What Smithey publishes
Smithey lists two round skillets in the size range most people shop: the No. 10 and the No. 12. Both are described as US made, both carry the polished interior the brand is known for, and both arrive pre-seasoned with what Smithey states is two to three coats of pure grapeseed oil. Here is the maker’s own spec table, read on August 13, 2026.
Smithey's published figures for its two round skillets. Prices are the maker's own list price on the date shown, not a live retail price — we only quote live numbers for the Amazon products above.| | Smithey No. 10 | Smithey No. 12 |
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| Top diameter | 10 in. | 12 in. |
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| Flat cooking surface | 9 in — published. | 10.5 in — published. |
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| Depth | 2.0 in. | 2.2 in. |
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| Published weight | +/- 6.7 lb. | +/- 8.7 lb. |
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| Made in | USA. | USA. |
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| Factory seasoning | 2-3 coats of pure grapeseed oil. | 2-3 coats of pure grapeseed oil. |
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| Listed price | $180 on smithey.com, August 13, 2026. | $220 on smithey.com, August 13, 2026. |
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Note what is not missing. Smithey states the flat cooking surface for both pans. Stargazer does not publish that figure for either size. Lodge does not publish it for the classic skillets. On the one specification that decides whether four chicken thighs brown or steam, Smithey is one of the few makers that tells you before you spend. That is worth saying plainly, because we spend a lot of this site complaining about the opposite.
The cooking surface is genuinely the best here
Cast iron is sold by the rim, and the sides flare, so the flat area you can actually get food onto is always smaller than the number on the box. Our skillet sizes guide works through that arithmetic across every common size. On a 12-inch pan, the gap between makers is larger than people expect.
Smithey’s No. 12 publishes 10.5 inches of flat surface inside a 12-inch rim. Stargazer’s 12-inch publishes 9.4 inches inside the same 12-inch rim. Lancaster’s No. 10, the previous leader on this site, publishes 10 inches inside an 11.6-inch rim. Run those through the area of a circle and the No. 12 gives you roughly 87 square inches of flat iron against about 69 for the Stargazer — about a quarter more usable pan for the same footprint on the hob. That arithmetic is ours; the diameters behind it are the makers’ own.
If you sear for four people regularly, that is the most substantive difference in this whole comparison, and it is the one argument for a Smithey that does not reduce to taste.
The weight, which nobody mentions
The story everyone tells about modern American foundries is that they cast thinner than Lodge, so their pans are lighter. It is true of Field (about 4.5 lb), true of Stargazer (5.2 lb for the 10.5-inch), true of Lancaster (6 lb for an 11.6-inch pan), and emphatically not true of Smithey.
The No. 12 publishes 8.7 lb. A classic 12-inch Lodge is 7.89 lb. The Smithey is, on the makers’ own published figures, nearly a pound heavier than the cheap pan it is meant to be an upgrade from — and about 2.2 lb heavier than a Stargazer 12-inch of identical rim diameter. The No. 10 is no featherweight either at 6.7 lb, against 5.36 lb for a classic 10.25-inch Lodge.
Some of that is the extra flat surface: more usable iron in the same footprint means thicker, straighter walls and a wider floor, which is exactly where the mass goes. Divide it out and the trade is stark. The No. 12 delivers about 10 square inches of cooking surface per pound of pan; the Lancaster No. 10 delivers about 13, and Field’s No. 8 about 13 as well. Smithey gives you the most flat iron in absolute terms and the least per pound you have to lift.
That is not a fault. Heavy iron stores more heat, which is the one place a thick pan genuinely out-cooks a thin one — a cold steak drops the surface temperature of a light pan further and faster. It is simply the opposite of what people assume they are buying at this price. If your complaint about cast iron is that it is heavy, Smithey is the wrong direction entirely, and Lodge’s Blacklock at about 3.86 lb answers that complaint for a fraction of the money.
The polished surface, honestly
Smithey’s signature is the interior finish: where a raw casting comes out of the mold pebbled, Smithey polishes it back to a smooth, faintly golden surface. It is the reason the pans photograph the way they do, and it is a real functional benefit — a smooth floor releases food sooner in the seasoning’s life and wipes clean with less effort, because there are fewer valleys for food to key into.
It is not a cooking advantage. Iron is iron. A polished Smithey and a raw Lodge sear the same steak at the same temperature, and the release you eventually get on either comes from the seasoning layer — oil baked on until it polymerizes into a hard film — rather than from the metal underneath. A Lodge used several times a week wears itself smooth for free over a couple of years. What Smithey sells is that outcome on day one, plus an object people genuinely enjoy owning. That is a fair thing to want; it is a different claim from “better pan,” and we would rather you buy it knowing which one you are paying for. The same reasoning runs through our roundup of smooth cast iron skillets.
Living with one
Smithey’s own care instructions are the standard bare-iron routine, and worth following because they are the maker’s. Soap is explicitly fine — Smithey says so in as many words, which still surprises people. Wash with mild dish soap and warm water, dry it completely, and keep the seasoning topped up with a thin film of a high-smoke-point oil. For a full re-season Smithey specifies a 475°F oven for one hour.
That is a hotter, shorter cycle than several rivals publish, and it is well above the smoke point of most cooking oils — which is the point. Seasoning only forms when the oil is driven past its smoke point and polymerizes, so a high-smoke-point oil gives you a harder layer with less mess. Our seasoning oil guide explains why grapeseed — the oil Smithey uses at the factory — is a sensible choice and why flaxseed is not, and the seasoning method itself is identical whether the pan cost $30 or $220. A polished surface does not reduce the upkeep. If escaping upkeep is the goal, the answer is not a better bare pan — it is enamel.
The warranty is warm, not precise
Smithey states that it stands behind its cookware: if the piece is defective it will be replaced, and if it fails after honest and normal use it will be repaired or replaced. That is a generous sentiment and a vague document. There is no stated duration, no definition of “normal use,” and no exclusion list.
Compare it with Stargazer, which publishes a warranty with no expiration, covering manufacturer defects only, explicitly excluding damage from misuse such as warping from excessive heat. Stargazer’s promise is arguably narrower and is unambiguously clearer. Lancaster, at similar money, publishes no terms at all. None of this should worry you much — cast iron is close to indestructible in normal use, and a warranty claim on a skillet is a rare event — but if you are spending seven times Lodge money, knowing exactly what the cover says is part of what you are buying.
No. 10 or No. 12?
The No. 12 costs $40 more than the No. 10 and gives you 1.5 more inches of flat surface, along with two more pounds to lift. For most households that trade goes the other way than the marketing suggests: a 10-inch pan is the everyday size almost everyone reaches for, and 6.7 lb is already at the upper end of what is pleasant to move one-handed off a hot burner.
Buy the No. 12 if you genuinely cook for four or more and the flat surface is the reason you are here — that is the pan’s real argument, and it wins it. Buy the No. 10 for anything else, and accept that it is still heavier than the Lodge it replaces.
Our take
Smithey makes an excellent pan and describes it more honestly than most of its competitors. It publishes the cooking surface when rivals do not, it publishes the weight even though the weight is not flattering, and its care instructions are specific enough to follow. On the specification that actually changes what you can cook — usable flat iron — the No. 12 is the best pan we have measured on paper.
It is also the most expensive way to get there, and there is no version of this pan that is easier to live with than a Lodge. If you want the surface and the object and you will use the space, it earns its price. If you want a lighter pan, a cheaper polished pan, or simply a very good skillet, the four above do those jobs and we can show you what they cost right now. And if this would be your first cast iron skillet, buy a classic Lodge — it will tell you which size you actually reach for before you spend two hundred dollars finding out.
