A closer look at the similarities and differences between Smithey Ironware and Field Company cast iron skillets.
When choosing a cast iron skillet today, two brands frequently come up: Field Company and Smithey Ironware. Both brands are well respected in the premium cast iron cookware market, but they take different approaches that appeal to different types of cooks. While Field Company focuses on lightweight, vintage inspired skillets, Smithey offers pieces that are heavier than typical cast iron, and recognizable by their shiny cooking surface and copper hued preseasoning.
This comparison should help shoppers of all levels and skill sets decide which skillet is best for them and their kitchen. Whether you're a home cook seeking to upgrade to a refined, smoother skillet or someone looking for a showpiece, understanding the key differences between Field and Smithey will help you make an informed decision. We’ll break down essential aspects—brand history, materials, pan surface, design, and more—so you can choose the skillet that suits your cooking style and aesthetic preferences.
FIELD Field Company is a family-owned cast iron cookware brand founded in 2016 by two brothers, Chris and Stephen Muscarella. Inspired by their grandmother’s vintage Wagner and Griswold pans, they set out to produce lightweight cast iron skillets with the same smooth, nonstick surface they loved growing up. Their flagship product, the Field Skillet, debuted with a $1.6 million Kickstarter campaign and has since grown into a full line of premium, heirloom-quality cast iron cookware—all proudly made in the USA. Field Company’s products are valued for their performance, durability, and craftsmanship. The company has earned a devoted following among chefs and home cooks and has been featured in various culinary publications and media outlets. SMITHEY Smithey Ironware was founded by Isaac Morton in 2015 in Charleston South Carolina. The brand was inspired by his love of refurbishing and restoring vintage cast iron. What started with skillets has since grown to include carbon steel pans, made in collaboration with Charleston blacksmith Robert Thomas. Smithey products offer a mix of unique designs, making them beautiful to display.
Key Differences: Field Company focuses on performance, lightness, and daily use. Smithey Ironware offers ornate, heavier cookware suited for those who value visual appeal. One of the defining and key differences between Field Company and Smithey Ironware lies in how each brand finishes its cooking surface. This is a crucial step in determining performance, weight, and seasoning development. While both companies use methods echoing vintage cast iron, there are some key decisions made here that affect performance.
FIELD Field Company employs a meticulous post-casting process that echoes vintage American cast iron. After casting, each Field skillet undergoes precision machining that removes excess material, carefully refining the shape and significantly reducing weight. Field’s approach strategically shaves more material from the sidewalls than the base, giving the skillet its hallmark thin-walled profile—resulting in a pan that heats quickly, retains heat beautifully, and is far easier to maneuver than heavier counterparts. The cooking surface is then leveled and subtly smoothed to create a fine texture—intentionally left with micro-roughness to help seasoning bond naturally. This surface allows the skillet to develop a nonstick patina through regular use, offering the benefits of vintage cast iron with the reliability of modern manufacturing. Every stage of this process is overseen by skilled technicians to ensure consistency and durability. Smithey Ironware, by contrast, emphasizes a highly polished aesthetic achieved through extensive hand-finishing. After casting, each skillet is sanded by hand, then polished with pneumatic tools, and finally subjected to a "sandpaper bath"—a tumbling process that gives the skillet its signature glossy interior. Smithey’s smooth, glassy surface offers excellent nonstick properties right out of the box and reflects the brand’s focus on visual beauty and craftsmanship. Both brands season their skillets with grapeseed oil.
Key Differences: Field’s machining is purpose driven. It is designed to reduce weight, optimize performance, and encourage natural seasoning over time, with a finely textured surface reminiscent of heirloom skillets. Smithey prioritizes a highly polished, glossy surface for immediate nonstick and aesthetic appeal with a heavier weight. However, this shiny exterior can make it more challenging for the pan to build up seasoning. Field’s precision machining creates a more maneuverable everyday tool while Smithey’s approach leans towards showpiece cookware.
