I Gave Away My Rusted Skillet. My Friend Hasn't Seasoned Hers Once in 2 Years. Here's Why.

The rust was the color of a dropped penny, orange and flaking across the bottom of the pan.

I'd left the skillet in the sink overnight, just once, after a long Tuesday.

By morning it looked like something pulled out of a basement, not the pan I'd cooked dinner in the night before.

See the skillet from this story →

I stood at the sink with a sponge and a prayer, scrubbing at spots that wouldn't lift.

My husband Mark found me there before his coffee was even poured.

"It's a skillet, not a crime scene," he said. I didn't laugh.

I'd bought that cast iron pan because everyone swore by it: the sear, the heat, the way a steak browns in it like nothing else.

What nobody mentioned was the rest of the deal. No soap, ever. Dry it on the stove before it rusts. Rub it with oil after every single use, like it's a living thing that needs feeding.

I kept up with it for exactly eleven weeks.

The ritual wore me down

Every single use came with homework, and skipping it once was all it took.

Look closer

One missed drying step, eleven weeks of oiling gone

1. The orange bloom. Rust, from one night left in the sink.
2. The dull gray around it. Where the seasoning I'd rubbed in after every dinner had simply washed away.
3. The brush. Twenty minutes with it, and the spots still wouldn't lift.

The bottom of my old skillet the next morning. The circle is magnified.

What every dinner really looked like

7:40. Dinner's over. Everyone else leaves the kitchen.

7:41. Scrub the skillet, just enough. Never with soap.

7:45. Back on the burner for a full minute to dry it, or it rusts.

7:47. A thin coat of oil, rubbed in while it's still hot.

7:50. Wipe the oil drips off the stovetop.

Ten minutes every night, for a pan that was supposed to make cooking easier.

Then came the eggs

My daughter Grace asked for scrambled eggs on a Saturday morning, the easiest request in the world.

They stuck the second I tried to turn them. I scraped at the pan while she waited at the counter in her pajamas.

Half the eggs went in the trash. The other half went on her plate, torn and sad looking.

She ate them anyway. I stood over that sink for twenty minutes afterward, working at the bits still welded to the bottom.

Sound familiar? Skip ahead and see the skillet that ended the ritual for me. See the 10 inch Skillet →

So I gave it away

After the eggs, I stopped reaching for it.

I told myself I'd get back into the ritual once things calmed down. I never did.

The skillet sat at the back of the cabinet for three months, a reminder every time I opened the door.

My neighbor Dana mentioned she wanted to try cast iron. I handed mine over gladly and didn't think about it again.

What I didn't know yet: the problem was never the cast iron. It was a pan that needed babysitting just to stay the way it came out of the box.

It took one Sunday at Renee's for me to finally see it.

Then I saw Renee's skillet

Renee had me over for brunch in October.

She made a skillet frittata, the eggs set perfectly golden on top, nothing stuck to a single edge.

When I asked how she kept the pan looking so new, she laughed and said, "I don't do anything to it."

I followed her to the stove, already bracing myself to hear about her seasoning routine.

She picked the skillet straight off the burner, ran it under warm water with a drop of dish soap, dried it with a towel, and set it back on the stove.

That was it. No oil. No ritual. No seasoning.

"How long have you had this one?" I asked.

"About two years," she said. "I wash it like a regular pan."

It was the Larder & Vine 10 inch Enameled Cast Iron Skillet, real cast iron sealed in a smooth enamel that never needs seasoning.

I asked for the link before I'd even left her kitchen.

Larder & Vine 10″ Enameled Skillet

Why Renee's skillet never needed a ritual

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1. Smooth enamel cooking surface. Sealed over the cast iron, so there's no seasoning to build up, nothing to oil, and soap and water are fine.
2. Pour spouts on both sides. Pour off a pan sauce or drippings from either side.
3. Helper handle. It weighs about 5.8 pounds, and the second handle makes it easy to lift.
4. Safe with tomato and wine. The enamel won't react with acidic sauces, so they taste like themselves.
5. Stovetop to oven. Works on induction, gas, electric, ceramic and halogen, and goes in the oven up to 500°F.

★★★★★

“This skillet is definitely a game changer for me. I made a breakfast frittata and it was amazing. Very quick and easy to make and absolutely delicious. The skillet allows the heat to go all the way thru and cooks the insides just perfect. Clean up was just as easy. I use soap and water and let the pan dry. Very very easy!! I LOVE my skillet.”

So breakfast doesn't end at the sink

Grace and I made skillet cinnamon rolls the Sunday it arrived. Nothing stuck, nothing scraped, nothing scrubbed for twenty minutes after.

Wash it with soap, dry it, done.

And dinner goes straight from stove to oven

Now I start a sauce on the stove and slide the same pan straight into the oven to finish it bubbling and golden.

One pan, start to finish, and it still looks new.

I cook with cast iron again, and that's the whole story

The skillet came on a Wednesday. That Saturday, Grace asked for pancakes, and I said yes without hesitating.

They came out puffed and golden, and they slid onto the plate without a fight.

When breakfast was done, I washed it with soap, dried it, and set it back on the stove. No oil, no ritual, no seasoning to keep up.

Mark walked by, saw the pan sitting out on the stove instead of hidden in the cabinet, and didn't say a word about it this time.

It's just a skillet. But I'm cooking with cast iron again, and I haven't spent a night scrubbing a pan at the sink since.

Black Friday sale

Cook with cast iron again, and save 20%

Larder & Vine is taking 20% off the 10 inch Enameled Cast Iron Skillet for Black Friday through Cyber Monday. No code needed: the discount is applied automatically at checkout.

$71.99 $89.99 applied automatically at checkout

Black Friday price ends in 

Claim my 20% off

• Free shipping on orders over $100.
• 30 days to request a return after it arrives.
• Ships fast, usually within 1 to 2 business days.

Who this isn't for: You enjoy seasoning bare cast iron and want a black skillet.