Customer Reviews

Lodge 3-Quart Cast Iron Chicken Fryer with Iron Lid

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best all around pieces of cookware everyone should have if they cook. Makes a great wedding gift. I keep this on my back burner all the time (therefore it gets used). I bake cornbread, pineapple upside down cakes, roasts, hams, fried chicken, baked chicken, corn beef, fried potatoes, eggs, grilled sandwiches, spagetti sauce, gravy and anything I can think of. One of the easiest ways I use it is to put a chuck roast in. Cover it with 1/2 package of onion soup mix and 1-2 cups of water. Add potatoes and carrots. Cover and put on at 275-300 degrees. Cook for about 3 hours (perfect for those who want a meal right after church). Roast can be cut with a fork. If this gets put away it just won't get used as much, so leave it on the burner. I reseason this every so often because it can stick after I cook with water or tomatoes. If I had only one piece of cookware to take with me it would be the cast iron chicken fryer.

I have a growing number of cast iron pans from Lodge and this is one of my most used and favorite pieces. I use it for sauces, casseroles, home fries and just about anything that requires a pan larger than a fry pan. But size is just one of the plusses of this pan. Like all cast iron pans, the more you use it, the better it gets. Mine is virtually non-stick from all the use it has gotten and save for the first time I took it out of the box, it has never been washed with soap. A simple brushing,a complete drying and a thin application of shortening is all you need to keep this pan clean and rust-free. If you haven't tried cast iron before, I would encourage you to try this pan as it can be used as a skillet, fry pan and shallow Dutch oven. I am certain that if you follow the directions for seasoning and cleaning, you will be rewarded with a utensil that will last a lifetime.

My mother gave me this lodge fryer (she has had for many years) and I have been happy with it for more than five years now. Incredible for making stew in, this fryer has been used for almost everything except frying chicken. Every Lodge product our family has had has lasted for as long as I can remember (I am 29 now) and requires little maintanence - a little seasoning w/ oil and heat every once in a while is all. Cooking in this fashion imparts a wonderful flavor to meats, tomatoes, breads - whatever! Forget the non-stick, $400+ cooking sets from the big boys, cast iron handles cleans very well if well-seasoned and is actually best if you don't clean it too hard. And, Lodge is made here in America, in Tennessee! Who knows where that other stuff is made? As I get older, Lodge will definitely continue to be part of my cookware collection - make them part of yours if you haven't already.

It's simply not possible to make real Southern Fried Chicken without a cast iron skillet. This Lodge chicken fryer is the perfect size and weight for making tender, juicy fried chicken at home - better than any faux Kentucky Colonel dreamed of!

If I could have only one piece of stove-top this would be it! It is the most versatile piece in my kitchen. Aside from it's assigned purpose of frying chicken -- this piece is great for beans, makes a great pot of rice (thanks to that heavy lid), and bakes a great cornbread too. It weighs just right for everyday use and cleans in a snap.

If you can only buy one piece of new cast-iron, make it this piece...

This pan is slightly bigger than the Lodge Combo cooker pan. The lid arches up, allowing more volume, but then you can't use the lid as a griddle. Lodge fry pans are all great, this one too, but if you are in the market for a 10inch pan consider the Combo cooker vs this one.

I have a family of 5 and we use our fryer almost weekly. Works great for bacon to keep your stove top cleaner and anything else you want to cook.

I think this chicken fryer is a good idea, as is any cast iron skillet for chicken, but it's too small to fry chicken in the amounts we fry it in. It can barely fit two of our home grown chicken breasts, or three of the smaller, store-bought ones. It works well for making something like almond chicken, when it's not as important for the chicken pieces keep their distance from each other. I don't think it's necessary to have a lid to make fried chicken. Ours turns out wonderfully, cooked in a regular old huge cast iron skillet. We don't use a slow cook method (35-40 minutes, Betty Crocker, are you kidding me?), and the chicken comes out juicy, even without a lid.

The reason I give this skillet five stars is that I do LOVE it for roasting green coffee beans. The high sides are very helpful... I can get almost a pound of beans roasted with my method of continuous stirring, and I hardly lose any over the sides. When it's my husband's turn to roast, he uses the lid and heavy duty oven mitts and shakes the whole pan at intervals. We both think that roasting coffee would be a real hassle without this particular pan. The oil that comes from the coffee beans makes a wonderful pan seasoning, too. We re-season all our cast iron (when we need to just re-season the bottom of the pan, not for the initial seasoning) by roasting coffee beans on the stovetop.

If you like to make gumbo or even simple hearty gravies, this is the only way. The ability of cast iron to evenly distribute heat and remain flat at very high temperatures ensure that anyone can make a dark-red to black roux with confidence.

I like cooking bacon in this because my stove stays a lot cleaner than using my regular depth Lodge skillets.