I'd like a cast iron skillet to get a good sear on meat like steak and fish. I see the most popular sizes sold are 8, 10, and 12".

All of these seem fairly small to me. Especially if I'm cooking 3-4 steaks at a time, large piece of fish, or a whole chicken.

I'm looking at 13 and 15". Are these too big that they won't provide even heat?

I use a 13, works great but takes a while to heat up. If I think about it, I preheat it in the oven before using it to sear. It holds two big steaks (ribeye/strip), any more than that and I use a cast iron griddle that goes across two burners, but it definitely does not heat evenly and must be pre-heated to really be able to sear on the entire surface.

My 12 inch holds three ribeyes pretty well.

4 is too many at one you will need the 13" or 15" for 3

Rotate the steaks around as well. As you use your skillet you will notice which sides are hotter than the others.

I use one of these personally and it's an awesome workhorse. Season with flax oil.

https://mauviel-usa.com/collections/msteel/products/m-steel-round-frying-pan?variant=32878837989429

Just my opinion...

May I suggest that you don't buy a new one. I bought a 12" Griswold a few years ago at an antique store for $70. Based on it's markings it was made between 1939 and 1957 (the year I was born). It needed a bit of work but it is the bomb. The surface is incredibly smooth, which is not the case with newer cast iron pans.

I've been told you can buy a new Lodge, and 'grind' it down (see You Tube) and that may be fine as well.

Bottom line, I think the larger diameter will suit your needs better. And of course, as I said earlier, this is all my opinion.

I have a well-worn 12" Lodge that is over 45 years old that is my old reliable. Recently bought a 10" which is a better size for cornbread.

Matsui said:

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4 is too many at one you will need the 13" or 15" for 3

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I'm not sure I understand. 4 steaks is too many regardless, but I can do 3 on a 13"?

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also the heat depends on size of your burners as well.

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It's an LG range with a 5k, 9.1k, 12k and 18.5k BTU burner. Also a 10k BTU center burner.

Instead of buying a big cast iron skillet, I'd recommend the carbon steel paella pan from MadeIn. I have one, and it is great for searing steaks.

https://madeincookware.com/products/blue-carbon-steel-paella-pan

jh0400 said:

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Instead of buying a big cast iron skillet, I'd recommend the carbon steel paella pan from MadeIn. I have one, and it is great for searing steaks.

https://madeincookware.com/products/blue-carbon-steel-paella-pan

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Made In makes a great product. I have the 12-inch and 10-inch carbon steel pans, along with a 12-inch stainless and a 3-quart saucier.

I also love the carbon steel grilling pan, which works great.

Another option would be to just get a cast iron griddle or a pizza steel and put it in the grill. I cook mine that way inside the grill with the lid closed. I preheat the griddle for 15 minutes so it's smoking hot, I have a newer Weber that has an extra burner for searing on the right side of the grill so rather than the normal 3 burners it has four in the same space. I just cook around 2-3 minutes per side with the lid closed so it roasts and sears at the same time. Perfect medium rare with a nice crust every time.

This is a great idea. Also doesn't dirty up your cooktop inside

How do you get the crust? Butter just before putting the steak on?

I have a charcoal grill and occasionally sear on my cast iron skillet over a hot fire. I always do it with blackened fish so we don't have to worry about the smell inside. I'll often do it for steaks, roasts, etc. if we have guests over for dinner and don't want to worry about smoke. Hopefully that'll be less of an issue after our remodel, new vent.

Edit: wrong emoji

Bruce Almighty said:

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My 12 inch holds three ribeyes pretty well.

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My 10" easy cooks two.

If you need to prepare more than 3 you might just look into a Blackstone.

I'm an admitted cast iron junkie. I keep all of the sizes. I'm looking for a "chicken fryer" currently only because it's a piece I don't have.

We use cast iron for almost every meal in some capacity. Personally I've been using it so long that I'm almost lost using stainless and even non stick sometimes.

ToddyHill said:

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Just my opinion...

May I suggest that you don't buy a new one. I bought a 12" Griswold a few years ago at an antique store for $70. Based on it's markings it was made between 1939 and 1957 (the year I was born). It needed a bit of work but it is the bomb. The surface is incredibly smooth, which is not the case with newer cast iron pans.

I've been told you can buy a new Lodge, and 'grind' it down (see You Tube) and that may be fine as well.

Bottom line, I think the larger diameter will suit your needs better. And of course, as I said earlier, this is all my opinion.

