The Classic Cast Iron Brand Alton Brown Adores

Out of the best cooking pans you can have in your arsenal, the versatile cast iron is one that professional and amateur chefs often feel the most passionately about. It is the pan José Andrés uses almost everyday, and Gordon Ramsay cooks an intense breakfast sandwich that can cure any hangover in his. 

Alton Brown is another fan of this hardwearing gadget. For the "Good Eats" star, his go-to cast iron is courtesy of a classic brand. As Brown shared on Instagram, if he could only have one pan, it would be his Lodge cast iron. 

Lodge is a family-owned brand renowned for its quality, budget-friendly cookware, as well as creating the first "preseasoned" cast iron. The Tennessee-based company, with its iconic logo of an egg frying in a skillet, prides itself on its top-tier, nontoxic cookware that can be passed down through generations. (Ina Garten is another celebrity chef who hasn't been shy about her love for Lodge.) On Instagram, Brown made sure to note that he was in no way affiliated with the company, but was simply expressing his affinity for a classic cast iron brand.

Lodge has been churning out its cast iron cookware for nearly 130 years. Joseph Lodge started his own foundry making these pans and other items in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, in 1896. Lodge's company saw success despite a few hiccups, like a fire in 1910, and later the Great Depression, but a big moment came for the company in 1965. This is when the foundry retired its hand-pouring iron process for an automated molding machine called a Disamatic. The Danish invention not only made the manufacturing process more efficient, allowing the company to churn out more of its product faster, but also created safer working conditions for employees.

Fast forward to 2002 when Lodge launched the first-of-its-kind preseasoned skillet. With a coating of oil already baked onto the cooking surface, it allows for seamless nonstick use as soon as you get it. It was a game-changing creation, and today, even celebrities like Dolly Parton have their own signature collection of Lodge skillets and accessories. After posting about his own love for the company on social media, Alton Brown told SFGATE, "For the money, you can't beat a Lodge. It's not possible."