Cuisinel Cast Iron Skillet Set - 8" + 12"-Inch Frying Pan + Glass Lids - Pre-Seasoned Cookware - Heat-Resistant Holders - Indoor/Outdoor Use - Camping, Grill, Stove, BBQ, Firepit, Induction, Oven Safe

I have now had this product for about a year-and-a-half. I use it multiple times a day. It is the right size for most uses, though when cooking foods like a curry for the whole family of 4 I have to go bigger.It is a solid cast iron skillet that will be perfect for the average person who enjoys cooking and prefers cast iron cooking (and knows how to keep cast iron seasoned).The silicone cover for the handle is pretty good. It generally protects your hand well when touching or holding the handle. It does, however, slip a little when lifting the pan, but not so much as to make it a problem with one exception.Here is the exception: I like that the handle cover leaves the slot open in which you can rest a small cooking spoon/fork/utensil. However, leaving that slot open means that if the cover slips a little while you are carrying the skillet, it can slip in such a way that you get burned by way of that hole.Also, after a little over a year of multiple daily use (keeping the handle on except when putting the skillet in the oven), the handle cover did start to burn/crack by where the handle meets the skillet. For me, this isn't a mark against the product as I am sure it is not advised to keep the handle on during use on a gas stove, and yet it held up well doing just that for a good amount of time.However, as far as I can tell, Cuisinel does not sell replacement handle covers! To me, that is a problem. This means I am now shopping for a replacement that may or may not properly fit the Cuisinel handle size and shape. It is frustrating that I can't buy a handle cover specific to this skillet, since clearly the company makes handle covers.If they made extra handle covers and sold replacements, I would probably give this skillet more stars, despite the issue of the handle slippage and possible burns from preserving the handle hole.

I have stayed away from cast iron for some reason. Now, I have two and love them. So many uses for this pan including putting it in the oven. Very well written instructions as to cleaning and seasoning. It is just what I needed to replace the old pans that are warping and the non-stick coating coming off. It has spurred me on to start a cooking channel. Love it.

My fiancé is the cook and so these were a gift for an occasion and he really likes them. He has continued with seasoning them and enjoys using them. Nice iron skillets.

The caste iron pans are seasoned ready to use. There is good heat distribution. The hand grips are wonderful, not as bulky as potholders and the lids fit perfectly. I couldn't be happier.

This set is a great value. I deducted 1 star because the cast iron is about 1/16th of an inch thinner than that of my grandmother's cast iron pan, and the pre-seasoning seems insufficient. The inner surface is rough rather than smooth as in some cast iron pans. Although I would prefer a smooth cooking surface, the rough surface does not adversely affect the release of food after the pans are properly seasoned and if the food is properly cooked as described below.As pointed out by other reviewers, these pans need additional seasoning before use. The surface of these pre-seasoned pans are dull and tacky, which indicates insufficient seasoning, using a vegetable oil. As others have pointed out, animal fats, such as lard or chicken fat, are best for seasoning cast iron pans. Since I did not have any lard nor chicken fat on hand, I used butter and followed the included instructions for seasoning the pans.The use of butter for seasoning cast iron pans is somewhat controversial since butter contains milk solids that brown and burn producing smoke at the beginning of the heating portion of the seasoning process. I just turned on the vent fan for the 10-15 minutes it took for the smoke to dissipate after the milk solids had burned off. After the pans cooled, I just wiped off the excess browned butter, leaving a glossy black well seasoned finish on the cast iron. If you want to avoid the smoke, you can clarify the butter to remove the milk solids before applying it to the pans, but I didn't want to spend the time and effort to do that.After this additional seasoning, these pans passed the fried and scrambled eggs tests.However, for any cast iron pans to pass this test, the eggs must be cooked properly. In order for well seasoned cast iron pans to release foods well, you should heat the pan first to medium heat, then add a generous amount of your preferred cooking oil, butter, or fat to cover the entire inner bottom surface of the pan. Then let that oil come to temperature (hint: it is ready when it starts to shimmer, and it is too hot if it starts to smoke.). Only when the oil has come to temperature should you add the food to be cooked. With eggs, let the bottom cook until it releases from the bottom of the pan before trying to remove or flip the eggs. For scrambled eggs this means to initially let the bottom of the eggs cook omelet style before moving them around and breaking them up into curds.There will always be some remaining stuck on brown bits in a cast iron pan. To clean these up after removing the food, heat the pan to medium high or high, and add water in a slow continuous stream while stirring and scraping the brown bits off with a wooden, rubber, or plastic spatula in the same manner as deglazing the pan when making a sauce. Continue stirring and scraping until the water in the pan boils. Be sure to scrape off the scraps from the inner side of the pan with the spatula as well. Discard the water, oil, and scraps slurry, and wipe the pan dry. Return the pan to the stove and heat it on low until completely dry. With some rolled up paper towel or a basting brush, apply a thin layer of oil to the inner surface of the pan, and heat the pan on high just until it starts to smoke. Remove the pan from the burner and let it cool before storing. (Note that you can skip the deglazing step in cleaning the pan if you already deglazed the pan in making a sauce or gravy, which is a much better use of the left behind brown bits called fond.)Some people worry about the oil used in seasoning the pans turning rancid, but the heating phase of the seasoning kills microbes preventing the remaining oil from turning rancid by microbial action for a long time.The other two types of rancidification are hydrolytic and oxidative. The first can be prevented by keeping the pans dry. The second is catalyzed by sunlight. Both types proceed more slowly at lower temperatures. Therefore, keep your pans in a cooI, dark, and dry place. If you are not using the pans for a month or more, you may want to use salt, vinegar, and hot water to scour the pan, and then dry it on a burner on low heat until it is completely dry before storing it. Then store it in an airtight, opaque container with a desiccant like charcoal or baking soda to prevent rancidity and rust. You'll then need to season the pan again before using it when it comes out of storage.

