I'm a huge fan of the cast iron skillet. I personally think that Teflon and other nonstilck surfaces should be banned.

Every serious cook needs a cast iron pan. Nothing is better for all around cooking -- the even heat distribution is key.

Keeping the pan seasoned used to be my primary concern, until I watched Alton Brown keep his seasoned by rinsing with water and then scrubbing the pan with a paper towel and putting a little olive oil and quite a bit of kosher salt in it. The salt scrubs the pan and the oil seals it.

Lodge Cast Iron Skillets along with all the other items I have in my collection of Lodge Cookware. The more I use the Cast Iron, the more I love it! Its no surprise to me that nonstick coatings are not needed, and the Cast Iron is easy to maintain, just a force of habit to do so. I'm hooked for life and would recommend any of Lodge Cast Iron pieces. However I must ad that I own none of the Enameled Cookware since it comes in from China. USA made is a rare find in todays market, so there I invested in the Cast Iron by Lodge, all others are imports!

Reasons I love Lodge Cast Iron Cookware:
Consistent temperature.
Lodge Cast Iron gets Hot and stays consistently Hot! If you like to sear foods when cooking nothing does it better then cast-iron. Try some extra large bacon wrapped scallops seared to perfection. I love the sound of fajitas served up
Old School.
Cast Iron cooking is old cooking even with all the changes in cooking
technology it remains one of the best cooking methods.
Homemade
Cast Iron cooking brings out the Home in Homemade. Make some cornbread in a Pyrex dish then
make some in a Lodge cast iron cornbread skillet.You be the judge of what taste better.
Heirloom.
Lodge Cast Iron Cookware is a generational heirloom. My grandmother gave me Lodge skillet that I remember she used to make cornbread in 30 years ago.
Character.
You could serve up a chili in a pot but when you serve it up in a Lodge Cast Iron Dutch oven it adds real character to the dish.
Wonder.
I have a cast iron skillet from the 1800 and every time I cook with it I wonder what was cooked on it some 200 years ago. I think about the early settlers coming to American. I think about early Thanks Giving meals. I think about my grandmother.
Camping.
I go camping a lot and there is nothing better then sitting around the fire slow cooking chicken gumbo in a Lodge camp Dutch overhanging over an oven fire. In the morning, I love to wake up to a cup of coffee just pored from a coffee percolator heated on an open fire. Sit around the fire and listen to the sound of bacon sizzling in my Square Lodge cast iron skillet. Camping would not be the same without my morning camping ritual with my Lodge skillet.
Care.
With most cookware, when your finished you throw it in a dishwasher and your done. Because of the seasoning ritual you do with cast iron cookware, you build a bond with your cookware. It needs you to take care if it. It becomes more then a cooking pan. It becomes part of your family "Your family dish".
Heavy.
Yes it is. When you bring it out of the cabinet it says your serious about the quality of the meal you're making. Any old pan won't do. Everything must be right. Including what you're cooking on.
Football.
I have a chicken frying pan that I take tailgating to UT football games. Everybody loves my spicy chicken wings. I fry up about 10 pounds of them at the game. In the off season when my friends come over to my house and see my fry pan we start talking football and look forward to the next game, the next tailgate party.
Collectable.
I collect baseball caps, Case Knifes, fly fishing lures, and Cast Iron cookware.
Thanks,
Don
http://www.allamericangeneralstore.com/Lodge-Cast-Iron-Cookware-Promotion_c_3200.html (via Don Boyd)

Lodge is the ultimate in cast-iron manufacturing. The great part about lodge cookware is that if you take care of it and keep it seasoned, it will last until infinity.

Personally, I don't buy the pre-seasoned items. I know they're just as good, but I'm a purist and I like to do the seasoning myself. I think a good season comes from years of bacon cooking.

If you treat this tool right, it will last for generations. The perfect gift for your purist.

I love these pans! i have the little baby 6" pan and the huge 12" chicken fryer! The heat disperses better than anything else on my electric stove and cleaning them is so easy, just a scrub. also, nothing makes a better fried egg. seriously. oh, and you can put them in the oven too! im getting the griddle next.

Fajitas, Meats, Vegetables... Pancakes, Hash Browns... Soup, whatever.

You need a cast iron skillet. I keep one in my trunk just in case im out somewhere and need it. You should too.