Features:

  • Mini cast iron skillet has curved handle and intricate pour spout design for easy cooking, baking and serving (and just plain good lookin' too!)
  • Pre-seasoned 6.5-inch skillet is ready-to-use. Victoria cast iron cookware seasoned at high temperatures using 100% Non-GMO Flaxseed Oil for a natural easy-release seasoning that gets even better with time
  • Small cast iron skillet can be used for serving, cooking, baking, grilling, oven-to-table and more. Preseasoned multi-use skillet pan: Tapas Pan, appetizer dish, little pie skillet, dessert ramekin, dip bowl and more!
  • Victoria cast iron skillets include instructions on use and care to upkeep and improve seasoning with time. Usable in all kitchens: gas, electric, induction, oven, camping, grill etc
  • High quality commercial iron casting for durability and excellent heat retention. Made in Colombia using European cast iron machinery. Lifetime Warranty
Excellent design

When researching 12" iron skillets I read an "independent" review that had Lodge as No 1 and the Victoria a close second. I bought both and can compare them. The Lodge has thicker sides and is heavier. I'm not sure if this will really make any difference when cooking but makes the Victoria easier to handle. Speaking of handles, the reviewers also knocked the longer handle on the Victoria which was an error on their part. The handle is much longer than the Lodge handle which will make it better to use when cooking over a fire and moving it around. You don't pick up this pan from the long end of the handle. Slide your hand down by the pan the the handle has a perfect "V" shape and fits nicely in your hand and the weight will be much better balanced and much easier to pick up. The Victoria also has much bigger pour spouts....another plus. The Victoria also has a much smoother finish. This is important if you plan to use the pan "as is". I am going to sand both and re-cure them. You can't go wrong with either pan but I think the Victoria is a superior design and finish.

Five Stars

I have a lot of cast Iron skillets: Lodge; Wagner; Griswald. This is my "go to" skillet.

Glad I bought this pan

Glad I bought this pan. I have 10-1/2 Lodge Skillet and 10-1/2 Griddle but the 12” Lodge Skillet was too heavy (I tried lifting at a Walmart). This Victoria is about a pound lighter and the handle design makes it easier to manuver. The pan is getting plenty of use and is getting nicely seasoned for a good non-stick finish.

Great 12 and 10 inch Pans, Lighter than Lodge

It is a large, heavy pan. I always grind down the factory season coating and re-season new pans. The Victoria pans have the best fit and finish at the low end cast iron price range that I have seen. Almost no pitting on the surface. If you are worried about factory seasoning, it's easy to grind this pan down to bare metal and re-season (thin coat of Crisco shortening or flaxseed oil, up side down in oven at 400 degrees for 90 minutes). UPDATE: I FINALLY found a12 inch glass lid that fits perfectly. It is the CONCORD 12 inch heavy glass lid (bought on Amazon). Well made and a perfect fit (last two photos). My 12 inch Victoria weighs 6 lbs, 12 oz. My 12 inch Lodge weighs 7 lbs, 14 oz. So Victoria is a good pound lighter. One Note: The 10" and 12" pans are probably metric sizes rounded up. My American made 10" and 12" glass lids were slightly large. TIP: I went to my local Goodwill store with a ruler and found a Calphalon top that fit my 10 inch and a TFAL top that fit my 12 inch. $7 total.

Back to what lasts!!

Back to what lasts!! I am concerned about the non stick pans that have become disposable in my house ruining the environment. I have tried numerous non stick pans that work great for about 6 months and then need to be tossed in the trash because they lose their non stick ability, they get scratched or start flaking in the food. The cast iron product lasts forever, can take some abuse and the non-stick gets better over time. Also, there are some dishes that are just best made in cast iron..like fried chicken. I normally would have gone with the Lodge version because it is US made, but this one is a little lighter and has a better handle...different enough to go with Made in Columbia. Victoria has been around for decades and I think the quality is very good.

Best I ever owned.

I own just about every make of cast iron out there and this is the BEST piece I have ever used. Pretty well seasoned from the factory , nice smooth cooking surface . I love the longer curved handle and oversized pour spouts ( they actually pour the liquid not spill it out of the pan). This has quickly become my favorite piece of cast iron and will be buying more.

Worth the keep-up if you like to cook

My grandmother's cast iron skillet was about 50 years old and still going strong when she passed away. I can remember her lugging it around with a thick towel as the pot holders were not thick enough. Sometimes my grandpa would have to hoist it from the stove to the table for her. Once in a while she would lay a towel out on the counter and oil it up then bake it in the oven upside down for what seemed like forever. Then she would let it cool and store it on top of the stove, as it didn't fit anywhere else and left black marks on everything. For these reasons I have never owned one. I mean, what a pain in the rear. Well I have become addicted to those YouTube cooking shows and Tasty and all of them use cast iron skillets for some foods. I finally realized my food was not looking like theirs because of that darn skillet! So I did my research and purchased this one. It says pre-seasoned, but comes with instructions on how you "should" season it before use. So it sat on the counter for 2 weeks before I finally did what it said. I followed the instructions, seasoned it and finally used it 2 days later. The food was amazing. It was a chicken dish I had made before, and some how that darn skillet made all the difference in flavor, cooked evenly and faster and is all it's hyped up to be. You are not supposed to use any harsh abrasive pads or cleansers as this ruins the seasoning. I actually purchased a product called "the ringer" used for cleaning iron skillets. It did the trick, no soap needed. I dried it immediately with a towel after washing as instructed. Then I very lightly oiled it and set it on the stove as my grandma used to do. It does leave black marks if you put it on the counter or in a cupboard. It is just as heavy as my grandmother's was, but hers didn't have the front lip to help hoist it around. The dual sided pour spouts are an added bonus. It's amazing how much I WANT to keep this pan in good shape so I can use it forever. Still a pain in the rear, but so worth it.

