Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
 what's true of all cast iron pans May 15, 2007
J. Hill (Los Angeles, CA United States)
58 out of 74 found this review helpful
I do not own this pan, but I am a lover of cast iron cookware in general, and thus feel compelled to respond to this earlier negative review.
First of all - ALL cast iron pans, whether "pre-seasoned" or raw, need to be seasoned after you buy them. Several times for best results.('seasoning' usually means baking the pan with oil in it for a good period of time to seal off the pores in the metal surface). You will not get non-stick results out of the box, no matter what you buy. I own a "pre-seasoned" 8-quart dutch oven from the Emeril series, and the pan needed to be seasoned after I got it (as did my "pre-seasoned" 12-inch Lodge skillet). I also have a smaller Lodge skillet that I bought "raw" and it's worth noting that it took significantly longer to get it to non-stick level of seasoning. So pre-seasoning helps, but does not eliminate the need for the honorable task of seasoning your pan. Regardless of issues of seasoning, my Emeril dutch oven has performed beautifully, it is very solid, has classic lines and is well-made at an accessible price, which I very much appreciate. I can't imagine the grill pan is much different. Cast iron is pretty simple, and the Emeril series seems to do it right.
2) Cast iron is unique and awesome in part because it holds heat so well, but it does need to be preheated for several minutes for full effect to allow the heat to spread out and transfer to the entire pan. Obviously a pan that covers two burners is going to have hot spots to some degree, but allowing a good 5-8 minutes for the pan to preheat will significantly reduce this. I don't know if the previous reviewer allowed enough time for preheating, which may have contributed to his/her complaints about uneven cooking. Cast iron gives the most even cooking of any cooking surface out there, for the exact same reasons that people most often complain about it - it's really heavy and it gets really hot and stays that way. Certainly cast iron cooks more evenly than the electric skillet the previous reviewer mentioned buying instead. I could be completely wrong, this pan may have horrible hot spots, and as I said, I don't own this pan, but this sounds to me like it could be a user problem.
3) You can't use a cast iron pan once and throw it in the trash! It may take a month or more to get the pan to a stage where it will create the beautifully browned, crisped non-stick results that cast iron lovers rave about. Patience (and turning a deaf ear to naysayers) is well-rewarded. In my experience it doesn't make a ton of difference which manufacturer you go with, in terms of the performance of the surface or metal itself. Cast iron pretty much performs like cast iron. Variations among brands have more to do with what shape or size you like, which design feels better in your hand. The thing that makes the biggest difference in the results you'll get from cast iron is in how you treat the pan. I cook sometimes in my job as a personal assistant, and my boss has a full set of very expensive Le Creuset enameled (and some non-enameled) cast iron that barely gets used, and it's not as enjoyable to cook with as a result. I would choose my five dollar raw cast iron skillet any day of the week. The results I get from the pan are stellar because it is used often and well-loved, and therefore has a fabulous well-seasoned surface.
So I will say, if you buy this pan and it's your first piece of cast iron, give it a month or two before you decide whether or not you like it.
Which brings me to the other reason I love cast iron so much - because it requires a bit of effort and patience in the beginning, I've found I really have a relationship with my cast iron pans. I LOVE my cast iron pans! (maybe this makes me crazy, but if so, it's a very enjoyable form of insanity :) ) It's a simple, humble material that will last a lifetime - remember that old phrase "wears like iron?" - so I highly recommend making the leap into the wonderful world of cast iron, whether with this pan or another one. Just remember that it takes a bit of patience and a bit of doing, but you will be rewarded with a friend that is (almost) as reliable as death and taxes.
Outstanding when used on gas grill at high temperature October 5, 2007
Donald J. Weinshank (East Lansing, MI USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Emerilware cast iron grill
I have now purchased two of these units to use with outdoor gas grills. The results were spectacularly good in all cases (salmon, tuna, halibut, chicken etc.) where I used the smooth face of the grill for the fish at maximum grill temperature.
In line with the recommendations which accompanied the unit,
* I spray it with PAM grilling spray before heating the gas grill
* When the grill reaches 550 F or so, I drizzle on some peanut oil (olive oil would burn at this temp.) and wipe it with some paper towel held in a tongs
The ~2.6 lbs of halibut I made recently was done in about 23-25 minutes.
I then soak the grill overnight in our basement sink, using laundry detergent and hot water. I have a pair of brushes. I first try the fiber one, which is usually adequate. If necessary, I can gently use the brass one. However, the instructions warn one NOT to use steel wool, etc. since this might scratch the surface.
awesome May 15, 2009
Fried Chicken (b, Illinois)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
this griddle is wonderful, very durable, high quality, even heat distribution, it is easy to take care of if you follow the instructions that are on the instruction sheet. i love this product and highly recommend it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very Good Griddle June 27, 2009
Emilio P. Valdo (Hackettstown, NJ)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have used this product as a grill and griddle over the past month. The trick here is to heat up the grill or griddle, then, brush oil or butter on it. Pancake and eggs slide around. Steak develops nice grill marks.
I use stainless steel utensils with this product.
Clean up was easy when I allowed it to heat up then brush oil or butter.
LOVE IT.. May 22, 2010
J. Doan (Sacramento, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Before buying this grill, I read many online reviews and was a little worry that this product may be inferior to others like Paula Dean's & Rachael Ray's but for the price I thought "what the heck". The others were almost twice as much. So far, our family have cooked hot dogs, sausages, steak, chicken breast, bacon, eggs.. any many many wonderful meals...on this grill and they all have been great. It's a heavy pan, as a cast iron should be. I have a Viking stove, so the wait time to heat the grill to the proper tempature is about 2 minutes. It control & distribute the heat evenly. It's heavy (16 lbs) & a tad difficult to wash but it's a little trade-off for it's usefullness. After washing, I dip a napkin in cokking oil and wipe the surface of the grill on both sides so it won't rust & also the pan will be ready the next time. I leave the grill on the stove all year around because I use it so often. LOVE this grill.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 19
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