Excellent quality and price. Buy it

Excellent to cook in and clean. Easy to keep seasoned. I love that it has a lid.

I love using this skillet for chicken, especially when I want a grilled flavor but don't want to use our outdoor grill. It is easy and cooks the chicken evenly so it is tender and flavorful.

Me gusto mucho, es mi primer sartén de hierro fundido y estoy súper contento, la tapa y el mango de silicon son Justo como los esperaba y me ha sido de gran utilidad.

Have followed directions closely - using salt to rub, no detergent, and it works. Can use high heat without worries now. It still sticks a bit. Can't really clean it thoroughly like non-stick coating pans, but a price to pay if health is your priority.

After I became aware of forever chemicals and the fact non-stick has poisoned 99% of the global population including myself, I binned every non-stick item I have and decided to rebuild with good old fashioned, reliable, safe, non-toxic cast iron.Unfortunately after ordering, somewhere along the delivery line an uneducated logistics/delivery individual must have mistaken the label that said cast iron with one that said indestructible or bullet proof. After opening the packaging the big skillet had cracked both sides of the handle where it is fused to the skillet.I contacted the seller and they were absolutely fantastic. Not only did they make sure I wasn’t inconvenienced further by having to send it back or wait in for a delivery handover, they sent an immediate replacement and covered the shipping themselves. An A star service in outcome, response time and handling of the issue.I’ve waited over a month of use to right the review because I hate it when people review their items as soon as they receive them; how do you even know it works and why are you writing a review?The products are exceptional, I couldn’t be happier. They are strong and sturdy, no weakness whatsoever which I was concerned about given the initial damaged skillet that came but I can say with 100% confidence they are extremely strong and durable, the original that got broken must have been thrown out of the back of a van or truck onto a hard service at a bad angle because even the packaging was broken. Lids are fantastic and durable to, not that really flimsy thin glass, good proper thick sturdy glass which always reassures me any vibration from steam won’t break it.Heat distribution is fantastic, exactly what you would expect. It heats evenly and it maintains heat extremely well, a good indication, as someone who used to cast car engines and car parts so understands casting better than most, that the casting is done to a very high standard and does not have porous gaps below the surface which make any cast item prone to cracking.As for the people who have written other comments complaining about rust: ignore them. The problem is not the product but the user. It is cast iron, of course it will show almost immediate oxidation if not cared for correctly: that is what cast iron does. For the record, the rust is simply iron, totally non-toxic and your blood is made up with an abundance of iron. If you have low iron you have health problems. Therefore do not worry at all if you see any rust just re-season, any iron residue does not need to be removed: it’s actually helping your health and will totally disappear from sight when you season. For context, I throw it in the dishwasher when I want to clean it, it comes out a bit rusty, I re-season and she’s back to her best again in seconds.As for the others complaining about things sticking when cooking with it, again the problem is the user not the product. Provided you correctly season it, use the correct amount of lubricant when cooking and actually know how to cook: absolutely nothing will stick to it. It is essentially scientifically impossible to make something stick to a correctly lubricated surface. For context I can cook eggs in these sunny side up, runny yolk and I’ve never had an issue with sticking or hard yolks or busted yolks and eggs are about the most delicate and sticky thing you could cook.For context, after years of being misguided with ‘healthy oils’ and the other nonsense nutritional advice by educational systems molested by corporate greed to make us profitable sheep who develop a plethora of health conditions as a result of our diet, which then need medicated by big pharma, as a result of using corporate, expensive, highly processed, highly profitable oils which actually harm our health considerably, weakening our immune systems and allowing all modern diseases to take hold; I switched to the good old fashioned, tried and tested over millennia: lard. I will never go back to high processed oils, I use them to season, burn off every bit of excess I can then use lard for cooking. It is absolutely fantastic, I’ve never felt better and my health has never been better. Lard and these skillets are a match made in heaven. However as with all things, use it wisely and in moderation to coat the skillet, you aren’t deep frying with it like you need to do with processed oils much of the time. Food also does not absorb lard like a sponge, as it does with processed oils.I’ll conclude by saying do yourself a favour and get these, you won’t look back, your health and your families health will thank you for it and even if anything does happen with your delivery or product, you have total reassurance this seller has you covered and will take care of you in whichever way is necessary.Order with confidence & reassurance👍🏻

Great pan. All components good quality. Helpful manual for initial use. Also good price. Can't go wrong. Happy customer.

Bought it for £29 as a set. Just wait for the deal in the UK. Only 4 stars as the silicon handle holder couldn't hold the heat and will burn your hand when the pan is really hot. Have to add another cloth holder which is a bit disppointing. Otherwise perfect quality and price.