5 Things to Know Before Buying Enameled Cast Iron Frying Pan

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When it comes to cooking with cast iron, there&#;s no better cookware. Whether a Dutch oven, skillet, pot or pan, cast iron is always what I reach for. And enameled cast iron comes with some great benefits. Let&#;s dive deeper into what makes enameled cast iron so great and why you might want to invest in these generational pieces for yourself (and your future family).

Why I Love Enameled Cast Iron

I have a piece of enameled cast iron that&#;s almost as old as I am (pictured above). No need to know how old that is! Though that pot has been well-loved, it still has at least one more generation of use.

Though I love my Stargazer cast iron skillet (it lives on the stove because I use it so often), I do love my enameled pieces because of the benefits they have in the kitchen.

Check out these posts if you want to learn more about how to choose the best traditional cast iron, stripping and re-seasoning a cast iron pan, how to properly clean and maintain the seasoning of a cast iron pan, and even how to cook scrambled eggs in a cast iron pan (so they don&#;t stick).

But if you&#;re reading this post, you&#;re probably in the market for enameled cast iron. So let&#;s get right into the benefits&#;

What Is Enameled Cast Iron?

Simply put, enameled cast iron is cast iron that&#;s been coated with a thin layer of enamel. This glass-like enamel surface creates a smooth, non-porous and non-reactive cooking surface.

Five Benefits of Enameled Cast Iron

1. Doesn&#;t Require Seasoning

This is perhaps one of the biggest benefits of enameled cast iron. Seasoning cast iron can be time-consuming; if you mess up the seasoning, stripping and re-seasoning is a hassle.

The enamel coating on the inside of the pot (and lid) acts like a seasoning that lasts generations. There are exceptions, but check out my tips below on properly caring for and cooking in enameled cast iron.

2. Cook Acidic and Alkaline Foods

Because of the enamel coating on the inside of the pot, you can cook virtually anything. No need to worry about damaging your seasoning with long-simmering acidic foods or tomato-based products.

3. Will Not Rust

Unlike traditional cast iron, enameled cast iron will not rust! (Be sure to read the one caveat below.)

Furthermore, you can soak an enameled pot or pan in hot soapy water without fear of ruining the precious seasoning. This makes cleaning off any stuck-on food much easier.

4. Extremely Versatile

Enameled cast iron comes in so many shapes, sizes and colors to choose from. Furthermore, you can bake, boil, broil, saute, marinate, roast, and even refrigerate foods.

5. Will Last Generations

As mentioned, I&#;ve had one enameled Dutch oven for decades. It&#;s well-loved, and the enamel coating doesn&#;t look quite as pretty anymore, but the years of use and love give it incredible charm and character.

Enameled Cast Iron vs. Cast Iron

Though there are many benefits to enameled cast iron pans, there are some features that make traditional cast iron pans more appealing, and vice-versa.

Seasoning

Cast iron pans do need to be seasoned prior to use (even those that come &#;pre-seasoned&#; usually need additional seasoning to make them truly non-stick). However, once a cast iron pan is well seasoned, it&#;s virtually non-stick and can cook foods with ease.

Enameled cast iron does not require any seasoning at all!

Non-Stick

Traditional cast iron can become extremely non-stick once properly seasoned. Enameled cast iron, however, is not non-stick, and you will need to grease or oil it to avoid sticking.

Some food may stick to the pan if you cook on it without oil or cook at high heat. Therefore, traditional cast iron pans work better for foods that need to be cooked at higher heat.

Dishwasher Safe

Enameled cast iron is listed as dishwasher safe. Though I don&#;t use the dishwasher myself and wouldn&#;t recommend it, it is worth mentioning as a difference.

If you&#;ve ever had your traditional cast iron accidentally go through the dishwasher, you know what a rusty mess comes out on the other side. This won&#;t happen if your enameled pans accidentally get run through the dishwasher.

Damage

Unlike traditional cast iron pans, enameled cast iron can be damaged. Make sure you don&#;t drop them or bang them together, as the enamel coating can chip. This exposes the cast iron below which can then rust. Also, be careful when stacking pots or pans together.

Though it&#;s not super delicate, you do want to avoid banging or dropping your pans as this can cause damage or chipping. You also should only use wooden, silicone or nylon utensils that won&#;t scratch the enamel coating.

