Who woulda known that the best pan you’d ever own would cost less than twenty bucks? Cast iron skillets do it all — their heat 
retention and weight make them ideal surfaces for searing chicken or beef, they’re safe on a fiery hot range or in the depths of your trusty oven, they’re great for frying/baking/broiling eggs and braising pork, in a pinch they’ll do for saucing, they work great at camp-outs, and they last a pretty darned long time if cared for correctly!
FrugalFun has a good guide on caring for your cast iron skillet.
I use Lodge Logic’s Pre-Seasoned 12-Inch Skillet, because Lodge Logic has taken care of the biggest hurdle facing any would-be (cast) iron chef — the seasoning. Out the box, it has a slick sheen that other cast iron skillets would require a long seasoning process to obtain, saving time and effort. They also make wonderful Dutch ovens, but that’s for another post and another day!
Buy Lodge Logic’s Pre-Seasoned 12-Inch Skillet at Amazon.com.
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October 27th, 2007 at 7:04 am
If you want to be even more frugal about it, get your cast-iron pan at a yard sale or a second-hand store. I picked up my 10-inch one for 3 bucks, as well as a couple of cute little 6-inch ones for a dollar apiece — and a cornstick pan as well. I admit, I did have to re-season those beauties myself. They cook like a dream, though — the 10″ releases a panful of cornbread better than a non-stick pan, in my opinion. I did spring for a large Lodge pre-seasoned grill/griddle and a twelve-inch skillet — or rather, I had others spring for them, since I registered for them as wedding gifts last spring. Those are items that are much harder to find at a yard sale…
October 27th, 2007 at 10:01 am
@Julie: I’ve never had the luck of seeing any of these treasures at a secondhand store yet, but if I came across any little 6-inch ones, I’d definitely pick ‘em up! I could definitely use a smaller one just for camping trips!
October 27th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I have two cast iron skillets and a cast iron reversible griddle and they are great!
October 29th, 2007 at 6:22 am
I guess I was lucky — my husband (then my boyfriend) and I were on vacation in San Francisco — we wandered into a junky second hand store and they had TONS of cast iron, dozens of skillets of various sizes as well as other stuff. Heavy as they were, we lugged those pieces back on the plane to NYC!
October 29th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Watch out for cheap cat iron skillets! Lodge is good, but the one time I tried to buy a cheaper one (made overseas as well) it shattered the first time I tried to use it. There’s a melted scar in my kitchen floor to remember the day.