Does cast iron brand actually matter, or is a $25 skillet the same iron as a $200 one? Cast Iron

Your actual problem is flatness, and that's a per-pan lottery in the cheap ranges rather than a brand property. Put a straight edge across any pan before you commit, or buy from somewhere with painless returns and check it at home on the counter. A flat cheap pan beats a warped expensive one on any hob, and it matters most on glass and induction.

I own five and cook on two. It's the same iron. What money buys you is machining and handle design: a milled surface starts slick instead of taking six months of use to get there, and thinner milled pans are lighter and heat up faster. What money does not buy is a better sear once both pans are properly seasoned. My most-used pan is the cheap one, because I don't feel precious about it.

Weight is the spec nobody lists and everybody feels. A 30 cm classic skillet is heavy enough that some people quietly stop reaching for it, while the thinner machined pans are noticeably easier to move one-handed with food in them. If you have any wrist trouble at all, pick one up in person before you buy 3 kg of iron.

Half-disagreeing with 'same iron' — sand-cast and machined surfaces genuinely behave differently, and for eggs that texture matters more than people admit. But for steak and cornbread, which is what you said you cook, there's no difference worth $175. Buy cheap and flat and put the rest towards a decent thermometer.

Carbon steel is the option nobody's mentioned. Lighter, heats faster, seasons the same way, and it's what most professional kitchens actually run. Worse at heat retention for a thick steak, better at nearly everything else. Worth handling one before you spend $200 on iron.

Vintage. Pre-war pans are thinner and were machined smooth at the factory, and they turn up in junk shops for the price of a sandwich. Surface rust is cosmetic and comes off in an afternoon.

Straight edge. Flat pan. Done.