Cast iron is prized for its heat retention, which is proportional to its weight. Heft is a key feature of a great pan, but beyond a certain point your pan just takes longer to heat up and moving it around becomes a chore. A study of vintage cookware shows the thickness range from 0.060" to 0.135" putting a 10" skillet around 4 to 4.5 pounds. Lighter than this you start to lose heat retention and see warping, but anything heavier is just unnecessary weight.
Weight: Field skillets are built for everyday use. The 10.25-inch pan weighs about 4.3 to 4.5 pounds, close to vintage standards for improved mobility. Field’s weight and thickness were carefully researched to reach an optimum blend of heat capacity and practical cooking performance. Field concentrates mass in the cook surface while reducing weight in other areas to ensure quicker preheating without sacrificing retention. Field’s custom casting and machining processes pushes well beyond modern industry tolerances to recreate the feel of vintage pans. Handle: Field underwent extensive testing to come up with a handle design that actually feels great when you hold it. The 5.75-inch handle balances the weight of the pan, making it feel lighter than it already is. There is a hollow underside to help with heat management, and a hanging hole so you can always have it ready to go. The addition of a helper handle is useful when moving the pan around while it’s full of food. Pour Spouts: After discovering that dedicated pour spouts don’t actually eliminate dripping when pouring liquids, Field decided to forgo them. Instead, Field opts for a tapered rim, which allows you to pour from any side. Importantly, this design has the added benefit of enabling thinner sidewalls, which helps in weight reduction. Weight: Smithey skillets are fairly heavy. In fact, the 10-inch skillet is about 6.7-pounds. For reference, a Lodge skillet weighs 5.6-pounds on average. The upside to all of that mass is that once it’s hot, it stays hot longer and is less prone to temperature swings when food is added. The downside is significantly slower preheat times and more effort required to lift or reposition the pan. Handle: The Smithey handle is more similar to the classic tear drop handle, and is only five inches, making it a bit shorter than Field’s. There is also a helper hander, and in order to display the logo correctly, you must hang the pan by the holes in the helper handle, not by the hole in the main handle as pans are traditionally hung. Pour Spouts: Smithey does use pour spouts found on vintage cast iron models, however, like Lodge’s, these have diminished in size and are not foolproof when it comes to dribbles.
Key Differences: The Field Skillet is significantly lighter than Smithey’s, making it more comfortable to use as an everyday pan. The Smithey skillet is over 2 full pounds heavier than the comparable sized Field Skillet. The Field Skillet has a longer handle designed for balance, comfort, and heat management. Smithey’s handle is shorter, and harder to maneuver when hot. Field Company eliminates traditional pour spouts entirely, opting for a tapered rim that allows for controlled pouring from any angle while contributing to the pan’s lighter weight. Before leaving the workshop, every Field skillet is seasoned by hand with several thin layers of organic grapeseed oil. This all-natural coating—free from Teflon, PFOA’s, or any synthetic chemicals—works in harmony with Field’s finely machined surface to create an ideal foundation for nonstick performance. Instead of applying a heavy top coat for cosmetic appeal, Field focuses on building seasoning that bonds into the iron’s micro-texture, ensuring durability and improved performance with each and every use. Each layer of seasoning is carefully applied and precisely cured based on the mass of the casting and oil thickness, ensuring an even, consistent finish. Field encourages customers to embrace the natural seasoning process—to cook frequently, to use proper cleaning techniques, and to apply light layers of seasoning between uses.
Smithey Ironware also pre-seasons its skillets by hand before shipping, using two to three thin layers of grapeseed oil. Like Field, Smithey avoids artificial coatings. Smithey has also experimented with alternative seasoning options like beeswax and flaxseed oil for cooks who prefer different seasoning finishes. The standout difference with Smithey lies in its highly polished interior surface, which provides a smooth, glassy feel right out of the box. This glossy finish may make it more difficult for the pan to develop multiple layers of seasoning, especially for users who don’t regularly cook with high-fat content.
