Le Creuset Iron Skillet Pans

The Le Creuset Skillet is one of the pans we sell the most in the store. As you know, at Claudia&Julia we are historically great specialists in iron utensils, and we want to answer the most common questions about one of the most iconic pieces of Le Creuset, the skillet pan. In addition, we hope to tell you why we are great lovers of this pan, which is as versatile as it is beautiful and durable.

In this post you will see:

1. What is a skillet pan
2. Benefits of the skillet pan
3. What you can cook in a skillet
4. How to cook with the skillet pan
5. How to clean and maintain your skillet
6. Skillet recipes

1. What is a skillet?

The Le Creuset skillet is a cast iron pan , made in one piece and vitrified. Thus, it is a purely iron pan, it is a pan without non-stick coating and 100% natural.

Its most characteristic feature is its shape: it is not completely round, but its sides have pouring spouts that make it very characteristic (and help you pour sauces or liquids when you want).

Another key feature, and something you can't say about other pans, is that it has a lifetime guarantee - yes, a skillet will last you a lifetime in the kitchen.

Being made of cast iron, it is both fire and oven safe (in fact, you can even put it on the barbecue or fireplace if you want), making it a very versatile piece.

Its vitrified interior (thousands of glass particles injected into the cast iron) gives the skillet two great benefits:

• Protects it from rust (unlike other iron pans, the skillet does not rust).
• It helps prevent food from sticking as it does in an unglazed iron or steel pan, without the need for seasoning.

The skillet, a unique piece

This is a skillet made of cast iron. What does that mean? The iron in a liquid state and with the precise amount of iron , is poured into a unique sand mold that has the shape we want to give to the pan, and it is left to cool. Once cold, the mold is destroyed, thus obtaining the skillet.

This is a process that requires working in a foundry, at temperatures reaching over 1000 ºC, and very delicate handling. A skillet is a piece resulting from a unique mould - whoever has a skillet has a unique piece, which makes skillets a special and highly valuable utensil.

The traditional skillet and the tall skillet

Following the success and spread of the traditional skillet, Le Creuset launched the tall skillet . The only difference between the standard skillet (the traditional one) and the tall skillet is the height of the walls. Nothing else changes (and the weight, given that with the same diameter of pan, the tall one is somewhat heavier), and some uses you can give it: in a tall skillet you can also make cakes (in a short one only brownies), given that you will have height for that, or it is more advisable for risottos and rice, given that you will appreciate the height to add the broth or water.

2. Benefits of the skillet pan

Due to its nature, purely vitrified iron, and thanks to its shape and thickness, the skillet pan offers us great benefits, both for the kitchen and for our pocket and our health:

• It is a 100% natural pan , without non-stick coatings.
• Being made of pure iron, the cooking result is 100% natural, you get the most authentic and pure flavors in all your recipes.
• You roast, not boil: iron reaches such a high temperature that it evaporates the juices released by the food, and you can really roast (in a non-stick pan, due to its materials, you will never reach the same temperature that iron reaches, and the juices stay in the pan, which makes the meat boil, not sealed or roasted).
• It doesn't scratch and is perfect for taking to the table: since it's made of vitrified iron, you can cut what you've prepared directly on it, and it's so pretty that it looks gorgeous on the table.
• No more replacing pans: a skillet is a great investment , Because it will last forever, and it does not have non-stick coatings that can lose their quality, it is a piece that will be passed down from generation to generation. There is nothing about it that you can damage, so you won't be buying a frying pan every so often: you buy it once and you have it for life.
• Due to its thickness, it does not deform , and also due to its thick construction, it distributes the temperature very well and maintains it - your recipes are cooked evenly and once finished they stay hot for a long time after turning off the heat or bringing it to the table.
• Since iron is such a good conductor of heat, you need less energy to cook, with the consequent energy savings.
• It does not rust and does not require seasoning: thanks to its vitrification, and unlike pans made from iron plates, skillets do not rust*, do not require seasoning (the vitrification already provides this) and it is easier to cook in them than in other iron or stainless steel pans, because it gives them a certain non-stick capacity.
• Vitrification helps prevent food from acquiring an iron taste and we can cook with acidic foods such as wine or tomato (or even leave it to marinate), which will not rust (something that can happen in pans made from iron plates).
• It is an all-rounder: you can use it on the fire or in the oven, or you can cook over embers, in the fireplace or on the barbecue. It is a piece of iron, you need more than 1000 ºC to melt it again, so you can rest assured that you can cook with it normally at home or outdoors.
• It is extremely versatile: from sautéing vegetables to grilling, preparing rice, frying, using it for your meats or roasted vegetables, baking a pizza or empanadas without oil, baking a cookie or making bread. It is a piece with which you can cook on a low heat or put it on maximum power for a perfect seal.

