Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–I’m so glad you’re here!
Several months ago, I addressed chaos in my life. Here’s what I wrote:
“I can’t even breathe, much less think when I’m surrounded with chaos, whether it be chaos because of mess and disorganization, or it be that of information under or overload, or, indeed, lack of sleep. We’ve all been there.”
At this point, to this list, I would add that chaos also comes from things that are beyond our control, such as deaths of loved ones. After losing both my dad and my dog in the last six weeks, I find myself trying desperately to get back to a place of equilibrium and failing miserably for the most part–mostly because I just don’t know where to start.
But, today, I decided to start with the basics: unpack from our recent trip, do the laundry, go to the grocery store, water the plants, get my hair cut–like that. I’m trying to do things that need to be done that I can do without thinking too much–trying to create a sense of accomplishment and normalcy by doing things that need to be done, but that won’t get me into too much trouble if I screw them up.
By far the most satisfying thing I did today was to unbox my new Smithey Ironworks 10″ Chef’s Skillet and do my first cook with it:
It’s gorgeous and I already know that it’s going to be in regular rotation.
I nabbed this a couple of weeks ago on Smithey’s “seconds” sale. I could see no obvious defects on the skillet when I unboxed it and it worked great–but I’m getting ahead of myself–I’ll get to that in a minute.
The skillet is about 17″ nose to tail and features a handle that is nicely proportioned to its size. It is pre-seasoned, (although I did give it a quick seasoning before my first cook with it) well-balanced and features that glossy, satiny smooth interior finish Smithey is known for. The handle is comfortable in the hand and provides a stable anchor for the pan, and it has a “helper” handle, which I always appreciate.
The pan is 10″ across the top and the bottom cooking surface is 6″. It is 1.6″ deep and Smithey’s website states that it should weigh in at about 5 pounds. This weight quote gave me pause because I didn’t think my pan felt that heavy, and indeed, my pan weighs in at only about 4 1/2 pounds. Since the reason for a pan being a “second” is not revealed to the purchaser, I cannot be certain, but it seems logical that my pan was relegated to the seconds bin because it was a runt. And actually–I think I like it better as the runt of the family than I would have if it was full weight. I found the pan cooks well, is well-balanced and is easy to handle for its size.
For comparison, my Le Creuset 9.5″ skillet weighs 4.7 pounds and is about 15″ nose to tail. The handle is only about 5″, where the handle on the Smithey Chef Skillet is about 6.5″. I really like the longer handle on the Smithey–I feel like it gives the pan better balance and control. For another comparison, a 10.25″ Blacklock by Lodge skillet (which I do not own, but got information from the Lodge website) weighs in at 4.6 pounds. In a previous post, I reviewed the 7″ Blacklock skillet (which I do own) and was favorably impressed with its performance, especially at the price, but noted that it was lighter weight than other cast iron skillets and tended to heat up more quickly and retain heat less efficiently than other cast iron. It will be interesting to see if the lighter weight of this 10″ Smithey skillet performs similarly. Stay tuned!
The first thing I made was a vegetable frittata:
I started by heating the pan on medium-high heat and pouring in a couple of tablespoons of pecan oil. I like using pecan oil on cast iron because of its high smoke point (470*) compared to other healthy oils, but you could just a well use olive oil. I pan-fried the potatoes and experienced no sticking whatsoever.
The potato slices got nice and browned on one side in a matter of minutes. I will say that the handles on Smithey products get hot quite quickly, so make sure you have a handle cozy or an oven mitt at the ready to avoid burning yourself.
I followed the potatoes with an assortment of vegetables I found in the fridge:
and sauted them until they were soft but not done. To this mixture, I added five eggs and topped it with some sharp white cheddar I had on hand. This pan is not very deep, so I wanted to take care to not overfill it:
I let the frittata cook for few minutes until I saw the edges starting to bubble and then I put the whole thing into a 425* oven for about 7 minutes.
As you can see, the edges pulled away from the sides of the pan nicely and the edges and bottom came out nice and crispy, but not scorched and the whole frittata slid right out of the pan without any issues in spite of having sauted potatoes in it, which notoriously stick.
As I mentioned before, I did go ahead and give it a quick seasoning prior to using it and I did use a couple of tablespoons of pecan oil when cooking the frittata, but I was very well pleased with how non-stick the pan already was on the first go.
Smithey pans tend to not come with lids, but there are lids available. I have lots of lids in my collection, so I usually find one that fits whatever pan I’m working with. In this case, however, my go-to 10″ lid didn’t work because it is designed with about a 1/4″ recess. Because the chef skillet is so shallow (only 1.6″), the recessed portion of the lid touched the top of the frittata. It didn’t affect cooking particularly, but it could and it made my frittata a bit unsightly. Smithey lids are domed, and I would recommend that you get the matching lid for this skillet if you don’t have a domed 10″ lid in your arsenal already.
Smithey lids are made of high-quality glass and steel, they are dishwasher safe and they work well. My only comment about them is that they are only oven-safe up to 400*, which limits their usability, especially with cast iron, which I love for its compatibility with high-temperature cooking. I went ahead and ordered a lid to go with my new 10″ chef skillet in spite of it limitations because I really like the skillet and want to have all the options for using it that I can.
Next, I’m going to sear a couple of filets on this little dynamo–look for my report next week when I will also do some temperature testing–
Until then,
Peace, love and good food,
Keri
