I see cast iron about at every yard sale I stop at. They all say the same thing, they love how it cooks but it’s to heavy for them. I have a Wagner set that meets my family’s needs, I honestly don’t see how someone would pay big money for any of it. I do see how people would keep them as a family heirloom, I have my mom’s kitchen knives and I think about her every time I use them.

I feel the same, too heavy. Also I dislike not being able to clean cast iron after every use. Which is probably just force of habit but it is what it is.

why can't you clean it after every use

unfortunately there is a LOT of MISS information about CI that has circulated for a long time


a stiff brush and hot water , clean after every use is just fine.

Mac, I started out years ago stripping them in a fire, till I warped one. I've tried it all, fire, sandblast, oven cleaner, etc. The only way I strip them now is in a lye bath. 1lb of 100% lye to 5 gallons of water. IMO, best way ever.

As far as seasoning goes, I use Crisco, nothing else. Once stripped I clean them very well and heat them up and coat with crisco. Then wipe them hard like you want to get it all off. Then I bake them for an hour at 450-465. I do this a minimum of 3 times, that's where I feel the sweet spot is.

As far as cleaning them after use, it depends on what I cooked. If I do some eggs, I just wipe it clean with paper towels. Made taco meat last night and I used a plastic scraper after soaking in hot water for a few minutes. If by chance I get something really stuck on there I do use a little dawn dish soap.

Back when the older pans were made ya didn't use soap cause soap had lye in it and would mess up the seasoning. Nowadays ya don't need to worry bout that. If I use soap I dry the pan over heat and coat with a small amount of crisco and it's ready to go!