Reached For

Uncle Scott

Our Motto: You can never have too much great cookware and kitchen gear. Our Philosophy: If you have great equipment and great ingredients, with a little practice you can cook any dish in the world. At USK, we make recipes, review frying pans, deep fryers, knives, grain mills, gadgets, pots and pans, and anything else you might find in a high-end kitchen. We teach people how to season carbon steel and cast iron pans, show people the proper way to cook eggs, tell a few jokes, and cook delicious meals. We really like high quality brands such as De Buyer, Falk, Matfer, Lodge, Smithey, Mauviel, Le Creuset, live, Staub, Breville, and others. And, importantly, Uncle Scott buys all of the products he reviews with his own money, and unlike many cookware channels, no free items are accepted for review. This keeps Uncle Scott's reviews genuine, trustworthy, and unbiased. Any sponsored videos or affiliate sales links are clearly labelled.

Uncle Scott is on record with 48 quoted claims across 5 sources — 28 supporting a product, 17 raising objections. Uncle Scott’s identity has not been manually verified.

Who is Uncle Scott?

Uncle Scott’s traits each carry their own evidence, so we can always say why we call Uncle Scott this.

What is Uncle Scott an authority on?

Authority is scoped to a domain: Uncle Scott being authoritative about cookware implies nothing about headphones, and this page will never claim otherwise.

Carbon Steel Pans

Weight derived (derived).

1.00

Cast Iron Skillets

Weight derived (derived).

0.50

What does Uncle Scott recommend?

Everything Uncle Scott has said on record, endorsements and objections alike. Each timecode opens the source at the second Uncle Scott said it.

0:35 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
I'm going to give this guy a 90% thumbs up on the pro side.

recommendation about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites appearance, country of manufacture

But I am glad I have one of them in my Battery Deuisine now. They crank out a ton of delicious food. I think they have a nice look and design. They're made in America.
Um, I really like mine. I'm giving it a 90% thumbs up.
1:05 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
This lodge is pushing 15 pounds. Holy cow, that is a sturdy piece of cookware.

handling about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites weight

0:35 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
First is realworld cooking performance. It has turned out a ton of delicious food and that is the most important factor.

performance about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites heat retention

it is nice to see the Lodge USA made Dutch oven competing nicely with the stove and I think this beef bergen was equally delicious in both.
the oil temperature only dropped down to about 342. So that is not much of a drop in temperature at all. And then of course it rebounded on up.
So there's a lot of heat trapped in that thermal mass of a lodge and I think it did a great job.
It's winter time in Utah at the moment and I've been using these lodges to crank out some shephardd's pies and they've turned out fantastically.
3:31 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
It's [music] got three layers of grape seed seasoning on it. So, you can just give it a wash and just start cooking.

performance about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites heat retention, maintenance, non-stick surface, searing and crust

the field turned out some nice cornbread, no sticking and a nice crust.
this field cranked out an absolutely delicious [music] grten with no sticking on the potatoes.
Butter potatoes. Those brown up pretty nicely and they did not stick. That's a good thing.
But the field did okay here and I think it helped with the browning that both the potatoes and the okra, they get moved around a little bit.
I think you did an okay job with bacon. Just a little bit of pulling on there, but the um the card says uh bacon can actually stick a little bit early on. So, with that in mind, I think it did uh just fine. I started it out in a room temperature pan, brought it up to heat, some early [music] flips, and mostly…
Um I mentioned that the pan doesn't have as much thermal mass as maybe some other cast irons or carbon steels for that matter, but I am still getting a good sear and browning here.
And here, summoning every bit of egg sliding mojo that I could muster, [music] I got a moderately decent sliding egg. It released even did okay on the flip. You know, cast iron skillets are not really known for flipping eggs, so the side walls are too tall, etc., etc., but it's still released on that second side, and…
10:19 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
it seems that the best way to season a new map for pan is to kind of ignore some of the new seasoning directions and go back to what we know works go back to the old seasoning directions scrub the heck out of the pan make sure there is no no coating left on there then use the peels of two potatoes two thirds cup of…

recommendation about Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel skillet tested it Problems seasoning an UPDATED model Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel pan?

