The day I got it from Sur La Table I went and bought two New York Strips to break it in. They were text-book picture perfect with an external sear with blood red rare interiors. Incredible for seared steaks or burgers. Preheat on high heat for at least five minutes before cooking. Get it smoking hot before you put the meat on the grill. Juices from deglazing or rendered fat can easily be poured off with the two pour spouts to make sauces or reductions. And it is oven and broiler safe. You will not be sorry!
This pan is da shazzizo. Really.
HEAVY cast iron, with a glossy enamel exterior and a rough black enamel interior. It really doesn't need seasoning, as the enamel doesn't rust or stick. Preheat it until smoking hot, add a seasoned steak, leave on for a minute or two, rotate 90 degrees to get those great crosshatched grill marks, flip and repeat, then put into a preheated 450 oven for 4+ minutes, depending on how thick the steak is and how rare you want it.
Seriously foolproof steakhouse good steak, every time, as long as you don't over cook.
The same technique works really well for fish as well. Whatever you cook the sear and blast method works great, and it's easy to make pan sauce.
Although I give this five stars, be warned that it's not easy to clean. Forget trying to get it back to factory condition, ain't gonna happen. However, because the cast iron isn't exposed, but instead your dealing with black matte enamel, you can use dish soap and a scrubbie to get the worst, then leave it on medium heat to dry.
I use this pan constantly, particularly in the winter when it's not so much fun to grill, I'm giving my Alaskan brother one for his birthday. However, even in the summer months it still sees a lot of use.
This and my 9 qt. dutch oven get the heaviest use, and the biggest bang for my cookware buck.
Heavy is the word for sure but good quality cast iron usually is heavy to allow the cook to use the amount of heat needed to sear steaks, etc. The person who said you need a good hood vent is right on because I have to put a towel over my smoke alarm or it will be going off without doubt. I always have to open the back door to let the smoke out but it's still necessary to use the towel over the alarm. As for cleaning after a few time of soaking then using a scraping pad I realized that I could use my bamboo wooden spoon's edge to knock off the residue. It is amazing how well the wooden utensil scrapes off every bit of the residue and doesn't scratch up the surface. I would buy this pan again if I needed a grill pan, it definitely is better than the stainless steel Viking grill pan I purchased. I have an induction stove so I have to use either stainless steel or cast iron.
Smoke concentrates in the grooves between the ridges, which enhances the taste of seared steaks. You can make the grill marks as light-brown or black as you want. This sure beats trying to grill outdoors in the middle of winter, and the results are delish.
If you don't have a strong hood fan, you may have to open some windows and close bedroom doors, this thing can get generate as much smoke as grilling on the barbie.
For water-softening of burnt residue, pouring water into a searing hot enameled pan might crack the enamel due to differential contractions of rapidly cooled enamel and iron. A safer technique is to let the pan cool for a good 20 minutes, then pour in water and reheat the stove, letting the water low-boil for awhile, e.g. 30 minutes. You can use dishsoap or not. I just pour the soapless water out and wipe with a some paper towels. I don't worry about getting it spic and span, a little gray-browning of the last towel is okay with me, I treat this like my seasoned cast iron skillets and woks.
I have tried all types of meat on it and the pan worked wonderfully. But, as soon as any marinades are added or anything with sugar, the high heat burns a layer on the pan. It takes A LONG time to clean and scrap. Oddly enough, it cleans better dry than soapy. I have found that if I use a set of disposable wooden chopsticks (not separated), I can scrap off the burnt residue without worrying about scratching the pan. I have to add that my husband really likes the meat that I cook on this pan. I bought it because he only liked to cook meat on the grill. I thought it would be healthier with this pan. It is. I love it.
My wife and I recently moved into a new building that doesn't allow us to have a normal grill on our balcony. We were forced into cooking our chicken breasts in a frying pan or baking them in the oven. Neither option was satisfactory since they generally product rubbery, flavorless chicken.
After a suggestion from a friend I took a chance and bought the Staub cast iron grill pan and I love it. It is extremely easy to get juicy chicken that is well browned without drying out the skin. All it takes is a little seasoning and a light brush of olive oil and you're good to go. If you want to get fancy, you can hammer out the breasts a little in order to make them a more uniform thickness.
One of the great things about cast iron is how well it holds and transfers heat. This pan doesn't require you to use a high temperature, medium to medium-low works fine as long as you give it about five minutes to pre-heat.
The two complaints I've heard the most about this pan are cleaning and the weight. So the pan is definitely heavy, but since I don't move it around too much that really doesn't bother me. As for cleaning, I haven't found it to be that bad. I've found that the trick is to clean it when it is still warm. One thing I've had success with is pouring scalding hot water into the pan directly after turning off the heat. This deglazes the little bits that might have otherwise stuck to the pan, so clean-up becomes a two-three minute job. - Grill Pans - Cast Iron - Grill Pan'
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