-inch cast iron skillets compared

Field’s No. 8 and Lodge’s 10.25-inch skillet are the same pan on paper: 10¼ inches across the top, walls 2 inches high, and about 16 inches long with the handle (16⅛ for Field, 16.12 for Lodge). The difference is the weight. Field gives 4.5 lb and Lodge 5.66 lb, so the Field is about a pound lighter, roughly a fifth less to lift with one hand. Field also gives an 8¾-inch cooking surface; Lodge doesn’t give one.

Field says its skillets are machined smooth, modeled on vintage cookware with thinner walls, and pre-seasoned with several coats of organic oil. Lodge seasons its skillet with vegetable oil and says it is ready to cook straight from the foundry; it doesn’t describe the surface as smooth or machined. Both makers say to wash by hand, dry and oil, and neither allows the dishwasher.

Both work on induction and glass tops and go on a grill or over a campfire. Neither gives a top oven temperature. Field adds that the raised ring under its skillet sits 0.04 inch proud so the pan stays balanced on a glass or ceramic top. Lodge says any utensil is welcome on seasoned cast iron, metal included; Field suggests a chain mail scrubber, or the edge of a metal spatula, to clean the surface.

Choose Field if the weight matters, because you lift and pour one-handed, or you want a smooth surface from the start; its No. 10 roasts a chicken and is no longer than the No. 8. Choose Lodge for the same size and the same jobs a pound heavier, ready to cook from the foundry, in nine sizes from 3.5 to 15 inches, under its Made Right warranty. Field’s warranty covers cracks, breaks and warping for the life of the pan.