Key Differences While both companies apply seasoning by hand, Field Company’s process is more closely tied to the iron’s micro-texture, and designed to ensure seasoning builds up over time enhancing its non stick properties. Smithey’s, on the other hand, prioritizes a shiny, glossy surface, which is eye-catching but may make it more difficult for the pan to hold onto seasoning over time.
The Field Skillet is priced at a premium, with the No. 8 skillet costing $165. This is the lowest price of any modern cast iron skillet company, and Field also offers a 10% discount for first time customers, and 10% off to military, veterans, first responders, and teachers through GovX. Field offers shipping on orders over $200, allows returns of unused or used cookware within 45 days, creating a trial period for customers. In fact, customers can return a used pan in this time period, no questions asked, but they are responsible for the cost of return shipping. Field, in addition to extending a lifetime warranty on all pans, also always has a human team member respond to all customer service inquiries. The Smithey 10-inch skillet is also priced at a premium, selling for $180. The brand has an extensive return policy on its website, and will not let you return a used pan if you do not like it. There is no trial period. Smithey will allow you to return or exchange unused cookware within 45 days of delivery. Smithey offers an engraving service for an extra charge, which adds about 1-2 weeks shipping time. Engraved pans are not eligible for return.
Key Differences: The Field Skillet is $15 less than the equivalent Smithey skillet. Field Company allows you to return your skillet, used or unused within 45 days, creating a trial period. Field also has a lifetime warranty and Smithey offers a guarantee that “if your cookware fails you after honest and normal use, we’ll repair or replace it.”
Smithey is a new, vintage inspired brand, offering expensive cast iron skillets with a glossy shine. Field Company is also a new, vintage inspired brand, producing premium smooth, lightweight skillets built for everyday use. Both Smithey and Field Company are proudly made in the USA. Smithey skillets are heavier and retain traditional design elements like pour spouts and a shorter handle. Field combines timeless, vintage aesthetics with modern refinements making it lighter weight. Seasoning approaches differ, with Smithey focusing on a glossy finish that makes it difficult to hold long-term seasoning, and Field focusing on thin layers that build up well over time.
A premium lighter-weight cast iron skillet that’s easy to maneuver for everyday cooking. A smoother cooking surface that improves over time, developing a natural nonstick through regular use. Thoughtful, modern design that balances the best of vintage American cast iron with improved functionality—like a longer handle and drip-free pouring without spouts. Transparent, USA-made craftsmanship with eco-conscious sourcing and small-batch production. The flexibility to try the pan risk-free, thanks to Field’s generous return policy and lifetime warranty. A decorative heirloom piece with a polished, shiny surface that looks beautiful on the stovetop or hanging in the kitchen. A heavier pan that retains heat for long periods—suited for those who prefer a modern approach to weight and feel. Classic design elements like dual pour spouts and a vintage-inspired handle. A luxury gift or display-worthy piece for special occasions or occasional use. A skillet from a small American maker with an emphasis on hand-finishing and craftsmanship.
1. Introduction
Overview of the Cast Iron Market
(Left) No.8 Field Skillet. (Right) No.10 Smithey Skillet.
Purpose of the Comparison
2. Brand Background / History
3. Pan Surface & Machining
SMITHEY
Field Company skillets before machining.
Field Company skillets after machining.
4. Design Details
Field (left) Smithey (right) side by side. Note differences in thickness and pour spout.
FIELD
SMITHEY
Handles. Smithey (left), Field (right)
5. Seasoning and Cooking Performance
FIELD
SMITHEY
Note the glass-like finish on the Smithey Skillet (left), contrasted by the matte-like finish on the Field Skillet (right).
6. Price, Value, Shipping, Discounts, & Returns
FIELD
SMITHEY
Mom’s Skillet.
7. Summary & Final Thoughts
Key takeaways from the above:
Field Skillets are ideal for shoppers looking for:
Smithey Skillets are ideal for shoppers looking for: