Stuck in an apartment without a balcony? Lacking the space for a full-sized barbecue? Not wanting to venture out in the cold or rain to sear yourself a steak but want those attractive charred lines? You may be in dire need of a grill pan.
Before you condemn this piece of cookware in favour of a barbecue, we have some pros and cons for you to think about. And later in the article, we will get down to the nitty-gritty of our best grilling pan selection we think you should consider.
Pros
- The grill marks are always a great feature to have. The raised grilled dents on a grilling pan add an appetising texture and flavour.
- If you have a version that fits over two burners (which we do), you have plenty of space to cook more chicken breasts, beef patties, vegetables and kebabs all at once.
- If your pan is reversible where there is a griddled side and a flat side, even better. It becomes ideal for you to fry, sauté and sear too. Perfect for making pancakes and cooking lots of bacon or large quantities of sausages.
- The raised ribbed side of the pan allows for fat to flow off the meat as it will drip between the grates of the raised rib. Say if you are cooking a burger, it won’t sit and boil in its own juice, leaving your meat full-flavoured and less fat.
- Since most grill pans are heavy, it cooks well and distributes heat evenly.
Cons
- No outdoor backyard cookout vibe, no charcoal and no wood chips.
- Oftentimes, when you have a double burner type pan, it will tend to fit awkwardly and will create a cooler middle zone. We recommend choosing a cast iron pan for those scenarios as they have the best heat dispersion. These are however a bit heavier than normal pans.
- When using a grill pan, your cooking tends to be on a higher heat. So if your kitchen is small, expect some smoke and have your induction fan on.
- Some people find grilling pans difficult to clean and store. Then again, if you are a grilling enthusiast it shouldn’t be a major issue at all. There are plenty of ways to store them correctly and neatly.
Ok, those are food for thought. Now that we have that out of the way, here is a review of 6 of the best selection in our wide range of grilling pans.
Our All-Rounder Pick - Le Creuset Signature Square Grillit
Despite it being an expensive investment, Le Creuset cast iron cookware provides the best overall experience, and the one thing that we can account for is its heat retention capabilities. Yes, there’s no doubt that its charming French name and origin has everything to do with why it’s our top pick, but this cast-iron grill was able to win us over because of its fantastic drainage and overall performance too.
Particularly, this Signature Square Grillet is available in colours like Deep Teal, Mist Grey, Cotton, Creme, or Marine which in our opinion is good considering other brands don’t even come out with two or more colours. A lot of times they offer the colours of their cookware to easily complement other products in their colour range (in this case the Palm colour range) such as ramekins, plates, bakeware and stoneware. Not something you get from other brands.
Why are Le Creuset Cast Iron Skillets a great option as a grill pan?
This square grill is made with hard-wearing and durable enamelled cast-iron making it perfect for searing and even cooking. To top it off, this piece of cookware is wide enough to cook different ingredients at the same time. The wide space allows you to grill your meat alongside your vegetables. It makes prepping your meals faster and easier.
It’s also suitable for all cooktops including induction. Although Le Creuset recommends you keep in mind a few things. If you use a glass-topped stove, you have to remember to lift it when you are moving it around the stove. Never ever slide it because if you do, it can damage the base of the pan as well as the stovetop.
Secondly, being made of enamelled cast iron, you should be careful to use only a medium heat.
Top Notch Ridges for Marks - Staub American Square Grill Pans
The Staub Square Grill came in close to be our #1 pick for this grill pan list. Frankly, there isn’t much difference between our Le Creuset pick and this one. In fact, they have almost similar feature and performance.
A feature we think is one of Staub Grill pan fantastic feature, is that it has the best ridges. Although you’ll have to pay a hefty price for it (not as high as Le Creuset), it has some of the deepest ridges you can find compared to other grill pans. It’s also spaced out evenly making it easy to keep the food out of grease and fat, in turn creating beautiful char-lines on your food.
At first impression, its funky looking colour makes it look like it is made of ceramic. Other then Cherry Red, it is also available in Black and Graphite. It’s actually encoded with glossy multicoloured enamel coating making the pan highly resistant to chipping, both inside and out. It’s also durable and knife resistant.
Another advantage with Staub is that the pans don’t require additional seasoning like most cast-iron pans do. For convenience, it is designed with spouts on either side of the pan which makes it super easy to pour and transfer liquids and juices.
