Products · Cookware · Smithey Ironware

Smithey Ironware No. 10 Cast Iron Skillet

A polished, pre-seasoned cast iron skillet made in the USA, seasoned with grapeseed oil. Two independent XRF screens found no lead. Its guarantee terms are not published. About $180, six times a Lodge skillet.

Best for Cooks who want a smoother, lighter-feeling cast iron pan and are willing to pay for the finish.

Our rating: Good (4.2 of 5)
Price range: Premium
Size: 10 in top diameter, 9 in cooking surface. The product page’s spec list says 6.7 lb; its product description says 5.5 lb
Made in: USA (stated by the maker)

approx. $180 for the 10 in (approx. $220 for the 12 in)

See it on Smithey Ironware’s site → (opens in a new tab)

We are not affiliated with Smithey Ironware. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.

Also sold at Williams Sonoma ($180), Crate & Barrel ($180) .

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Reviews are personal experiences, not research, and they never change our quality ratings. Every review is read by our team before it appears.

How we evaluated it

How it scores Our rating, metric by metric Good, 4.2 of 5

Cooking surface 40% of the rating 5 of 5

Cast iron seasoned with pure grapeseed oil and no other coating, per Smithey. An XRF screen of a small Smithey pan read about 98.8% iron, with under 1% each of manganese, copper, chromium and nickel.
Independent testing 20% of the rating 5 of 5

Lead Safe Mama published three XRF readings of a Smithey pan with no lead or cadmium on the food surface (2023), and Mamavation says another XRF screen found no lead (2026). Screens, not release tests, and both sites earn affiliate income.
Durability 20% of the rating 3 of 5

A “lifetime guarantee” is stated, but we found no terms, so we cannot say what it covers. Unused pans can be returned within 45 days. The iron itself lasts generations.
Trust 10% of the rating 4 of 5

Names the material, the oil and “design and craft our cookware in the USA”. No Prop 65 notice or CPSC recall found. A Mamavation discount code on Smithey engraving suggests a paid tie to a reviewer.
Value 10% of the rating 2 of 5

$180 for 10 in, against $24.90 for Lodge’s 10.25 in and $165 for Field’s No. 8. Both are plain iron and oil.

The rating, 4.2 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank cookware and our standard.

Where to buy Stores and the prices we saw 2 stores

Williams Sonoma (opens in a new tab) approx. $180. Listed as the Smithey Seasoned Cast Iron Classic Skillet; pick the 10 in on the page. $180 with free shipping, 10 in across and 2 in high, 6 lb 11 oz, which fits the 6.7 lb on Smithey’s spec list. Opened 2026-11-03.
Crate & Barrel (opens in a new tab) approx. $180. Listed as the Smithey 10 in Cast Iron Skillet, called the No. 10 pan. $180 with free shipping, shipped directly from the vendor. Opened 2026-11-03.

Prices as we saw them on October 23, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

What it’s made of What touches your food, water, skin or air 3 materials

Cast iron with a polished cooking surface
Seasoning: 2 to 3 coats of pure grapeseed oil, applied by hand
No other coating (“no chemical coatings of any kind”, per Smithey)

Who tested it What each test found, and who paid for it 2 tests

Independent Lead Safe Mama (XRF screening; the site earns affiliate income) April 2023

Three XRF readings of the food surface of a small Smithey cast iron pan: lead (limit of detection 30 to 113 ppm), cadmium, mercury and antimony not detected. Iron was about 98.8%, with chromium about 0.2%, nickel about 0.1%, copper about 0.2%, manganese about 0.6% and tin under 0.05%. A screening of what the metal contains, with no conclusion drawn in the article, and not the No. 10. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Independent Mamavation (XRF screening by Eric Ritter of Detectlead.com; the site earns affiliate income) October 2026

Lists Smithey among the cast iron brands whose pans were XRF-tested, and says no lead was found in any part of the pan. The guide publishes no readings or model. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Who paid, and why it matters

Independent The tester took no money from the maker for it: a consumer group, a journalist, a university or a regulator.
Paid certification An outside lab or certifier tested or listed it, and the maker paid for that.
Maker’s own test A lab report or certificate of analysis the maker commissioned and published.

A certification is a floor, not a verdict: it checks what its program checks and nothing else. We weigh tests by someone with no stake in the result most.

