Welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook!
Today, I am concluding my look at three cast iron skillets–Blacklock by Lodge, Smithey and Finex. [I have not been compensated for this series of reviews, I bought all the skillets with my own money and the opinions are my own.]
I am a devotee of cast iron and love cooking with it daily. Last week, I introduced you to these three different cast iron brands. I talked about the features, the things I liked and some differences among the skillets. I also cooked bacon and eggs in all three skillets so we could get a baseline look at how each skillet cooks.
Today, I will share with you what I learned when I used them to sear steaks.
First, though, my geeky scientist of a husband (a software engineer by trade and just generally an all-around smarty-pants…but in a good way ;-), suggested we see if my theory that the Blacklock was heating up faster than the other two skillets was actually correct. He likes to fact check me. It’s cute, until it’s not 😉
We put the three skillets on the stove, all on medium-high heat, and indeed, the Blacklock heated up more quickly than the other two. And in fact, the heat-detecting device he used, clocked the Blacklock in by about 20-25* hotter at all times than the other two skillets. The Smithey heats up most slowly, the the Blacklock was the quickest, and the Finex was somewhere in the middle.
We also checked the temperatures as the skillets cooled off. the Smithey and Blacklock cooled at about the same rate, while the Finex held heat the longest.
This was an interesting and useful test, and most of all–proved me right–ha!
The fact that the Blacklock heats up a little faster than the other two is useful to know, but not necessarily a drawback for the overall performance of the skillet.
So–let’s get cooking!
I marinated all the steaks in a combination of lime juice and salt for about an hour at room temperature. I patted each steak dry with paper towels.
I heated the skillets up on medium-high heat, and adjusted the Blacklock skillet to just under medium-high to counteract the quicker heating time of that skillet.
I poured a small amount of pecan oil into each skillet. Why pecan oil? Pecan oil tastes amazing, but it also has a very high smoke point–470*, which is great for doing jobs like searing steaks, chops and the like. Also, while I use olive oil for a variety of different things, partially for it’s taste, but also for its health benefits, pecan oil is a very healthy alternative and tastes wonderful in anything from baked goods to salad dressing to stir-fry vegetables and searing steaks. My favorite is from Oliver Farms .
Once hot, I placed the steaks into the skillets.
Finex:
Blacklock:
Smithey:
After four minutes, I turned the steaks:
Finex:
Blacklock:
Smithey:
As you can see, the sear on all the steaks was comparable.
So what are my overall conclusions about these skillets? I’m going to weasel out a little and say that I like them all in different ways.
I was surprised that I liked the Blacklock as much as I did. Because of its weight, the pebble surface and, yes–price, I was prepared for a lesser quality skillet. I was wrong on all counts. I don’t like everything about the skillet, but it has nothing to do with any of the things I worried about.
The skillet, being lighter, is easy to handle with one hand. I had no problems with sticking, it performed very well in all the tasks asked of it, and cleanup was very easy.
It does heat a little more quickly than the other two skillets, probably because it’s thinner, but that’s just something to know about–use it at a little lower temperature setting or choose a thinner cut of meat to sear–but it’s not a flaw, in my opinion.
Furthermore, and this is something I haven’t yet talked much about, the Blacklock is taking seasoning really well. I make sure to season my skillets after each use, and have had no trouble seeing that the Blacklock is taking it well.
I missed a helper handle, but since the skillet I was using is only 7″, and light enough to pick up with one hand easily, I wasn’t terribly bothered by its omission. Plus, since there are helper handles on the rest of the skillets in the line, I really can’t put the lack of one into the “dislike” category for the entire brand.
The only thing I didn’t particularly like? The handle–it’s on the short side and it heats up very quickly–and I mean VERY quickly. Again, though–as long as you know that about the skillet, it’s something you can compensate for–just keep an oven mitt at the ready at all times and never try to handle this skillet without one when cooking with it.
Overall, at just 40 bucks, this skillet is a real winner. It performs well, looks great, takes seasoning well and has a reasonable price tag to boot. If you’re just wanting to dip your toe in the cast iron market, Blacklock is a great place to start.
Next up, Smithey:
Smithey is gorgeous, and I kind of knew that I was going to like using from the start.
It heats evenly, sears, bakes like a dream; I had no issues with sticking or cleaning it up.
I love, love, love the tiny 6″ skillet for meals for one, and I featured it prominently in my posts a couple of weeks ago when I featured meals for one.
It has a helper handle, which is nice because it is a little heavier than the Blacklock. However, like the Blacklock, the main handle does get hot. It takes a little longer to get hot than the Blacklock, but only by about a minute. This is another skillet that I’d keep the oven mitt handy for.
As far as accepting seasoning, I have actually had a little trouble with the Smithey. This could well be pilot error, but I treat all of my cast iron the same way, and don’t feel that I’ve ever been able to get a really good layer of seasoning down on this skillet. That having been said, it has not caused issues with sticking or cleanup.
And now for the elephant in the room: price. At $85, the Smithey is more than twice as expensive as the Blacklock. We’ve been over the differences–Smithey is heavier, it’s got a helper handle and it’s got a satin finish. The similarities are that they’re both made in the US of A, searing, baking, sticking and clean up are more or less comparable, and they both have main handles that get hot very quickly.
Other than looks–and I do love the way the Smithey looks–the Smithey and the Blacklock performed comparably. And no one was more surprised by that than I.
Finally, let’s look at the overall performance of the Finex:
Finex was the first cast iron I bought, and yes–I do love it.
It heats evenly, retains the heat beautifully and takes the seasoning like a champ; I never have issues with sticking and clean up is a breeze. It has helper handles and a main handle that is longer than the other skillets, making handling it more “sure-footed” if you will.
And since we’re talking about handles, let’s talk even more about that main handle:
When searing that steak last night? Even after all eight minutes of searing on medium-high heat, I could still hold the handle. It was getting hot, but I could still handle it, where the handles on the other two skillets were branding iron hot. The unique stainless steel coil around the handle actually does work to keep it cool–not forever, but long enough to cook up a piece of fish or a steak or to saute vegetables.
So, performance and feature-wise, the Finex is basically my “Goldilocks” cast iron. It hits all the right marks, I love looking at it and most importantly, I LOVE cooking with it.
And now for elephant number 2 in the room: it is VERY pricey. The 8″ skillet is a whopping $150. Is it worth it? To me, yes, it is. However, as I said, I was very favorably impressed with the performance of the Blacklock and I will enjoy using it; and at only about a quarter of the price, it’s hard to beat.
The Smithey I love for its looks and performance, but mostly, I love that 6″ size for cooking for one or for making a modestly-sized dessert for two. In fact, I like it so much that I bought another 6″ skillet so I could make meals for two in individual skillets.
But, I have to say that in spite of the price, my heart still belongs to Finex for all the reasons I’ve already listed.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this stroll through cast iron land as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you.
Please tune in next week when I’ll be featuring an abundance of corn!
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
p.s. My cast iron reviews are finished..for now! There are lots of other brands out there and I haven’t even touched enameled cast iron such as Staub and Le Creuset. So–stay tuned!
