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Watch: Can a $200 Cast-Iron Pan Sear Steaks Better Than a $30 Lodge Pan?

Testing the Butter Pan against the easily recognizable Lodge

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There’s really no going back once a cast-iron pan lands in your kitchen, often rendering all your other kitchen pots and pans obsolete. A sturdy cast iron — which How to Make It host Katie Pickens recently saw the process behind creating — will make the crispiest fried rice, give your steaks a more perfect sear, bake knockout cornbread, and perfectly crisp the skin on your roast chicken.

Lodge is an easily recognized manufacturer of these most durable pans, but Butter Pan is a new maker on the market selling a polished, uniquely smooth version said to be “thinner and lighter than other cast iron.” It retails for $195, and the average Lodge pan for about $30. Kitchen Gadget Test Show host Esther Choi is testing the two pans against each other in this episode with three different tests.

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