The American-based company lodge has been fine-tuning its construction of rugged, cast-iron cookware for more than a century. Now lodge has added a new line of seasoned steel skillets. This handy 8-inch seasoned steel skillet is the only pre-seasoned and ready to use out of the box steel pan in the market place right now. Each skillet is pre-seasoned with natural soy bean oil. Maintains very low and very high temperatures, making the pan a highly effective and versatile cooking piece. It performs well in residential and professional kitchens as well as outdoors. Made of 12 gauge carbon steel. Steel is a high density metal that does not retain odors. If maintained correctly, it will last a lifetime. Thickness of the cooking surface allows the pan to heat up quickly but also retain the heat needed for even cooking. The handle angle is conducive for both stove top and oven cooking. Each handle is attached to the skillet with 3 secure rivets. The black patina given to the cookware by the factory seasoning process is, in fact, vegetable oil that has been baked into a piece of cookware that has emerged from an individual sand mold. This coating of oil is a functional application and not a cosmetic application. The cookware is hanging as it rides through the electrostatic sprayer and commercial conveyer ovens at very high temperatures. This allows the oil to penetrate deeply into the pores of the carbon steel which creates an easy release finish. As a result of this process, you may see a blister or bubble of oil at the southern-most point or at the end of the handle of the cookware piece. If visible, it will rub or flake off with your finger, leaving a brown spot. Don?t worry, it?s not rust but a seasoned spot that is brown, indicative of the varnish stage of seasoning. The brown spot will turn black with use. Made in the USA.