4 Lodge Cast Iron Skillet Recipes for Winter
Whether you’re the proud owner of a skillet passed down from your great-grandmother, or a kitchen novice who just received one as a wedding present, there’s no reason to be afraid of cast iron. Especially if you’re from Tennessee, the home of Lodge Cast Iron.
Based in South Pittsburg, just outside of Chattanooga, Lodge knows that cast iron cooking is on the rise. “The popularity of cast iron – both seasoned and enamel coated – has grown tremendously since we began foundry seasoning our cast iron cookware in 2002,” says Mark Kelly, public relations manager for Lodge. Back then, cast iron represented 4 percent of the domestic cookware market. Sixteen years later, it accounts for more than 15 percent.
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That’s one reason Lodge expanded the production line at its 118-year-old foundry in 2015 and opened a new foundry in November 2017. “In the past three years, we have increased production capacity by 125 percent,” Kelly says, crediting the Food Network and PBS, along with Gordon Ramsay’s shows and local cooking segments showcasing cast iron cooking.
The versatility of recipes from sweet to savory and the ability to transfer a skillet from stovetop to oven are just two benefits of cast iron, which Kelly says has become a growing trend across all age demographics in the U.S.
Recipes in this Article
The foundry seasoning also plays a large part in the popularity, as well as the reason the average cook shouldn’t be scared of cast iron. While previous generations had to season skillets themselves to keep food from sticking, Lodge now bakes oil directly onto the iron to prevent rust and provide a natural finish that improves with use.
According to Lodge, “seasoning” can refer to both the initial finish of the cookware as well as the ongoing process of maintaining the finish.
“We started foundry seasoning in 2002 with 25 of our items,” Kelly says. “Within a year, we shifted to 75 of our items. On July 1, 2007, we began seasoning all of our cookware.”
To season its skillets, Lodge uses a highly refined soybean oil with no synthetic chemicals, animal fat, peanut oil or paints, and eliminates all proteins that cause soy-related allergies.
That’s a long way from the oil- or even pork-fat-seasoned pans of previous generations, but it doesn’t mean a brand-new Lodge skillet won’t stick around for a lifetime.
“If taken care of properly, they last a minimum of 100 years,” Kelly says. “I have my grandmother’s skillet and Dutch oven that were wedding presents 100 years ago. If you visit historic museums like Mount Vernon, Monticello and others, there are items from our colonial era. Much older in European museums.”
And in that time, you can certainly do a lot of cast iron cooking. We offer a few recipes for inspiration this holiday season, and you can find even more at tnhomeandfarm.com/castiron.
When will the entries be entered? I love your articles!
Hi Yvonne,
The contest is now live and you’re comment counts as an entry. Thanks for reading!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
Rachel I Love this magazine and the recipes listed also I would love to win a new lodge pan! I am a new cast iron cooker even though that’s the only thing my grandmother used to cook in. I have found that I love to cook in them also! Please enter my name in the drawing!
Thanks for letting me enter.
I have several cast iron skillet recipes….love to cook with them, especially deep dish pizza! Would love to win a Lodge cast iron skillet! Thanks for the promo!
I WAS HOPING TO BE A WINNER
Love your recipes
I just got my magazine today, and now the TN skillet already completed or not started?
Hi J.,
The contest is now live. Good luck! Thanks for reading!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
Love the recipes!!
I clicked on a link above that was supposed to be to “enter the contest for the Lodge Skillet”. But it didn’t.
Hi Jeremy,
The giveaway for the Lodge Cast Iron Skillet was from our winter 2018-19 issue and has ended.
Thanks,
Rachel Graf
Digital Editor
TN Home & Farm
When will contest start? Really want the wedge pan
Hi!
So sorry about that. The contest should now be live. Thanks!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
The Lodge skillets have always been #1. Best ever!!!
Ready to enter. Love,love Lodge skillets!!!!
I have several Lodge skillets. I would love to have the Tennessee Wedge Pan!
I’ve got several skillets that was hand down in generations,but I don’t have a divided corn bread skillet and love to have one.love my Tennessee home and farm…
Would love to win smidge skillet.
My momma always used her iron skillet for cornbread! She taught me to do the same. I can’t imagine NOT having my skillets! I have a divided skillet I use for cornbread when I want it a little more crunchy on the sides.
I grew up with my Mom using iron skillets and would love a chance at winning the wedge skillet
I love my Lodge Dutch oven and would love to win a Lodge skillet.
I would love to win this. I haven’t anything in a long, long time.
I love my iron skillets, and would love to have a wedge pan!
As a VFL, what better addition to my kitchen than a UT cast iron skillet. Love it!!
I know my wife would love one of these. She has a couple that she used all the time. It is a great product. Just in their store last month and was really impressed with everything they had
I love to cook in iron would love to have this one.
