Most pans are built to do everything, which is why they are never quite right for crisp-skin fish. The Fish Pan was designed by Josh to do one job: get fish skin crisp from edge to edge, with the Fish Weight sitting on top. This guide covers why it is shaped the way it is, how to season it when it arrives, how to cook in it, and how to keep it for the next few decades.
Why the sides are so low
The Fish Pan is solid cast iron with a 22 cm base and sides only 2.5 cm high. That is not a styling decision.
When fish cooks, moisture leaves the flesh as steam. In a deep-sided pan that steam is held in around the fillet, and it softens the skin almost as fast as the pan crisps it — you end up somewhere between fried and stewed. With shallow sides the steam escapes immediately, so the skin stays dry and keeps browning. The same logic applies to the fillet's own contact with the metal: we cover it in Why Pan Contact Is More Important Than Oil.
The 22 cm base is sized so the 16 cm Fish Weight sits comfortably on a fillet with room around it. Cast iron holds heat well, so the pan does not drop in temperature when a cold fillet goes in — which is the moment skin most often sticks.
The pan weighs 2.1 kg, has a 15 cm handle, and is cast in Sydney at Ajax Foundry, a family-owned foundry that has been casting iron for over 80 years. It works on electric, gas, induction, a charcoal grill or an open fire.
Seasoning it the first time
The pan arrives raw — unseasoned and uncoated — so that you season it yourself and know exactly what is on it. Seasoning is the layer of baked-in oil that gives cast iron its natural non-stick surface and protects it from rust, and it only improves the more you cook.
Set aside about an hour before your first cook. Use grapeseed oil throughout: it has a high smoke point and a clean, neutral flavour.
- Wash with hot water and a little mild dish soap. This is the only time you will use soap on the pan.
- Dry it completely. Bone dry, with no moisture left on the surface.
- Warm the pan in the oven at 100°C for ten minutes. This opens the pores of the iron so it takes the oil more readily.
- Rub a tablespoon of grapeseed oil into the whole pan — inside and out, base and handle included. Work it into the surface, then wipe back the excess until the pan looks dry and matte.
- Bake the pan upside down at 180°C for ten minutes, with a tray or sheet of foil on the shelf below to catch any drips. Wipe off any oil that has pooled.
- Bake again, upside down, at 220°C for one hour. Turn the oven off and let the pan cool right down inside it. It is then ready to cook on.
The same instructions come printed in the box, and there is a video of Josh seasoning the pan on the Fish Pan page.
Cooking fish in it
- Heat the pan over medium heat until a drop of water skates across it. Cast iron takes longer to heat than steel; give it a few minutes and don't rush it.
- Make sure the skin is dry. Josh's method is to store fish on a wire rack over a tray, uncovered in the fridge, for at least two hours before cooking — dry skin browns far faster than damp skin.
- Add a thin film of oil, then lay the fillet in skin-side down, away from you.
- Put the Fish Weight on straight away. This is the moment the skin contracts and tries to curl; the weight keeps it flat against the iron. See How to Get Crispy Fish Skin Without Overcooking the Flesh for the full method.
- Leave it alone. The fillet will release from the pan on its own when the skin is crisp. If it is still gripping, it isn't ready.
- Most fillets are cooked almost entirely skin-side down, then turned for seconds, or finished off the heat with the residual warmth of the pan.
After every cook
Rinse the pan in hot water while it is still warm — heat lifts more than any detergent will. Dry it completely, back over a low flame for a moment if you like, then wipe a teaspoon of grapeseed oil over the whole surface before you put it away.
No soap after that first wash, and never the dishwasher: both strip the seasoning you have built.
In the early days
Keep the heat low to medium while the seasoning is still building, and be generous with the oil or fat in the pan. The skin on a fillet will crisp beautifully once the surface has had a few cooks behind it.
Hold off on very acidic things like lemon, wine and tomato until the pan is well established — acid can strip a young seasoning before it has had a chance to settle. Once the surface is reliably non-stick, a squeeze of lemon over your fish is no trouble at all.
If the pan ever develops rust, or you simply want to start fresh, scrub it back with steel wool and season again from the beginning. Cast iron is forgiving; there is almost no state it can't be brought back from.
Questions we're asked
Does it need to be seasoned before the first use?
Yes. It arrives raw so you can do it yourself. Cooking on bare iron will stick, and the pan has no protection against rust until it is seasoned.
Why grapeseed oil?
High smoke point and a clean, neutral flavour, so it polymerises into a hard surface without leaving any taste behind.
Can I use soap on it?
Only for the very first wash before seasoning. After that, hot water while the pan is still warm does the job.
Can I use it on induction?
Yes — cast iron is magnetic and works on every cooktop, including induction, as well as over charcoal or an open fire.
Is it only for fish?
No. It is a 22 cm cast iron skillet and will fry an egg, sear a steak or bake a flatbread. The shallow sides just make it particularly good at anything where you want moisture to escape rather than pool.
Can I use another pan with the Fish Weight?
Yes. The weight is 16 cm across and works in any flat-based pan with room for it to sit level on the fillet. The Fish Pan was designed around it, which is why the two are sold together in The Crisp Skin Bundle.