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I bought a new Lodge 10" and 12" a couple months ago, and washed each with soap and water when I got home, dried them, then oiled them up and tossed them in the oven. The 2nd cook I did with the 10" was frying eggs, and even with the rough surface, they didn't stick. I also cooked a deep dish pizza in the 10" and it slid right out of the pan onto the cutting board when it was finished.

One thing you have to remember about grinding down and getting a super smooth surface is there has to be something for the seasoning to stick to. If it's too smooth, it will flake off. You need some texture for it to stick to. Most likely, the older pans with smooth surfaces are just well seasoned.

EclipseAg said:

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jh0400 said:

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Instead of buying a big cast iron skillet, I'd recommend the carbon steel paella pan from MadeIn. I have one, and it is great for searing steaks.

https://madeincookware.com/products/blue-carbon-steel-paella-pan

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Made In makes a great product. I have the 12-inch and 10-inch carbon steel pans, along with a 12-inch stainless and a 3-quart saucier.

I also love the carbon steel grilling pan, which works great.

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I have a 10 inch carbon steel pan from Made In and it is my favorite pan. Use it a lot more than my Lodge cast iron skillets or my All Clad stainless steel skillets.

It is tough to beat a well seasoned carbon steel pan.

I second the comment about finding an old one. The old ones used to be "slick". I find the Lodges and the newer ones more finicky because of the pores they have in the casting. I would hit some antique shops. You can usually find them there. If they are rusty, no problem, unless they are beyond repair with major pitting. They can be cleaned up with a wire wheel and re-seasoned. I have a couple of 13" ones and they do well for what you are trying to use them for.

The old ones are generally "slick" because they have decades of seasoning on them. When they were new, they weren't anywhere close.

Newer ones, especially Lodge, don't have as good machining the final surface and do take a little elbow grease to knock the bigger ridges down, but once you do, they are every bit as good as a Griswold or other brand.

My 12" skillets get far and away the most use at my place and are my go-to. I can do a couple of sizeable ribyes in them at a time without any issues.

Here is my Lodge 12" after I sanded it down. There are easier ways to do it (for sure), but I just got various grits of sandpaper and put some elbow grease into it. It's very smooth now and has seasoned up nicely since then.

As for size, I also have a 10" that used to use exclusively when it was just me and my wife. Now with 2 kids, I use the 12" more often. I personally wouldn't use cast iron much bigger than 12" because it gets a little bulky. Maybe think about a 12/13" and get another 10" for your bigger cooks. You might get more use out of at least one of them that way. They are relatively cheap, so not too much of an investment to get what you need. Just my two cents.

This is definitely the way to go. Here's what I did:

No doubt. Wish I had a sander. Just didn't feel like getting one. My arm would have liked it much better!

I really like his videos.

I use my 12" and 10" the most.
When doing 3+ steaks, I end up using both. I'll cook low for 45 minutes or so on the Traeger, and then transfer the steaks to the piping hot cast irons on my propane grill.

Crowding the pan steams the steaks too much and ruins the sear/crust, IMO.

I got really into cast iron a couple years ago. I'd recommend for the OP to get the 12" - I think it's most practical. I've seared 5 steaks for a meal before (not all at the same time) on mine. The problem with a cast iron griddle is that the grease splashes everywhere, and if you do it on a stove you can't keep much butter/oil/grease.




I got a dual-handle 17" cast iron for a camping trip with 4 families.... I wish I went with the 15". The 17" one doesn't even fit in an oven (the top is more than 17 inches).

Dr. Venkman said:

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I'd like a cast iron skillet to get a good sear on meat like steak and fish. I see the most popular sizes sold are 8, 10, and 12".

All of these seem fairly small to me. Especially if I'm cooking 3-4 steaks at a time, large piece of fish, or a whole chicken.

I'm looking at 13 and 15". Are these too big that they won't provide even heat?

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All of them.

Smithey cast iron is awesome and I've never seen smoother.

My brother bought me a refurbished old cast iron as a gift a while back and it is the bomb. Not too large, but can fit a decent ribeye edge to edge. I use it to finish off most all of my steaks. Lightweight with that nice smooth finish all around.

I do similar to this. I have a big azz Staub cast iron paella pan and heat it up in the grill for 15-20 min on max heat. Gets so stinking hot. I sear steaks and do smash burgers on it, overall a pretty clean process.