I have used Lodge cast iron skillets for years. I would love some more!
Is the skillet contest over already? Just found my magazine in my husbands desk????
Hi Genie,
Nope! The contest runs until Dec. 15, and this comment counts as an entry. Good luck!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
We love cooking with cast iron for many foods some of which are cornbread, spaghetti, cobblers, baking potatoes or most anything,soups and even making puddings, to name some.
Enter me in contest please
Love castirin cornbread. Have my mother’s skillet that went thru my sister and now to me.
Never owned a wedge pan, though I have
several sizes of old cast iron skillets. Would love to try a Lodge skillet!!
Love this magazine always look forward to the recipes.
Love Lodge…. Want to win that wedge pan !!!!
I want to win!!
Cast iron is the only way to cook.
Cook with CI every single day….nothing and I mean nothing cooks like CI
Hope I win this for my wife who loves to bake
Reading Home and Farm,always like Mr.Read’s stories,but had to pass it up,as of now,to check out all the recipes.
Thanks for the chance of winning a piece of Lodge!
Lodge cast iron is the best cookware ever i hope i win this prize.
I love my cast iron skillets and I can’t wait to try these recipes
I love my cast iron skillets! Can’t hardly wait to try the new recipes in my home and farm magazine.
I love cast iron skillts
I would love to give this as a Christmas present to my newly wed nephew he graduated from UT.
I would love to,win this wonderful skillet. I us one every day from making cornbread or making biscuits.
Love the articles in the “ Tennessee Home and Farm”. This Winter edition is great. Love the sections “Made in Tennessee”. Proud this is my home state. Keep those recipes coming!!!
I am trying to enter your contest!
Hi Steve,
You are entered! The comment counts as an entry. Good luck!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
I would love to win a piece of lodge wear. I love using my cast iron!!
Love to win
Cornbread in oil preheated cast
Sure do need a pan. Love to have some good old homemade cornbread!!!!
Sure would like to win. Love cast iron I need another one.
Love the skillets my favorite!
And for those of us who choose not to have a Twitter account?
Hi Dana,
Your comment on this article counts as an entry! We try to make it accessible for everyone. Good luck and thanks for reading!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
Cast iron is the best!
nothing beats cornbread cooked in an iron skillet, but having a big “T” on the bottom is sure to make it even better!!
Love your magazine. gloria
Want to win.
Casket iron take the test of time.
Love my cast iron skillets, use for cornbread,and many other recipes.
love iron skillets my mamaw used them and taught me how to plus I learn more every day don’t have many but make cornbread and fried chicken cakes
Would like to try cast iron. On our cookout.Been using foil and old cookie sheets.
I love my cast iron. I can always use another one.
What a great cooking tool, cornbread with crust all around. Would love to win.
Anything cooked in cast.
Love Lodge
Lodge Cast Iron has been part of our families poking legacy for over 60 years! Love it, but don’t have the cornbread pan and would be so excited to add it to my collection, which one day will be passed down to the next generation.
I love to make a lot of things in my cast iron such as cornbread, pizza, pies/cobblers and one skillet meals. Would love to win a new one!
I love these Cast Irn pieces. I have my own set plus my mother’s pieces. Never can have too many.
I actually just gave the kids my Christmas wish list and a Lodge skillet is on it. I would love to have one to “season with love” and pass on to my kids one day.
I love this!!!! I hope I WIN 🙂
Used Lodge for years fantastic contest.
Lodge cast iron is tried and true. Although I use my skillet for many things, cornbread MUST be made in it.
Look forward to receiving every issue of this magazine. Always enjoy trying the recipes.
Love cast-iron cooking! Does it always taste better in Cast-Iron? Yes For Sure!
I love Lodge skillets!!
I love UT and Lodge Cast Iron Skillets!
I love UT and Lodge Cast Iron Skillets!
I have my mother’s cornbread skillet. She is gone now but I have the memories of her wonderful cornbread. Always good. I make good cornbread but mama’s is always better.
I love the smore’s dip. But I can’t make cornbread withouyt my iron skillet!
Love cooking in a Cast Iron Skillet
Have my mom’s & my grandmothers
I’m always looking for another recipe to cook in my Lodge cookware! Love that crispy cornbread!!!
I tried to sign up for the giveaway. However because Facebook is being a snot it won’t let me update my email address and even if picked I’d not be reachable. I don’t want this for myself. I want this for a friend who ABSOLUTELY LOVES cast iron everything.
Hi Lynne,
Sorry you’re having trouble! Your comment actually counts as an entry, so you should be good to go. Good luck!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
Good defensive weapon in a crunch
New to the website and would like to enter some giveaways. Am logged in but how in the heck to you actually ENTER?????