Cooking Heat

Traditional cast iron can be preheated to screaming hot and can cook or sear your food very well. With enameled cast iron, you&#;ll want to avoid high heat on an empty pan or raising the temperature too quickly because this can cause permanent damage.

Types of Enameled Cast Iron Pans

Enameled cast iron comes in all different shapes, sizes and colors for you to choose from. There&#;s virtually a pot or pan for every need in the kitchen. Be sure to choose the right pot or pan for the job for the best results.

Lodge Enameled Cast Iron

Lodge cast iron is inexpensive compared to other brands. They have a nice range of color options and many pieces to choose from.

Lodge is a bit heavier than the fancier, more expensive options, but it&#;s a great solid piece of cooking equipment.

The downside to Lodge is that they&#;re all made in China. You can also find some off-name brands which are made in China, so if you&#;re ordering somewhere like Amazon, do know that the quality can vary quite a bit, so it&#;s my recommendation to keep with the name brands.

Staub and Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron

The spendier options for enameled cast iron are going to be your Staub and Le Creuset brands. These are made in France but do be prepared that they&#;re much more expensive.

So are they worth the extra cost? In my opinion, you&#;re getting a higher quality product that doesn&#;t weigh quite as much, and you can rest assured you&#;ll get what you pay for.

I have both Lodge and Le Creuset and they both perform extremely well in the kitchen. One does not out-perform the other, so it&#;s my recommendation to purchase what you can afford.

How to Clean Enameled Cast Iron

Everyday Cleaning

Before washing enameled cast iron, make sure it&#;s completely cooled down, then wash it with warm soapy water and dry completely.

Though most enameled cast iron dishes say they&#;re dishwasher safe, I wouldn&#;t recommend using the dishwasher as many detergents are very harsh and could reduce the longevity of the enamel coating.

Avoiding Rust

The benefit of using enameled cast iron is they&#;re less prone to rust. However, the rim of the pot or pan and the rim of the lid can rust. This is why it&#;s extremely important to completely dry your pans after washing to ensure these portions of the cooking vessel don&#;t rust.

Every so often, it&#;s a good idea to oil the rims of the lid and vessel to keep it conditioned and protected.

Cleaning Stuck On Food

If you find that after cooking you have some stuck-on food that&#;s hard to clean, it may be that you cooked at too high of a temperature. To help release the stuck-on food, boil two cups of water and four tablespoons of baking soda in the pot or pan. Use a wooden spatula to help release the stuck-on food, then wash and dry as normal.

Cleaning Stains

After multiple uses you may notice some staining and signs of wear on the enamel. This is completely normal and doesn&#;t affect the performance (and I think it adds a ton of character).

If you really don&#;t like the look of it, you can use a gentle ceramic cleaner, such as Barkeeper&#;s Friend.

Homesteading Hack: Never use something like a brillo pad or steel wool.

How to Cook with Enameled Cast Iron

As mentioned before, you can broil, boil, bake, cook, saute, braise, and pretty much anything else with your enameled cast iron cookware. They come in various shapes and sizes, from small little saute pans all the way up to large Dutch ovens that you can bake a chicken in.

Pre-Heat Slowly and on Low Heat

Unlike traditional cast iron, you don&#;t want to preheat enamel cast iron too hot, too fast, because this can damage the enamel coating.

Instead, turn the burner or heat source on low to medium-low heat, add cooking oil (if needed) and slowly bring it to temperature.

Enameled cast iron Dutch ovens make an excellent option for baking bread. Since you place the enameled cast iron into the oven when it&#;s cold, the oven slowly heats the pan making it safe to use for bread baking.

Enameled cast iron will last for generations if you take good care of it and use it well. It will be a wonderful asset in your kitchen, but another option is to use traditional cast iron. Be sure to check out our other resources on the blog posts below.

