Hmm i very strongly disagree. It was immediately apparent to me even on the first cook how vastly superior the surface was to any standard Lodge or whatever. Nothing wrong with Lodge, I have those too, but I was very surprised. TBH i wasnt really expecting much, my expectations were very low when I got it on a whim as I kept hearing people rave about it.

The seasoning over time is also vastly superior because of these tiny grooves. I buy the skillet one as a gift for people and its pretty much unanimous that it's their favorite.

Not trying to hype, its just legitimately one of my favorite pans