Why the Staub Square Grill Cherry Red is an amazing grill pan?
We must say that it strikes a good balance between performance and price. Its also usually on sale, so watch out for this Staub before you jump the gun with other grill pans.
On the downside, if we talk about weight this Staub grill pan is typically heavier than Le Creuset. Depending on the size, Staub grill pan can sometimes weight about 1 kg heavier than Le Creuset.
Timeless Classic on Budget - Lodge Logic Square Grill Pan 26cm
If you’re new in the grill pan bandwagon and want to have to give it a go, Lodge cast iron cookware are fantastic because they're about half the price of Le Creuset. It's reasonable without compromising its performance.
If you haven’t already known, Lodge is known for selling their cast-iron pans pre-seasoned. This means during production, a soy-based oil is applied on the pans with strong heat, allowing polymers to form layers of seasoning. It is generally equivalent to about 10 to 15 rounds of home seasoning. And because of this process alone, we rank this square grill high on the non-stickiness list.
Another significant plus point with Lodge cookware is unlike the French enamelled cast iron, it is made of raw cast iron and therefore is a lot more resilient and can be used on high heat - perfect for searing the perfect steak!
A few things to consider about Lodge Logic Square Grill Pan 26cm
The round ridges on this piece of cookware, to some, can be a downside. The reason for this is because it doesn’t create a significant sharp char-grill line that you would expect on your meat. The grilled taste on your meat may not be as apparent to your taste bud.
On the weight, it isn’t the heaviest, but it is still considerably heavy if you’re comparing it with both Le Creuset and Staub. However, if you weigh it beside Staub, Lodge comes in slightly less heavy than Staub. There is however their new range known as Lodge Blacklock which about 20% lighter than their classic range of cast iron pans.
The Sustainable Non-Stick Mate - Scanpan Classic Flat Healthy Griddle Pan
Handcrafting sustainable Non-Stick pans since 1956 in Denmark, the Scanpan Classic Healthy Griddle Pan features a revolutionary ceramic and titanium non-stick coating surface. Did you know that Scanpan is Australia’s leading cookware brand? That means Australians dig Scanpan, and all for a good reason.
This Classic range includes pressure-cast aluminium base for superior heat distribution and retention. The number one thing that won us over with this cookware is that Scanpan makes their pans with 100% recycled material and that its griddle make up is designed for healthy cooking with less oil.
Its unique non-stick surface is guaranteed not to scratch or peel off and become flaky over time (provided correct heat temperature is used) making it worth your investment. Your cooking experience would be free from harmful chemicals found in most cheaper non-stick brand. You get years of safe everyday use.
Comparing prices with Scanpan, Le Creuset and Staub, Scanpan is the cheaper range among the three. However, there is still some tender love and care to apply with this pan.
It is suitable for all types of cooktops except induction and you will need to observe a low to medium heat when this pan is in use.
The Best Pan with Press Aid - Chasseur Inferno Red Panini Grill Pan
Chasseur cast iron cookware is affordable but also made in France. This heavy-duty enamel coated pan takes cast-iron grilling to the next level with improved performance and durability. We decided that we needed to put this in the list because this is undoubtedly a grilling pan for someone who is looking to make cooking on both sides of the food much faster.
The bonus? Its ridged grill and added press cooks both sides of your food at one go and is perfect for making a panini sandwich worthy of a restaurant - brown, crispy and absolutely ready to blow your taste buds off the roof.
Final considerations when choosing the right grill pan
This concludes the best grill pans in our list. Remember that each of the pan we list above could be the right one for just about anybody. Each one of them has different qualities. We recommend keeping in mind of four key features on a typical grill pan you can use as the basis of your decision.
Ridges and char-grill line - The obvious reason for investing in a grill pan is because of the grill lines you want on your food. There are many types in the market and we know that it can get confusing. We suggest that you look for sharp ridges and evenly spaced out ridgelines to get the best grilling results.
Should I consider a Non-stick grill pan? - Depending on brands, some are better than others however we believe the best grill pans are cast iron. Nonstick pans are much easier to live with every day, easy to clean and are a lot lighter than cast iron pans.
The pan weight - Grill pans are typically heavy. Some pans can weigh more than 5 kg depending on the size and handles that are designed with it. Weight could be a huge factor to your buying decision too.
View our entire range of grill pans here