Here's the scoop on that scary first seasoning process.

I just got the pan earlier today and decided to season it before first use. I washed it with warm water only, dried it, and put in on a stove burner on low for a few minutes to evaporate any moisture off the pan. I did not let it get too hot to handle. I set my oven to preheat 350 degrees. I used a paper towel to rub Spectrum High Heat Canola Oil all over the pan without using enough to come near to dripping. When the oven was hot, I put the pan in there and shut the door for an hour. I just opened the door, and there was no smoke at all. Hopefully the picture I included will show that. Now, the pan is too hot to pick up even with an oven mitten, so it's staying in here to cool with the oven off until it is safe to handle. The point is that this was easy, and there was no smoke. Soon my pan will be cool enough for its first use. Update: Just made enough beef and beans for seven burritos, five of which are in the freezer. The pan cleaned up with the sponge I use to clean my nonstick pan.

Holds its own against Lodge

I purchased the 10", 12" and 13" skillets. These are not the same poor quality of the many Chinese knock-offs that are flooding the market under brand names one might find in department stores. The quality I experienced with these products accurately reflects the rich 80-year history of the Columbian manufacturing company that makes them. In my experience, each of these skillets exhibited characteristics that are on par with AND in some aspects superior to the many Lodge cookware I own. I also would favorably compare them to the few Griswalds and Wagner's that I have. I would highly recommend them. Be aware that, like the Lodge products, the Victoria cookware has a rough texture to the surface. This does not reflect the quality of the metal like many inexperienced people would believe. The sand-casting is a cost-cutting procedure that omits machining or hand polishing the cooking surface of the skillet. This is why Lodge is so affordable compared to Fenix, Field, Butter Pat, and Stargazer cast iron skillets. Unfortunately, the process does like the sandpaper-like texture to the surface, however, this is easy remedied using several procedures. I find that simply cooking in them constantly remedies the problem. All of my Lodges and Victoria as slick as Teflon. Buy them. There is no doubt that they will outlast you.

Perfect pan! Will last a lifetime.

OK, I wanted a cast iron skillet because I was tired of buying non stick pans with bad for me coatings that flaked off. Cast iron pans are cheap but scary for a couple of reasons: seasoning and weight. So, after reading food blogs and ratings for weeks on the Internet, I decided Victoria was best for me because the factory seasoning was supposed to be better out of the box and the 12 inch pan was 1.1 pounds lighter than Lodge with a longer handle and a better helper handle. So I got a good deal for a few bucks more than Lodge and here are the results. (1) SEASONING. Even though the factory seasoning is supposed to be good, everything I read said you must enhance it for the best performance. I enhanced the seasoned by heating it on the stove, wiping it all over with Cisco (if it was good enough for Grandma, good enough for me), and placing it upside down in an oven at 500 degrees for one hour, let it cool in the oven, and wipe off excess, if any. I did this 4 times. Some people recommend 6 seasonings but the pan had gotten really dark and black after 4 so I called it quits. Every time I use the pan I wash it out with water and a scrub brush (no soap), put in on the stove over medium heat to dry, wipe all over with Crisco, let it set to cool off a bit, and then wipe off excess. Avoid using paper towels when seasoning because they leave little bits of paper behind and that is not something I want included in my seasoning. Use a lint free towel instead. After only six weeks, I am thrilled that my eggs (using a pat off butter) slip around this thing better than my non stick pans and they cook more evenly. (2) WEIGHT. I have some arthritis issues in my hands and back. Was I crazy for getting a 6.6 pound frying pan? I sure as heck wasn't going to be tossing stir fry or flipping omelettes in this baby. But with that extra long handle and the nicely designed helper handle, I can move this around pretty well. You always have to use oven mitts because the handles gets screaming hot but still it isn't hard to hold onto. I can brown a nice pork loin roast with rub on all sides in the pan, remove, thrown in some root vegetables and onions and toss in oil, put the roast back in, throw in the oven at 350 degrees until roast is 145 degrees ( about an hour) and have a great one pot dinner with fabulously carmelized vegetables without killing my back. The frying pan is lighter than a cast iron dutch oven. Have you tried cast iron pizza? It is the crispiest pizza crust I have ever eaten. Corn bread? Yum. BOTTOM LINE. A cast iron pan is incredibly versatile. My Victoria 12 inch cast iron frying pan is well-designed, lighter-weight, incredibly well-seasoned after only 6 weeks. It is an amazing value that I expect to last the rest of my life. I am having a heck of a lot of fun discovering a new way of cooking. Although there is a new rule in my house, no one touches my cast iron but me!

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