Lodge’s boxed five-piece cast iron set, flanked by cookbooks, offers a starting point for a cooking-themed holiday gift. Cookbooks are separate. Photo: LMS.

 

Lodge Cast Iron: A Holiday Gift With Some Weight Behind It

The company’s five-piece cookware set offers a foundation for a home kitchen, with a Tennessee history stretching back 130 years.

Some holiday gifts wait for an occasion. A skillet can go to work the next morning.

For someone furnishing a first kitchen or expanding a modest cookware collection, Lodge’s Seasoned Cast Iron 5 Piece Set offers a practical starting point. Made in the United States, it includes an 8-inch skillet, a 10¼-inch skillet, a 10½-inch round griddle, and a 5-quart Dutch oven with a lid. The lid counts as the fifth piece—not an additional pot or pan.

Together, the pieces suggest a day’s worth of cooking: pancakes on the griddle, vegetables in a skillet, a stew simmering in the Dutch oven. Lodge says the cookware works on stovetops, including induction, as well as in ovens, on grills, and over campfires. Each piece arrives seasoned with vegetable oil and ready to use.

The company’s history reaches back to 1896, when Joseph Lodge opened the Blacklock Foundry in South Pittsburg, Tenn. After a fire destroyed the foundry in 1910, the business reopened nearby under the Lodge name. In 2002, it introduced factory-seasoned cast iron, eliminating the initial seasoning step for buyers. This year marks 130 years since its founding.

That history gives the gift context. Whether it belongs in someone’s kitchen depends on more immediate considerations.

The complete set weighs 28 pounds—a detail worth considering before buying for someone with lifting limitations or little storage space. A cook who prefers lightweight pans and dishwasher cleanup may be happier with something else.

Care, however, is less complicated than cast iron’s reputation suggests. In its cast iron care guidance, Lodge recommends washing, drying promptly, and rubbing the surface with a light layer of cooking oil. Mild dish soap is fine. On glass cooktops, the company advises lifting the cookware rather than sliding it.

A cookbook or handwritten family recipe could make the present more personal, giving its recipient somewhere to begin. The cookbooks pictured alongside the set are separate; they are not included in the five-piece package.

At the time of research, Lodge listed the set, model L5HS3, for $99.90, reduced from $119.95. Check the product page for current pricing and availability. This selection is based on product research, not hands-on testing.

For the right cook, the attraction is straightforward: tools for making dinner, rather than another object waiting for a place on a shelf.

Website and Shopping

Visit Lodge Cast Iron or shop the Seasoned Cast Iron 5 Piece Set.