What people ask Worries raised online and elsewhere, and what we found 4 questions

Does a Smithey pan contain lead?: Not in the two independent screens we found. Lead Safe Mama (opens in a new tab) did not detect lead or cadmium on a small Smithey pan in 2023, and Mamavation (opens in a new tab) says its XRF screen found none in 2026. Neither measured release into food, and neither tested the No. 10 by name.
What else is in the iron?: The same XRF readings found small amounts of manganese (about 0.6%), copper, chromium and nickel (about 0.1% to 0.2% each). The article draws no conclusion, and we found no test of how much of any of them comes out into food. Mamavation says Smithey uses recycled iron; Smithey’s own pages do not say.
Is the “lifetime guarantee” real?: Smithey’s Our Story page (opens in a new tab) says “We guarantee the quality of every Smithey for life”. We found no terms on the product page, the FAQ or a warranty page, so we cannot say what is covered. Its FAQ (opens in a new tab) sets a 45-day return window for unused pans.
Who is paid to recommend it?: Mamavation’s guide tells readers to use the code “MAMAVATION” for free engraving on Smithey, which suggests a commercial tie, and the guide carries affiliate links. Lead Safe Mama also earns affiliate income. We could not see what Smithey pays either site. Our page takes no payment from anyone.

Why we chose it What put it on our list 5 points

Smithey says its cast iron has no chemical coating: “completely free of PFOA, PFAS, and PTFE”, pre-seasoned with “pure grape seed oil”, 2 to 3 coats applied by hand.
Two independent XRF screens found no lead: Lead Safe Mama’s published readings of a small Smithey pan (2023) and Mamavation’s statement about its 2026 screen.
It is stated as US made: “We design and craft our cookware in the USA”.
The cooking surface is polished smooth, which Smithey says makes it easy to clean, and the product page says you can use soap on it.
It works on gas, fire, induction and electric. The FAQ says the skillets are oven safe and made for high heat.

Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy 4 points

The price is the main cost: about $180, against about $25 for the Lodge skillet in our list. Both are plain cast iron.
Smithey writes that it will “guarantee the quality of every Smithey for life”, but we found no terms, so we cannot say what it covers.
No maximum oven temperature is given, and the weight differs within the product page (6.7 lb in the spec list, 5.5 lb in the description).
It adds iron to food, especially acidic dishes. Smithey itself says long, slow acidic simmering can wear down the seasoning in newer pans.

What to know Details worth knowing first

Cast iron needs no coating at all, which is why it sits at the top of our cookware guide for anyone leaving non-stick behind. A Smithey is the same idea as a Lodge, finished to a polished surface and priced accordingly. Our article on cast iron, seasoning and safety covers the iron it adds to food and who should take care.

Smithey has some of the best independent evidence in this category: two screens by people with no stake in the result found no lead, and one of them published its readings. Both look at what the metal contains, not what comes off into food, and both sites earn affiliate income.

What you are paying for is the finish. What you are not getting is published terms for the lifetime guarantee. If you want the cheapest honest option, the Lodge is it.

What we checked Each claim, and how sure we are of it 6 checks

How Smithey Ironware No. 10 Cast Iron Skillet measures up against our cookware criteria
What we checked	What we found
No PTFE or PFAS coating Maker’s claim	Smithey states every piece is free of PFOA, PFAS and PTFE, with no chemical coating of any kind. We found no outside PFAS test.
Plain, named materials Maker’s claim	Cast iron, pre-seasoned with grapeseed oil, made in the USA, according to the product page and FAQ. XRF read the food surface of a small Smithey pan as about 98.8% iron.
Lead and cadmium Verified	Not detected on the food surface of a small Smithey pan in Lead Safe Mama’s XRF screen (April 2023). Mamavation says its 2026 XRF screen found no lead. Neither measures release into food.
Built to last Not verified	A “Lifetime Guarantee” is stated on the product page. We could not find its terms.
Fits how you cook Maker’s claim	Gas, fire, induction and electric. Oven safe with no temperature given. About 5.5 to 6.7 lb, depending on which part of Smithey’s page you read.
Notices and recalls Verified	No California Prop 65 notice naming Smithey and no CPSC recall when we searched on 23 Oct 2026.

What the labels mean

Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.

Sources Where our facts come from 7 sources

Smithey No. 10 Skillet product page. Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Smithey FAQ: care, seasoning, oven use, returns. Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Smithey: Our Story (American-made, lifetime guarantee). Maker’s page. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Lead Safe Mama: full XRF test results for a small Smithey cast iron pan (30 April 2023). Test report. Three readings of the food surface. The article draws no conclusion. XRF measures what the metal contains, not what it releases. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Mamavation: Safest Cast Iron Cookware Investigation (5 October 2026). Test report. Says Detectlead.com’s XRF test found no lead in any part of the brands in its “best” group, Smithey among them. No readings are shown. The site earns affiliate income, and its Smithey entry offers a discount code. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
California Attorney General: Prop 65 60-day notice search. Certifier or regulator listing. Searched by alleged violator on 23 Oct 2026; no notice named Smithey. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
CPSC recalls API. Certifier or regulator listing. Searched on 23 Oct 2026; no recall for Smithey. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Alternatives Other options to compare 2 options

Lodge Classic Cast Iron Skillet The same material for about $25, with a rougher surface and soybean oil seasoning.
Field Company No. 8 Cast Iron Skillet A US-made rival with a polished surface and a published warranty, about $165 for the 10¼ in No. 8.

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How we evaluated it

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