Note: The skillet is a thick cast iron pan, making it a heavy pan . If it is for an elderly person or someone with weak hands, it will not be the most recommended pan (especially in the larger sizes, since the larger the diameter, the heavier).

3. What can you cook in a skillet?

A cast iron pan is a great investment, not only because it will last forever in the kitchen, but because it is truly versatile: you can cook over low heat or grill or roast at full power, and you can cook on the stove or in the oven. Some ideas to show you how versatile it is:

3.1. Ideas for cooking with the skillet on the stove:

• To sauté vegetables
• For frying (it is perfect for this, since the iron gets very hot)
• For grilling: you will achieve a perfect sear for your juiciest meats, and you will see that grilling on a piece of iron is unmatched. Also for grilling salmon, tuna and other oily fish, or for cooking prawns, the result is spectacular.
• For rice dishes: whether paellas or risottos (ideally in the tall skillet), you can make the most natural and delicious rice dishes.
• To make melted cheese in an instant, flavoured with some herbs... And now for the bread!
• To caramelize dried fruit or make fresh fruit coulis
• To prepare sauces.

3.2. Ideas for using the skillet in the oven:

• To roast meat and fish in the oven: place your meat in the skillet, season with salt and pepper, pour in a good splash of oil and let the oven do all the work. Like cooking in a cocotte, roasting in the skillet offers excellent results.
• To grill meat, like a barbecue: you can put your sausages, chicken, pieces of beef and other things in the skillet and put it on the grill, in the oven. Without using oil, you will get delicious results.
• To roast vegetables: from carrots to asparagus or potatoes, place your vegetables whole or cut into pieces in the skillet and into the oven, accompanying meats and fish or on their own. They are delicious!
• To make baked eggs (without any oil and with the sauce or accompaniment of your choice).
• For fritattas: prepare the mixture and pour it into the skillet to set. You will get a perfect result and an unbeatable presentation on the table.
• Baking puff pastries and shortcrust pastries: whether you are making savoury or sweet tarts, place the dough in the pan (with or without baking paper, depending on your preference), add the filling you like and bake.
• To make pizza: arrange the dough and season to taste. Whether you're making a vegetable pizza dough (such as cauliflower dough) or bread dough, you'll get an excellent baked pizza crust.
• For gratinating: whether you are placing lasagna, cannelloni, vegetables or cod fillets in it, you can put it in the oven to gratinate your recipes.
• To make XL cookies or traditional cookies.
• For brownies and cakes (the latter in the tall skillet).

