PFAS in Cast Iron Skillets, Lodge, Field, Smithey and Le Creuset Graded

We graded 14 cast iron skillets and pans from Lodge, Field Company, Smithey and Le Creuset. None has a non-stick coating on record. Eleven grade 75 out of 100, in our Excellent band, and three grade 65. If you are moving away from non-stick cookware, this is one of the clearest categories on the site.

A cast iron pan's release comes from seasoning, a layer of oil baked onto the iron, not from a synthetic coating. That is why the whole category sits well above the coated pans elsewhere in our data.

Summary comparison table

Product	PFAS grade	Construction as recorded
Lodge Classic Cast Iron Skillets	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron, bare or seasoned with oil
Lodge Cast Iron Skillet Pan 6"	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron, seasoned with oil
Field Co. Cast Iron Skillet No. 8	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron, bare or seasoned surface
Field Company Cast Iron Skillet No. 4	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron, seasoned surface
Smithey Cast Iron Chef Skillet No. 8	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron, seasoned finish
Smithey No. 10 Cast Iron Skillet	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron, seasoned with oil
Smithey No. 11 Deep Skillet with Glass Lid	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron with glass lid
Le Creuset Traditional Skillet	Good, 65/100	Enameled cast iron
Smithey 12" Cast Iron Skillet	Excellent, 75/100	Cast iron with seasoned oil coating
Le Creuset Signature Enameled Cast Iron Skillet	Good, 65/100	Cast iron with vitreous enamel
Le Creuset Signature Saucepan	Good, 65/100	Enameled cast iron

How we graded these

Every grade here is a model-based estimate built from publicly available product information and manufacturer disclosures, not a lab test performed by our team. A high score means lower concern based on reviewed sources, never PFAS-free and never safe. None of these makers publishes a PFAS statement for these pans in our records, and every one carries the penalty for that. Look up any pan in our PFAS product finder.

What separates 75 from 65

Every pan here starts from the same cookware baseline and carries the same silence penalty. The eleven at 75 are bare seasoned cast iron from Lodge, Field Company and Smithey, and earn our larger credit for an uncoated material. The three at 65 are Le Creuset enameled cast iron, which earns the smaller credit because enamel is an applied layer, even though it is glass and not fluorinated.

That split now follows the material. Until 17 September 2026 it did not. Le Creuset's Traditional Skillet was at 75 while its Signature Skillet, also enameled, was at 65, and one Smithey skillet sat at 65 beside identical Smithey pans at 75. We gave every enameled pan the same credit, and every bare cast iron pan the same credit, that day. Choose between pans at the same grade on weight, size, finish and price.

A correction to this guide

An earlier version of this guide put most of these pans at 90, and explained the lower grades with reasons our records never supported, less complete disclosure for some sizes, formulation variables in enamel, and old refinishing chemicals on a restored Smithey listing. None of that was true. The 90s were records that had skipped the silence penalty every other silent brand carries, which we corrected across the site on 16 September 2026. The restored Smithey listing was recorded as carbon steel with a non-stick coating, which does not match anything Smithey describes, and we have paused it.

Is enamel a coating to worry about?

Vitreous enamel is glass fused to iron at high temperature. It is a coating in the everyday sense, but not a fluorinated one, and it is not a non-stick layer. Enameled cast iron behaves differently in the kitchen, it does not need seasoning and it can chip, but our data gives no reason to prefer bare cast iron over enameled on PFAS grounds.

What to avoid

• Pans sold as cast iron that add a non-stick coating of unnamed type. None of the 14 here does, but some hybrid pans do.
• Seasoning sprays sold as no-stick cooking sprays. See our cast iron seasoning guide for what to use instead.
• Reading 75 as a clean bill. No maker here has published a PFAS statement.

Our pick

Based on available materials and data, any bare cast iron skillet here is a sound choice. For value, the Lodge Classic Cast Iron Skillet at 75 is recorded as cast iron seasoned with oil. For a pan Field Company markets as lighter than traditional cast iron, the Field Co. No. 8 at 75 is recorded the same way. If you want enamel, the Le Creuset Traditional Skillet grades 65, with no non-stick coating to wear. These grades are estimates built from disclosed materials, not laboratory proof, and nothing here is being called PFAS-free or safe by us.

FAQ

Does cast iron contain PFAS?

Cast iron is not a fluorinated material, and none of the 14 cast iron pans we graded has a non-stick coating on record. Their makers publish no PFAS statement, so we record lower concern based on materials rather than a confirmed absence.

Is Lodge cast iron PFAS-free?

The Lodge skillets we graded are recorded as cast iron seasoned with oil and grade 75. Lodge has no PFAS statement on record for them, so we cannot confirm an absence, but there is no coating of concern in our records.

Is enameled cast iron worse than bare cast iron for PFAS?

Not on PFAS grounds. Vitreous enamel is glass, not a fluorinated coating. Le Creuset's enameled skillets grade 65, ten points under bare cast iron, because our model gives any applied layer a smaller material credit than bare metal, not because enamel is a PFAS concern.

Is seasoning a cast iron pan a PFAS risk?

Seasoning is oil baked onto the iron. The seasoning products we graded are named oils and waxes, and none is described as a synthetic coating.