Cites non-stick surface

2:02 objects Uncle Scott Beginners
the old directions were very precise about that now for the updated pans you still need to use potato peels oil and salt but the directions are a little bit more ambiguous there's a little bit more wiggle room here they're not nearly as precise

reliability about Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel skillet tested it Problems seasoning an UPDATED model Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel pan?

Cites coating (against), non-stick surface (against)

this video has pretty much gone off the rails at this point uh midway through the seasoning i noticed things looked like they were sticking the potato peels the oil the salt it just seemed to be sticking i didn't know if it had to do with the amounts and i went through that second round of it it was sticking again and…
it looks like these pans are indeed coated coated now i was told by maffer that the reason for these bags is that they protected the pans and there was no need to apply any coating at the factory that's what they told me now i bought my pans myself use my own money i did get to buy early models so i've got an email…
went back to the old way and just scrubbed the heck out of this pan for about 15 minutes i could see what looked like some coating on there and i didn't think there was going to be coating at first but there's coating on there
1:01 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
these older models came with a thick hard to remove coating protected the pans in the shipping process the first thing you always had to do was just scrub the heck out of that thing with a brush dish soap hot water it took about 15 minutes or so of scrubbing you don't have to do that anymore so that is a big deal…

performance about Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel skillet tested it Problems seasoning an UPDATED model Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel pan?

Cites coating, non-stick surface

there's nothing wrong with the pan there's nothing wrong with the seasoning you're simply cooking at the wrong temperature now if you're moving over from like i said from a non-stick nobody really tells you and nothing sticks in your nonstick pan anyway but you gotta change up the way you do things a little bit when…
15:16 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
I got to say, I like the rim around the stove. I like the um the distinctive look to it.

handling about Staub dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites lid, shape and form

That stove also has the baking spike basting spikes under its lid. And as I've shown in a different uh video, those basting spikes actually do work.
15:16 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
Comparing lids, I think the stove has the best lid of the bunch.

best in class about Staub dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites lid

11:35 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
What I like here is that with this six quart size, I can lay out the dry spaghetti completely and submerge it before it turns soft.

use-case fit about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven owns one NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites browning visibility, size and capacity, versatility

So, boiling, browning, stove top, deep frying, um making sauces, going from stove top to the oven. I think the Lodge has done a fantastic job with cooking and has turned out a ton of delicious food.
Next to a Luset, you can really see how light the interior color of the lodge is. Now, this is great for seeing food as it cooks.
1:35 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
I think it's a good-looking piece of cookwware. It's got some design elements. We'll get to that here in a minute. And it's made in the USA.

appearance about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites appearance, country of manufacture, shape and form

I think it is kind of distinctive though. And that design, it's actually raised. I don't know if that comes through on camera. And then you can feel the uh the opposite of it on the inside of the pan. So that's kind of neat.
2:01 objects Uncle Scott Beginners
I think that lack of heaviness, lack of thermal mass, lack of metal, however you want to um describe that, uh for me anyway, I think it made the pan a little bit more difficult to cook in. It's difficult to get it heated evenly. I feel like um it's responsive, which is great for a uh copper skillet, for example. But…

performance about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites base and rim (against), even heating (against), heat retention (against), non-stick surface (against), size and capacity (against), surface finish (against)

And I think one of the reasons I've had so much trouble with eggs in that field is that um those grooves, they uh I think they have not filled in yet and um they're kind of gripping food a little bit when I try and slide it around.
There is [music] a very tiny uh ring around the bottom of the pan which makes it sit up just a little bit. It's barely even noticeable. The Brevel has a temperature sensor in the middle of the cooking surface there and it has to stick up and make contact [music] with the bottom of a pan. Um there's also a logo here in…
Uh, no matter what I tried, I was getting, um, different essentially different cooking zones. I couldn't get the pan heated very evenly and I would put an egg in and sometimes um, part of an egg would stick and part would slide and the egg would come apart. And I think that's because the pan is not heated evenly and…
This uh 10-in pan um I had to work in two batches.
It's [music] um too narrow to lay out strips of supermarket bacon, but it will hold four if you cut them in half.
Let's talk a little bit more about that uneven heating though here. Uh you can really see it with these grilled cheese sandwiches. Give them their first turn there. And you can definitely see where one half of the grilled cheese is toasted and the other uh the butter is melted, but there is no toasting on there. So,…
I've also made some breaded squash and zucchini. And I like these for testing pans because I can lay them out all around the pan. Then when I flip them, I can tell if they're hotter or cooler spots. You can definitely tell that um some of these zucchini are much browner than the others.
And it's just a little bit more uneven and a little bit more difficult to cook in this pan than some others I have reviewed.
And after doing a ton of work on the seasoning and doing a lot of cooking, circling back to eggs, and I got this. And I got to say, I have never seen that [laughter] fried egg before. It's almost like uh orbiting almost like a planet or something. I don't know if that counts as half of a fried egg. never had um a…
And finally, I got to where I found that, uh, just trying different temperatures, if I went really, really low, um, I could get an egg to release, and this is after three or four minutes of setting up very, very slowly. I could get an egg to kind of sort of release and it'll move around, but I still say that egg is…
1:00 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
It's really good at certain tasks such as hightemp sears, um, oven performance, grotens, cornbread.

use-case fit about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

So people that have maneuverability issues, have trouble with the weight of cast iron, uh they're going to like the field.
I think if you are in the market for a lighter cast iron pan, you might really like the feel, especially if your cook top can get it heated evenly.
10:09 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
the map were performed on par with the traditional cast-iron skillet we could tell any difference in the results of the Agra from either both right up very very well

performance about Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel skillet relaying someone else Matfer Carbon Steel Pan Seasoning Problems Solved

Cites non-stick surface

I tried the new pan again I made salmon croquettes and look no sticky so that tells me a couple of things hey she's enjoying the new pan and that's saying something from a cast-iron traditionalist
3:06 objects Uncle Scott Beginners
now my mother's case she followed the mat for directions to a tee she used the potato peels salt and oil method and cook those twice and as matter of fact she ended up cooking them for like an hour and a half and at the end of the hour and a half the pan still had not changed color she had a spot of seasoning in the…

reliability about Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel skillet relaying someone else Matfer Carbon Steel Pan Seasoning Problems Solved

Cites seasoning durability (against)

9:19 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
so after that process that's what i used to do with other mattress skillets when they were new kind of ignored the newer directions went back to the old directions i think we are back on the rails we're off the rails i think we're back on so i got some color change on the pan it's very smooth nothing stuck to it this…

reliability about Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel skillet tested it Problems seasoning an UPDATED model Matfer Bourgeat Black Carbon Steel pan?

Cites non-stick surface

15:47 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
Now, as far as the enamel, I think all of these Dutch ovens are goodlooking.

appearance about Staub dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites appearance, appearance, surface finish

The stoves and the L Crusades may be a scoch smoother, and I can't tell if that's actually true or if that's just what I expect. And um it's reinforcing my expectations.
The stove of course has a darker interior. It will not show stains, but they may be there even if you can't see them.
2:35 objects Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
I think that was very tough to sell a $300 lodge when you can get a stove, for example, for very close to the same money.

value about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites price (against)

The problem here is that the Chinese-made model cost about $90 and it's been in that price range for years. And I think that price is anchored in the minds of the consumer. And that's what the consumer expects a Lodge enameled six court Dutch oven to cost. It's tough to change that.
1:35 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
The reason for that is the first one I received had a small pinhole in the enamel and I wasn't sure if it was a big deal or not, but I took some pictures and sent them to Lodge and they said that's a returnable issue and they sent me another one.

value about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites availability, price, warranty

The upside there though is that um they are closing these out and you can get some deals on these, but you're going to have to jump on them because they're not going to be around forever.
So you got the L Crusade over 400. You got the stove around 300. You've got the Lodge USA model a little less than 200. And then that Chinese made Lodge a little less than 100. And that makes a lot more sense.
So you got the L Crusade over 400. You got the stove around 300. You've got the Lodge USA model a little less than 200. And then that Chinese made Lodge a little less than 100. And that makes a lot more sense.
They are going to be discontinued, so there are some deals on them now.
1:35 objects Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
The reason for that is the first one I received had a small pinhole in the enamel and I wasn't sure if it was a big deal or not, but I took some pictures and sent them to Lodge and they said that's a returnable issue and they sent me another one.

reliability about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites build quality (against)

if that was a returnable issue, and we'll go through this in detail here in a minute, then I think it probably should have been caught in some sort of inspection process, but they did make it right when I found a flaw in that first one.
10:34 supports Uncle Scott Beginners
Now, on the upside here, blasting that pan up to 400°, that could have easily, if that had been a wide um carbon steel pan, some uh cast irons that easily could have warped or damaged the pan. But thankfully, the field um it took that blasting and remained flat. So, that's a good thing.

durability about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites seasoning durability, warp resistance

cooking red meat in a pan at high temperatures on a gas cooktop really does add some color to a piece of cookware, whether you're cast iron or carbon steel. And I think this was very good for the seasoning on this field.
Um, 0 to 10 cooks, 60%. So, lots of people are having better luck with the field um than I have had so [music] far.
7:03 objects Uncle Scott Beginners
Now, it's a high-end pan. Uh list for about 165. I got mine 20% off on a sale, so they do go on sale from time to time, but a fairly expensive pan.

value about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites price (against)

Not quite as much as a smiddy, but definitely five or six times more than a comparable lodge.
But it's not going to change the fact that um I've had a little bit of difficulty with this with this guy and it's not worked as well as some lowerric cookware right out of the box. So, there's still a um problem with the value proposition there.
2:31 mixed Uncle Scott Beginners
I can get eggs to slide and release. Now, thank goodness the um the seasoning is developing and coming in, but I have yet to cook a single egg that I would really really love to eat in this guy.

performance about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites heating speed (against), non-stick surface, searing and crust

And holy cow, this thing is cooking very quickly, setting up very quickly. It's slid, but this is kind of one of those brown uh what I call internet eggs. [music] It slid, but it is kind of like shoe leather, and they wouldn't actually want to eat this egg.
Uh, normally I flip my steaks at two minutes when I do a hightemp sear on the stove top. So, I checked it at 2 minutes and actually I thought it could use a little bit more time. So, I put it back on that first side and gave it another minute. So, at 3 minutes I turned it and um, very nice browning and sear on there.…
And I'm going to say here that I can get an egg to slide now. The field, I mean, it's definitely come in. You can see the difference. It's darker and it's gotten better. But I am still waiting. I have yet to cook a truly delicious uh perfect fried egg in this guy after a month and a half of heavy seasoning and usage.
2:31 objects Uncle Scott Beginners
I also am having a little trouble getting the seasoning to develop and come in, or what they call the break-in period. At a month and a half in, I am still having trouble getting non-stick eggs.

durability about Field cast iron skillet tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Owned 2 months

Cites maintenance (against), seasoning durability (against)

I have reseasoned this pan multiple multiple times. I have seasoned it with Crisco, with grape seed oil, with peanut oil. I have seasoned it in the oven. I have done carbon steel type seasonings on a stove top, getting the pan smoking there.
2:36 objects Uncle Scott Beginners
if you have an electric flattop stove it makes it more difficult to get your pan seasoned now i season my pan regularly when our gas stove top if you're cooking on a gas stove top the flame hits the bottom moves outward enough around the sides of the pan so you get a good even distribution of heat all over the pan…

use-case fit about Carbon Steel Pans owns and uses it daily Matfer Carbon Steel Pan Seasoning Problems Solved

Cites heat conduction (against)

16:17 objects Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
Over time though, I expect um that the Lodge will show some staining.

appearance about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites appearance (against)

15:47 supports Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
Now, as far as the enamel, I think all of these Dutch ovens are goodlooking.

appearance about Le Creuset dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites appearance, surface finish

The stoves and the L Crusades may be a scoch smoother, and I can't tell if that's actually true or if that's just what I expect. And um it's reinforcing my expectations.
14:16 objects Uncle Scott Beginners earns commission on this
if it does go down to the uh cast iron, you could get some moisture in there and perhaps get a little uh rust starting there.

durability about Lodge enameled cast iron Dutch oven tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “USK currently has affiliate links and/or influencer links with Amazon, Falk, De Buyer, Thermoworks, Breville, Lodge, Smithey and others.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped — a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

Cites durability (against), rust resistance (against)

with these Dutch ovens being heated and cooling down hundreds and hundreds of times over the years, that little pinhole could be a place where some cracking could start