memes

First, everyone (not you because you don't like it) should buy their cast iron at the hardware store, should be ~ $30. It'll last pretty much forever so that $30 over a lifetime is not much.

If you don't cook a starch or aromatic in it, just wipe it out and let it get super hot.

If you do cook starch in it, hand wash it with soap, just let it get over 212 degrees on the stove to dry it.

If you want to throw it in the dishwasher, just pull it out at the end of the cycle and throw it on the stove > 212 degrees to dry. A well seasoned pan is generally so easy to clean, this would be a waste of your time, but it won't kill anyone.

If you want to subscribe to the no soap, scrub off the cooked starches with water and a non scratch scouring pad, re-coat in a fine layer of oil and let it smoke off under high heat. I really don't bother and just use whatever it takes to get it clean easily.

If the seasoning polymer you get from burning off oil gets cruddy after 6-8 months, re-season.

If you accidentally get a little rust on it, soak it in vinegar until the rust dissapears, scrub the spot with a 3m pad until the spot is clean and re-season.

You can get a rusty ass pan from a yard sale, soak it in vinegar for a day, scrub it down and re-season it. It'll come out like new.

If over the years, the seasoned surface starts to look super cruddy, soak it in sodium hydroxide until the polymer disolves, then reseason.

Yeah, they're harder than throwing it in the dishwasher, But they're wasteless, cheap, pleasant to cook on and give great results.

I keep a teflon pan and a couple different cast iron around. Even found a glass top lid that fits.