Hi Elizabeth,
Your comment actually counts as an entry. Good luck!
Rachel Bertone
editor, TN Home and Farm
I would love to win this skillet pack. I have several skillets and love to cook in them.
Love to use cast iron. Somethings just taste better.
I have an old skillet that belonged to my grandmother. She always used it to make cornbread and now we do the same. Still making great cornbread after all these years!
As a loyal Vols fan and graduate,I would love to win this pan! Lodge and TN make a great pair!
I have several old iron skillets which have come through my mothers family.Nothing cooks as well.WE ALWAYS take them with us when we go camping.looking for an old pot to hang on camp fire
My mom used to bake crumbled ground beef on a flat cast iron,she called baker,i loved it ,now i bake GB so many memories,would love to win
My wife has a dedicated Lodge used just for cornbread.
nothing cooks like cast iron .have used it for years
I would love to have this I cook on cast iron to add to my conn.
Absolutely love Lodge cast iron items. The plant tour this year was fascinating!!! Who knew people all over the world love their products.
Best cooking you can get, no matter what you make.
Love it for cornbread, and it makes a yummy pineapple upside down cake!
Thanks for the chance to win one.
love lodge cast iron
I love your magazine Great articles and recipes.
love cast iron
Recently moved to tn and love the TN pan!
Cast iron is versatile.
Love the wedge pan,would love to win
Love these skillets and have actually toured the plant during the cornbread festival couldn’t make a meal without my cornbread skillet taste just like my moms though she has passed I have her skillet and think of her every time
I love using my cast cornbread skillet have actually toured the lodge plant during the cornbread festival the skillet I use was my moms and she has passed every time I make cornbread I think of her sure would like to win this skillet
Tennessee Home &Farm has opened my world to this wonderful state! I’m a transplant from Mississippi and I love this place! I feel like I’ve finally found a home!!
Love your magazine… recipes… and my iron skillet.
I love my cast iron skillet.
I love learning about how things are made. Such a good magazine!
I love using my Lodge skillet for making my blackberry cobbler! Yum yum!
Look forward to the magazine each time.
I like to make chili on the wood stove, using a Lodge Dutch oven that was a wedding gift almost 40 years ago.
I use my Lodge Sportsman’s Grill year-round for all kinds of meats.
Our favorite thing to make in a skillet is cornbread, though we have made a really good peach cobbler in one.
Love my lodge skillet and this UT one would be a nice add to my small collection.
cast iron cooking is the best
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread is my favorite thing to make in my cast iron!
Like to try Tennessee product
I like to cook steaks in Lodge cast iron. Makes a great crust!
Love Tennessee products!
Love all cast iron products.I have a few pieces handed down from my precious mother-in-law who is deceased.I would love to have more pieces.
Take in Lodge’s factory tour….amazing!
I have cast iron that belonged to my Grandmother and some from my mother. I use it daily, and not just for cornbread. There is nothing like cooking with a well seasoned cast iron pan. 🙂
There is no other way to make Tennessee cornbread, that’s for sure!
Love to make savory coffee bbq rubbed pork loin in my iron skillet. Nothing compares!
Love your magazine and would love to win the Lodge UT skillet! Our youngest of five graduates from UT on Dec. 14!
Wow! That Lodge Skillet would be great to have and use.
There’s nothing better than a steak done in a cast iron skillet. The texture and flavor is incredible.
Crossing my fingers!Love me some LODGE!
Your magazine is one of the highlights of my day when I find my copy in the daily mail.
Enjoyed this months magazine the recipes sound really delicious
Lodge cast iron skillets are awesome, my mom made the best milk gravy!
Fried chicken or anything else
Pork Chops smothered in mushroom gravy, the even temps of cast iron is unmatched.
Lodge cast iron skillets are great.
I love to make Shepherd’s Pie in cast iron.
Love these cast iron skillets!! Lodge put South Pittsburg on the map!!
Thx for the entry. I love my Lodge ci.
Thank you for the opportunity to win a new iron Skillet. Mine is in its third generation and still going strong. I’d love another one to pass along!
love the jalapeno cornbread recipe!!
Our family cooks together! Cast-iron is the best to cook with from the oven and or stove top. Meals stay warmer cooked in cast iron!
Each christmas I purchase the small cast-iron mini fry pans that have the brownies or cookie ingredients and give as gifts.
Loved the eight (8) hearty cast-iron recipes. I have used several.
Would Love to win the cast-iron Lodge Skillet! Bob Martin
My grandmother taught me how to make cornbread in a Lodge cast iron skillet.
Best way to make delicious cornbread!
Love all the cast iron recipes. Especially the small pecan pies. I do have my grandmother’s skillet. It’s well over 100 years old.