4. How to cook in a Le Creuset skillet

1. The skillet pan does not require any seasoning , so when you receive it at home you just have to wash it with a soft sponge and soap, dry it and it is ready to cook.
2. It is advisable to always heat it over a low heat (like all pans), to allow the iron to distribute the heat well (if you put the heat on high, you will be heating up the central part of the pan a lot, but the sides will be cold). Give it time to heat up the whole pan. Once it is hot, if you want to grill or cook something at a higher heat, you can then turn up the heat.
3. Iron gets very hot, so keeping it at a low or medium temperature is usually enough: if you have the skillet on direct heat at maximum, you will easily burn the food on the outside, without having been able to cook it in the center.
4. You can turn up the heat to maximum when you put the food in to grill or fry (to bring the temperature of the pan back up to the maximum that is needed for this type of cooking techniques, since when you put the food in the pan the temperature inevitably drops); but remember to lower the heat again when you see that the temperature has returned.
5. Apply a little more oil than usual the first few times you use it. This will help prevent food that might tend to stick.
6. With use and the oils used in cooking, the pores that are invisible to the naked eye on the surface of the pan are filled in, creating a patina that makes cooking in it easier and easier.
7. Place food at room temperature. If you are cooking food that you have in the fridge, let it cool down for half an hour before cooking. This way, you will not lower the temperature of the skillet as much and the heat will reach the centre of the food more quickly, cooking it better.
8. To cook meat, oily fish or prawns on the grill , it is best to heat the pan to a medium temperature. Once it is hot, raise the temperature until it reaches the optimum point. Add a few drops of oil, cook the meat on both sides or to taste. It is advisable to add salt at the end (and preferably salt flakes).
9. Remember when grilling meat that the iron first grabs and then releases: if you are grilling and you are going to turn the meat but you see that it is very stuck, it is because that side is not yet cooked, it is not sealed. Do not force it because you will tear the meat: wait a couple more minutes and try again. When the meat is sealed on one side, you can easily turn it with tongs, and then grill the second side.
10. If you're baking cake or cookie dough , simply apply a little butter with kitchen paper or release spray to the entire inside surface. If you prefer, or if you don't want to have to clean the pan afterwards, you can place a baking paper in it instead and place the dough inside. After cooking, you'll see that the skillet is spotless.
11. The skillet gets very hot. Always handle it with a cloth or pad, and if it is hot, place it on the table with a trivet so as not to burn the tablecloth.
12. You can safely use it in the oven , up to 300ºC if you want and more, and nothing will happen to it.
13. There's nothing like a skillet for cooking on induction hobs : Be careful! Don't set it to maximum power on induction because it will get very hot and you will burn the food.
14. You can cut meats and cakes or other things directly on it, you won't damage it.

5. How to clean a skillet and how to maintain it

In general, you can clean the skillet with a sponge and dish soap. Always do it by hand and keep the following in mind:

• Allow to cool for a few minutes before washing the pan. Keep in mind that sudden changes in temperature can damage the enamel coating, so never immerse a hot product in cold water.
• Clean with a sponge and a little soap.
• Once clean, dry with a cotton cloth and store until next use.
• If there are any stubborn food residues, soak the pan in hot water and soap for a few minutes - you'll see how easy it is to clean. If you need to "scrape", always do so with a soft scouring pad (blue or green, not an aluminium sponge).
• If there is any residue left on the surface, fill it with hot water and a few drops of soap, and let it soak for 15 or 20 minutes. Then, clean it with a sponge (they come out spotless and there is no need to scrape with a scouring pad).
• If you have had the food on the stove for too long or too intensely, and there are burnt remains stuck to the Skillet , we recommend that you fill it halfway with water, add a little soap and heat it on a medium-low heat. You will see how all the burnt remains come off and you can recover the pan without any problems, cleaning it afterwards with soap and water. If necessary, add a few drops of vinegar.
• To maintain a flawless shine or if you want to clean encrusted residue, you can use Le Creuset Pots&Pans skillet and cocotte cleaner . It removes small black and white stains resulting from some juices, and brings out the shine of the enamel.
• The only area where a rust speck is likely to appear is on the top edge (the upper perimeter line). It is rare for this to happen, or it is not noticeable, but if you need to clean it, you can do so by simply wiping it with a kitchen paper with a little oil on it. If not, wiping the edge with a scouring pad will also help to remove it.

6. Recipes in Skillet

We have been making recipes in the skillet for a long, long time to show you its many uses. Here you will find more than 80 skillet recipes from our blog.

Some of the recipes that have always been most successful are:

1. Baked eggs with ratatouille
2. Rice with lamb
3. Artichoke and ham frittata
4. Tuscan Salmon
5. Pork tenderloin with orange glaze
6. Pizza with tomatoes, anchovies, Idiazabal cheese, parmesan and arugula
7. The provoletta
8. Cantonese chicken
9. Strawberry and rhubarb cobbler
10. Nutella Brownie

As you can see, we have a wide variety of recipes, and many more that you can make in your skillet!

I hope you find all these tips useful and that you enjoy your Skillet pan , one of the best investments in any kitchen.