3-Piece Ozark Trail Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet Set Expired

I quoted (ie. tagged you) so that you could see the additional info here, in response to zpeedster's question. Also, too many ppl put far too much emphasis on how 'smooth' the surface is & they think that is the 'main' reason for whether food sticks or not.
It's not.
The seasoning of the skillet is what matters most, and I'm not talking about 'factory' seasoning (which I remove nearly always before using the skillet).
Also, the cooking process matters far more than how 'smooth' the skillet is. I can cook in any 'bumpy' Lodge skillet and food won't stick at all, where an inexperienced person will cook in a "glass-smooth" $300 Finex cast iron skillet and food will stick like it's welded to it.
I know one such person that is selling hers for $150, that she only used twice, just for this reason.

The skillet temperature matters big time. You need to first heat the skillet to about 300°-350° first, THEN add your oil... slowly. Then wait a bit before adding your food. Teflon cookware has allowed ppl to make huge & multiple mistakes in cooking, while cast iron sharpens one's cooking skills.


I don't blame Lodge for farming out the 'enameled' dutch ovens to Chyna, as it doesn't affect me because cooking on enameled cast iron cookware, imo, is not true cast iron cooking. Apples/bowling balls difference. ALL my dutch ovens are bare well-seasoned cast iron, no enamel.
I just wonder why you didn't mention that ALL the Ozark Trail cast iron comes from Chyna.


Good timing on that question. I have a newer Lodge 6" skillet and often use for eggs (both over medium and scrambled) if I'm cooking eggs just for me. I cooked 3 fried eggs 2x this past week and 3 scrambled eggs twice this week, with earlier this morning being one of those times.
Luckily, I still hadn't even cleaned the skillet (which is only a simple water rinse & paper towel wipe & dry) and took some pics (attached) of it uncleaned "as is".
As you see, absolutely no part of this 3-eggs scrambled egg batch 'stuck' to the skillet. Just a flake of egg resting on the lower right and a bit of unstuck egg 'residue' near the top pour spout.
Because the skillet is so small I never put really cold eggs in it. Three cold eggs would cause too much temperature drop on the skillet's surface and cause sticking. Before adding them to the (hot) skillet, I simply took them out of the fridge and into a small bowl, which I ran hot tap water over them while the skillet was heating.Result: Zero sticking (and notice the skillet is 'semi-bumpy' not 'sanded slick'.
Then, after a quick 3 second water rinse (never any soap!) and a quick wipe dry, I recoat the skillet with a light film of oil/lard, and heat/cool the skillet each time. Easy peasy.

Please excuse me folks as this is somewhat off topic. I looked at the pictures and saw a Copper Chef induction cooktop. Are you satisfied with the performance (coil size, temperature ranges) of the Copper Chef induction cooktop? I am looking to buy an induction cooktop for my cast iron cookware. I switched to a glass top electric stove and the manufacturer explicitly states not to use cast iron cookware.

I can't be much help, as I ran across the Copper Chef induction unit 'new' in factory packaging/box at a local Goodwill thrift shop, for $6.99. Tho only rated at 1300 watts, it can heat up a cast iron skillet (6" or even 12") to cooking temp (350-375°) in 90 seconds. Unfortunately, this must be a factory defective unit, as the temp regulation at mid-range doesn't work.
But I monitor it manually (also using a digital infrared temperature gun) and love it for the super-fast heatup & quick cooking of things like eggs & such. It's 10x faster than the electric stovetop burner.

I can't be much help, as I ran across the Copper Chef induction unit 'new' in factory packaging/box at a local Goodwill thrift shop, for $6.99.

Welcome to Walmart.

the get rusty after awhile

Not necessarily, more and more Hyper Tough, HART tools and other items at Wallys are now being made in USA

I cook on Lodge skillets daily, as well as sometimes on an old Griswold or two.
When I get my Lodge skillets new, the first thing I do is do a high temp seasoning with about 1/4" of Lard, followed by a cooling off to about 150°, then a scraping of the bottom with a thin metal scraper, which removes nearly all the 'bumpiness' of the inside bottom.

Most of the 'bumpiness', believe it or not, comes from the "pre-seasoning", which I remove thru the process.
But Ozark Trail has an actual coarse 'sandblast' finish to it, on the iron itself.
After I re-season my Lodges 'my way', then eggs or any food just slides right out like it was a teflon pan, and nothing sticks.
I've been cooking on cast iron over 50 years.