The old beat-up Lodge skillet vs the fancy new ceramic one I got as a gift

I mean, I tried to like that ceramic pan for about 6 months. It was nonstick at first, sure, but after maybe 3 uses the coating started looking scratched and weird. Then I went back to this rusty old Lodge cast iron I found at a garage sale for $8 in Columbus. That thing has seen maybe 20 years of use and it still works like a champ once you get the seasoning right. The difference is cast iron just gets better with time, while the ceramic stuff is basically a ticking clock until it fails. For under $10 I got a pan that'll outlive me, but that $60 ceramic one is probably in a landfill now. Has anyone else had better luck with cheap cast iron than with the expensive fancy pans?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_drew1mo ago

Man, I gotta completely disagree with you here! That ceramic pan was probably not great, sure, but there are way better nonstick options out there now. The whole "cast iron lasts forever" thing is kind of overblown, honestly. I had a Lodge skillet that chipped after a year because I accidentally dropped it, and the seasoning is a pain to maintain if you actually cook acidic stuff like tomatoes or lemon chicken. Meanwhile, my sister's ceramic pan from a decent brand has been going strong for two years with zero scratches. The trick is not to use metal utensils and to hand wash it gently. Plus, cast iron is heavy as heck and takes forever to heat up evenly, which is a real pain when you just want to fry an egg quick. For everyday cooking, I'd take a mid-range nonstick over a beat-up cast iron any day.

smith.parker1mo ago

So you're saying the nonstick game has actually improved that much? I gotta admit, I used to be one of those cast iron purists who thought anything with a coating was just a waste of money waiting to flake off. My grandpa gave me his old Griswold and I felt like I was betraying the family by even looking at a ceramic pan, you know? But I've been hearing more and more stories like this where people are getting years out of decent nonstick, and your sister's experience plus jamieb80's Target pan lasting three years is kinda making me rethink my stance. Maybe I've just been stubborn about it because I don't want to admit I've been lugging around a 10 pound pan for no reason when I could just be gentle with a lighter one.

jamieb801mo agoTop Commenter

Oh man, you had me at "heavy as heck" (I've got a cast iron pan that I swear doubles as a free weight for arm day). But seriously, I feel your pain about the acidic foods thing. I ruined a perfectly good tomato sauce once because I forgot and left it sitting in my cast iron pan for like 20 minutes. Tasted like I licked a rusty fence. Still, I've got this cheap nonstick skillet from Target that's lasted me three years now with zero issues, just don't use metal on it (learned that the hard way with my first one, oops). Different tools for different jobs, I guess.