Lodge LPGI3 Cast Iron Reversible Grill/Griddle Review: One Pan, Two Burners, A Lot of Breakfast
The Lodge LPGI3 Pro-Grid is the answer to "I want pancakes for six people without juggling two skillets." It's a 20-inch slab of pre-seasoned cast iron with a flat side for griddling and a ribbed side for searing, and it sits across two burners. For under $60, it does one thing extremely well — feed a lot of people at once — but it's worth knowing the trade-offs before you wedge it into your cabinet.
What you're actually buying
The LPGI3 measures roughly 20 inches by 10.5 inches by 3/4 inch thick, weighs around 13.5 pounds, and arrives pre-seasoned from the factory. One face is a smooth griddle surface — pancakes, eggs, smash burgers, grilled cheese, bacon. Flip it over and you get a ridged grill surface for steaks, chicken, vegetables, and anything else where you want sear marks and rendered fat falling into the valleys.
There are two short loop handles cast into the ends. There's no pour spout, no enamel coating, and no nonstick treatment beyond Lodge's factory seasoning. It's compatible with gas, electric coil, and induction cooktops, and it's oven-safe at any temperature your oven hits. It's made in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, like the rest of Lodge's domestic line.
The "Pro-Grid" name refers to the format — it's designed to span two burners on a standard stovetop. That's the entire point of the product. If you only have one burner free, this is the wrong pan.
Performance and real-world use
On the griddle side, the surface is generous enough to cook eight pancakes at once, or a full pound of bacon, or a stack of grilled cheese for a family. Heat distribution requires some care: cast iron is famously uneven on a stovetop, and across two burners you'll get hot spots directly over each flame and a cooler band in the middle. Most users learn to preheat for a solid 8–10 minutes on low-medium, rotate food into the hot zones, and accept that the middle is the "warming" lane.
The grill side delivers respectable sear marks, but it's a stovetop grill, not a charcoal kettle. You get crusty exteriors and rendered fat, but no smoke flavor. The ribs are deep enough that drippings collect below the food rather than pooling around it, which keeps things from getting soggy. Cleanup on the grill side is slower than the flat side — the ridges trap residue and need a chainmail scrubber or stiff brush to fully clear.
Seasoning behaves like any other Lodge product: it improves with use, it can be stripped by acidic sauces or aggressive soap, and it benefits from a light oil rub after each wash. The factory seasoning is functional but not slick; expect a few rounds of cooking fatty foods before eggs stop sticking.
Storage is the part nobody warns you about. This pan is 20 inches long and weighs about as much as a Thanksgiving turkey. It does not fit in most drawers or standard cabinets. Hanging it is the most common solution.
- Genuinely useful two-burner footprint for big breakfasts, batch cooking, or feeding a crowd
- Reversible design replaces two single-purpose pans for the price of a budget skillet
- Pre-seasoned and ready to use out of the box
- Works on gas, electric, induction, and in the oven with no restrictions
- Made in the USA with the same cast iron quality Lodge is known for
- Genuinely affordable at typical street prices
- Heat is uneven across two burners — center stays cooler than the edges
- Awkward to store; will not fit in most drawers
- Short loop handles get hot fast and offer limited leverage for a 13-pound pan
- No pour spout, so grease has to be scraped or wiped, not poured
- Grill-side ridges are harder to clean than the flat side
- Factory seasoning is functional but not slick; needs build-up time before eggs behave
Households that regularly cook breakfast for four or more, anyone who hosts weekend brunches, and apartment dwellers who want grill-style sear marks without owning an actual grill. It's also a strong pick for camping setups with two-burner Coleman-style stoves, where the dimensions match the burner layout almost perfectly.
If you cook for one or two people and have limited storage, this pan will frustrate you more than it helps. A standard 12-inch skillet handles those quantities and stores easily. Skip it also if you don't have two burners free at the same time — the LPGI3 needs both, and using it on a single burner gives you a cold pan with a hot stripe.
The Lodge LPGI3 is a specialist tool dressed up as a generalist. When it fits your kitchen — two burners, room to store it, regular need to cook for a crowd — it's a bargain that earns its space. When it doesn't, the awkward size and uneven heating turn it into a $50 paperweight. **4 / 5** for the right kitchen; closer to 3 if you're forcing it into the wrong one.
