World's largest cast iron skillet ready for museum visitors

Publish date: 2024-05-05

The world’s largest cast iron skillet measures 18 feet across and weighs 14,360 pounds.

Created by Lodge Cast Iron, a 126-year-old American cookware company, the “history-making” cast iron skillet can be viewed in person at the new Lodge Museum of Cast Iron, located in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

The museum opened its doors to the public on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, with a $10 admission fee, according to a new release issued by Lodge Cast Iron.

Lodge’s giant cast iron skillet made headlines in January after the pan was spotted on the back of a truck that traveled north on the Interstate Highway 59.

In a tweet, Lodge Cast Iron explained that it was transporting the skillet to its campus before the museum’s construction was completed. 

Social media users who saw the skillet in Lodge Cast Iron’s truck-focused Twitter video joked that they wanted to wash the pan with soap and water, according to FOX 13 Memphis.

While many cast iron pan aficionados believe soap can ruin a skillet’s baked-on oil seasoning, which is done to prevent rusting, Lodge Cast Iron says this belief is a “myth” and cookware made from this metal can handle “mild dish soap,” water and a scrub brush.

Visitors who wish to see the world’s largest cast iron skillet while they’re in Tennessee can enter the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron through the company’s South Pittsburg Factory Store, according to a press release.

The museum is open daily and operates between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CST.

Aside from having the world’s largest skillet, Lodge Cast Iron said its museum has other “interactive exhibits” that visitors can see, including “How It’s Made,” an exhibit that recreates the company’s foundry experience; “The Lodge History & Legacy,” an exhibit that details the company’s origins and multigenerational story; and “Cast Iron in Culture,” an exhibit that displays the versatility of cast iron cooking.

“After years of development, we’re thrilled to be opening the Lodge Museum of Cast Iron right here in our hometown to invite visitors from near and far to experience our history and culture,” said Mike Otterman, Lodge Cast Iron CEO and president, in a statement. 

“We are taking our Lodge community beyond their kitchens, backyards and campfires and bringing them right into the heartbeat of cast iron, peeling back the curtain to offer an experience unlike any other,” he continued.

At the time of publication, Guinness World Records doesn’t have an entry for the world’s largest cast iron skillet.

Yet the world record reference publication does have an entry for the world’s largest frying pan, a record that was achieved in 2018 in Turkey.

The world’s largest frying pan reportedly measures 22 feet and a half-inch in diameter, according to Guinness World Records.

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