The short answer is what everyone else has already said: Not really. Any cast iron pan, properly seasoned, will work as well as any other.
The long answer: I’ve been able to directly experience 3 brands myself; my everyday skillet is a Griswold from the 30’s, and I also have a tiny Wagner skillet and a large Lodge one.
From what I’ve seen and read online, the only practical difference between different brands is that some offer a smooth finish out of the box instead of having to build up a smooth finish via the seasoning.
Really old cast iron pans tended to have that extra smoothing step during manufacturing by default, where as most modern brands (Lodge) don’t bother as a cost reducing measure, and leave the ban bumpy and rough. If you’re looking for an affordable smooth pan, I recall seeing some chinese ones that came smoothed on amazon that seemed to perform well.
My old Griswold is smooth, and when well seasoned is truly non-stick. But saying that, a good seasoning in a bumpy pan will act very similarly, and when I cook large meals in my bumpy Lodge, they don’t stick either (but probably wouldn’t be quite as ideal for eggs).
I guess another thing I noticed is that Lodge pans tend to be quite beefy and thick, which makes em heavy. My old medium sized griswold is quite thin walled, making it a bit easier to handle 1-handed.
Lastly, I just wanted to mention that it’s really darn easy to restore an old crusty looking cast iron pan from eBay. Putting it in your oven during a self-clean session will completely burn off any stuck on carbon, and allow you to re-season it as though it were virgin metal.
The short answer is what everyone else has already said: Not really. Any cast iron pan, properly seasoned, will work as well as any other.
The long answer: I’ve been able to directly experience 3 brands myself; my everyday skillet is a Griswold from the 30’s, and I also have a tiny Wagner skillet and a large Lodge one.
From what I’ve seen and read online, the only practical difference between different brands is that some offer a smooth finish out of the box instead of having to build up a smooth finish via the seasoning.
Really old cast iron pans tended to have that extra smoothing step during manufacturing by default, where as most modern brands (Lodge) don’t bother as a cost reducing measure, and leave the ban bumpy and rough. If you’re looking for an affordable smooth pan, I recall seeing some chinese ones that came smoothed on amazon that seemed to perform well.
My old Griswold is smooth, and when well seasoned is truly non-stick. But saying that, a good seasoning in a bumpy pan will act very similarly, and when I cook large meals in my bumpy Lodge, they don’t stick either (but probably wouldn’t be quite as ideal for eggs).
I guess another thing I noticed is that Lodge pans tend to be quite beefy and thick, which makes em heavy. My old medium sized griswold is quite thin walled, making it a bit easier to handle 1-handed.
Lastly, I just wanted to mention that it’s really darn easy to restore an old crusty looking cast iron pan from eBay. Putting it in your oven during a self-clean session will completely burn off any stuck on carbon, and allow you to re-season it as though it were virgin metal.