Smithey vs Lodge: 10-inch cast iron skillets compared

Both skillets are bare cast iron made in the USA, seasoned before they ship, and both makers say to wash them by hand, dry them and oil them. Smithey says it buffs, grinds and polishes the cooking surface to a satin-like finish that becomes naturally non-stick with use. 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 polished.

In the 10-inch size Lodge is the lighter pan by about 1 lb: Smithey gives about 6.7 lb for its No. 10 and Lodge 5.66 lb for its 10.25-inch. Smithey also gives a 9-inch cooking surface and says the base underneath measures 9 inches, the figure to match to your burner or induction zone. Lodge gives the length with the handle, 16.12 inches against Smithey’s 16.5 from handle to handle, and the height, 2 inches, but not the base. Lodge sells the skillet in nine sizes, from 3.5 to 15 inches.

Both work on every stove, induction included, and on a grill or a campfire. Neither gives a top oven temperature: Lodge lists the oven among the places its skillet can go, and Smithey says your oven can’t get too hot for its pans. Lodge says any utensil is welcome on seasoned cast iron, metal included, and Smithey suggests a metal spatula or chainmail scrubber for stuck-on food.

Choose Smithey if you want the cooking surface polished smooth from the start and the base size printed so you can check it against your burner; its 5.5-quart Dutch oven lid also fits the No. 10. Choose Lodge for the same everyday jobs in a pan about 1 lb lighter, in more sizes, under its Made Right warranty. Either way the care is the same: wash by hand, dry and oil.