More Posts You May Enjoy

Enameled Cast Iron Skillet Specs Skillet Weight  Helper Handle?  Max Heat Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Signature Skillet 5 lbs, 6 oz Yes 500°F Staub Cast Iron 12-inch Fry Pan 4 lbs, 15 oz Yes 900°F Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Skillet 6 lbs, 13oz Yes 500°F Tramontina Covered Skillet Enameled Cast Iron 5 lbs, 13 oz Yes 450°F KitchenAid Enameled Cast Iron Frying Pan 8 lbs, 11 oz Yes, but small 500°F Crock Pot Artisan Cast Iron Skillet, 12 Inch 6 lbs, 5 oz Yes 500°F Great Jones King Sear Skillet 9 lbs Yes 500°F Our Place Cast Iron Always Pan 6.9 lbs Yes 500°F without lid, 425°F with it

How Nonstick Should an Enameled Cast Iron Skillet Actually Be?

The truth is that enameled cast iron isn't *technically* nonstick, so if you treat it like a PTFE- or ceramic-coated skillet, you'll end up with a bunch of crusted-on eggs. The enamel does help the pan release the food a little more easily than uncoated cast iron, but if you don't add any fat and don't heat the pan properly, you will get stickage.

The Criteria: What to Look for in an Enameled Cast Iron Skillet

Serious Eats / Taylor Murray / Grace Kelly

There are huge differences in price with enameled cast iron. Generally speaking, the more expensive the pan was (and if it was from a legacy brand like Staub or Le Creuset), the better it performed. This is because the craftsmanship and quality control of these brands are very meticulous (as we've found when we tested Dutch ovens). We also found that, generally, matte black enamel on the interior is preferable since it&#;s less prone to staining.

The presence or lack of a helper handle isn&#;t that big of a deal unless you are dealing with pans that weigh more than eight pounds. Any less than that, and the average home cook should be able to lift or pour from the pan one-handed without issue. That being said, if it does have a helper handle, it should be big enough to easily grasp with a thick kitchen towel in hand. The main handle should also be large enough to grab with two hands. Regarding pour spouts: The best are larger and deeper; shallower ones tend to dribble.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Enamel Coated Cast Iron Skillet.

When it comes to weight, lighter skillets were easier to lift and carry and also tended to heat up faster (which makes sense, because less material to heat means less time to reach a consistent temperature). We also preferred skillets with gently flared which resulted in better browning and less sticking when baking cornbread.

Our Top-Rated Enameled Cast Iron Skillets

What we liked: This skillet heated up to high temps evenly across its surface, seared steaks beautifully, and perfectly cooked over-easy eggs. We liked the rounded handle, which was easy to grasp, and the curved sides and spacious surface that allowed for steam to escape and also made it easy to use a spatula in the skillet.

What we didn't like: This pan is heavier than the Staub, so it took longer to heat up. But once it did, it retained its heat beautifully across the cooking surface. We've also had some issues with foods sticking here and there in our long-term testing.

Key Specs

• Weight: 5 pounds, 6 ounces
• Diameter: 10.25 inches
• Cooking surface diameter: 8.5 inches
• Max heat: 500°F
• Care instructions: Dishwasher-safe
• Induction compatible: Yes

Serious Eats / Taylor Murray

What we liked: When we conducted our heat absorption and retention test, this skillet reached the highest temperature the fastest and was the most consistent from center to edge. This was reflected when we cooked in it as well&#;the eggs and steak cooked evenly (and they didn&#;t stick). The smooth, curved sides whisked away steam before it had a chance to interfere with browning and made it easier to turn and remove food with a spatula.

Another great aspect of the Staub skillet is that the maximum heat rating is 900°F, about 400 degrees higher than any other pan in our lineup. While most home ovens don&#;t get that hot, you could roast vegetables in a pizza oven with this skillet with no problem. The pan is also (amazingly) dishwasher-safe, though hand washing was very easy; we hardly needed to scrub it at all due to the slick enamel coating. 

What we didn&#;t like: While the Staub skillet did well in our cornbread test, we did notice some very slight uneven cooking. Also, the helper handle is quite small; if it was a bit bigger, it would be even more useful. 

Key Specs

• Weight: 4 pounds, 15 ounces
• Diameter: 10 inches
• Cooking surface diameter: 8.25 inches
• Max heat: 900°F
• Care instructions: Dishwasher-safe (though we'd recommend hand-washing to preserve its longevity)
• Induction compatible: Yes

Serious Eats / Taylor Murray

What we liked: The Crock-Pot brand is a household name for its eponymous slow cooker, but its cookware line is equally solid. While other enameled cast iron skillets easily cost a couple of hundred dollars, the Crock-Pot skillet will set you back $36 (at the time of writing). It produced great results during the egg and steak tests, and even the cornbread had nice, even browning on the bottom.

