Very interesting article in Cooks Illustrated this month on cast iron skillets. They are revisiting the old-fashioned cast iron skillet as a kind of nonstick cookware in light of the health/environmental concerns of modern day nonstick skillet coatings.

They sampled various contemporary brands and even a 100-year-old WagnerWare pan. Their top pick is LodgeLogic, followed closely by...Camp Chef! Who knew that was a good brand? Anyway, their reasoning is: both the LodgeLogic & the Camp Chef are thick cast iron, which, they feel, works better for searing & frying. Those two brands heated evenly. They gave LodgeLogic the edge because they like the factory seasoning over DIY seasoning. The other brands tested (a new Wagner, Cajun something-or-other, Bayou Classic, Le Creuset enameled, & a new brand that's nickle coated) either didn't heat as evenly, were cramped, or the coating is prone to chipping off.

Their verdict regarding seasoned cast iron or nonstick: nonstick has the edge, but just barely.

The other interesting thing: they bought a 100 year-old WagnerWare pan to test. It was smoother, lighter & thinner than contemporary pans. Most forum posts I've read regard these as desirable traits: supposedly the old cast iron is a superior quality. But the Cooks Illustrated testers preferred the thick, rough contemporary pans. They think the thickness of the new pans do a better job of searing & frying.

There were other details. So if you're interested in getting a cast iron pan, the article is worth checking out.