While the enamel isn&#;t totally nonstick (we had some issues with the cornbread), fried eggs and seared steak came off easily. We expected the white enamel interior to stain or discolor after testing, but no residue remained post-cleaning. The handles are comfortable to hold, and maneuvering the pan is just as easy with one hand as it is with two due to the pan's light weight.

What we didn&#;t like: The white enamel interior requires a bit more elbow grease when cleaning to get back to pure white&#;it's remained stained throughout long-term testing. The cornbread got a bit stuck in it when we tried to turn it out (though it did brown nicely and evenly on the bottom). The high sides had a hard right angle from the bottom, which made it difficult to use an offset spatula to help release the cornbread. This pan is also not dishwasher-safe.

Key Specs

• Weight: 6 pounds, 5 ounces
• Diameter: 10 inches
• Cooking surface diameter: 8.25 inches
• Max heat: 500°F
• Care instructions: Hand wash
• Induction compatible: Yes

Serious Eats / Taylor Murray

The Competition

• Great Jones King Sear Skillet: While we liked the broad cooking surface of this skillet (it&#;s good for serving larger groups), the cornbread and eggs both stuck to the bottom of the pan. The handle was also too short to hold with two hands, but also too heavy to hold with just one. 
• KitchenAid Enameled Cast Iron Frying Pan: Large, bulky, and awkward to hold, this skillet didn&#;t do very well in any of our tests. It also had temperatures that were all over the place during our heat absorption test. 
• Tramontina Covered Skillet Enameled Cast Iron: The Tramontina skillet was deep with tall, high sides that trapped steam and prevented caramelization during searing. 
• Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Skillet: Even though the Lodge skillet fried a couple of perfect over-easy eggs, we had to disqualify it for its low heat absorption which led to a poorly seared steak.
• Our Place Cast Iron Always Pan: While we liked the accessories that came with it (the glass lid, wooden spoon, and silicone handle covers), they didn&#;t make up for overall poor cooking performance. The high sides trapped steam, interfering with browning and caramelization, and the enamel interior wasn&#;t as nonstick as other pans; the cornbread stuck to it and emerged unevenly browned.
  

FAQs

Which is better&#;cast iron or enameled cast iron?

The short answer is neither&#;and both! To be sure, both are great non-toxic cookware. Cast iron is undoubtedly more durable and would be the better choice for cooking over an open fire or for projects where you plan to use extremely high temperatures. The seasoning on a cast iron pan can eventually become completely nonstick, whereas enameled cast iron will remain unchanged over time. Enameled cast iron is also more suited for recipes high in acid (which could damage uncoated cast iron) or for situations that would benefit from a more even distribution of heat.

Is there anything you can&#;t cook in an enameled cast iron skillet?

There's not much that can't be cooked in an enameled cast iron skillet. Pan pizzas, roasted chicken, and even baking recipes all work well in enameled cast iron. Super-delicate items (like crepes, for example) would benefit from a slicker, more nonstick surface than enameled cast iron.

Can you put an enameled cast iron skillet in the oven?

You can absolutely put enameled cast iron in the oven, and some pans can tolerate up to 900°F (though most max out at 500°F). Just make sure to check the manufacturer's care instructions beforehand, which should state your pan's oven-safe temperature.

Can you use enameled cast iron on an induction burner?

All of the enameled cast iron pans we tested were compatible with induction burners, as well as gas and electric. Anything made from cast iron will work with induction.

Do you have to season enameled cast iron?

No, you don't have to season enameled cast iron. Because of their enamel coating, these pans are ready to go right out of the box.

Why We're the Experts

• Taylor Murray is a chef and recipe tester and has worked in fine dining. She's tested and written many equipment reviews for Serious Eats, including food dehydrators and vacuum sealers.
• For this review, we tested eight enameled cast iron skillets, using them to fry eggs, bake cornbread, and cook steak. We also evaluated their usability and cleanup.