You are 100% correct. attn# OP. Don't purchase the preseasoned kind. Season your own with "Crisco" in the can and season in the oven. Don't use a Scour Pad when cleaning. Properly seasoned Cast Iron be easily cleaned with a sponge or paper towel. BTW, season some more as necessary. The layers of seasoning build up and you get a smoother surface. I agree with the others that LODGE makes the best available Cast Iron today. It is made in Tennessee and Cracker Barrel even sells it.I am older school, I have 3 sets of Griswold cast iron from the early 1900s (I have 3 houses). Some of of it hand me downs but most from eBay and reconditioned by me. That old school cast iron is better than the day it was made. In fact, dinner is being prepared in a hundred year old Dutch oven as I type. Between uses I mini season it with coconut oil. It solidifies below about 80 degrees, is anti fungal, anti viral and anti bacterial. The Griswold and many of the Wagner pieces are much lighter than the Lodge stuff I see in the stores. If it hasn't been allowed to pit, it is nearly dinner plate smooth on the cooking surface.
BTW, please don't use soap when cleaning.You are 100% correct. attn# OP. Don't purchase the preseasoned kind. Season your own with "Crisco" in the can and season in the oven. Don't use a Scour Pad when cleaning. Properly seasoned Cast Iron be easily cleaned with a sponge or paper towel. BTW, season some more as necessary. The layers of seasoning build up and you get a smoother surface. I agree with the others that LODGE makes the best available Cast Iron today. It is made in Tennessee and Cracker Barrel even sells it.
My Wife uses a Cast Iron Skillet that My Grandparents bought in 1936. She loves It.
And she'll never wear it out. Teach the next generation how to cook with it and care for it and they will be handing it down to their kids.
Since my wife died, I've had trouble with eggs and bacon sticking to the skillet. They are cast iron and the small ones say " Lodge" on the back. They have a rough frying surface. Of the big ones, there is no name anywhere, yet they are smooth. One of the big ones has a "7" on the back side and the other has "10". I'm going to try the Crisco seasoning y'all mentioned. "Happiness" would be scooping up a "sunny side" egg without messing it up. But I have been scouring the little ones with brillo pads. That must be a NO NO.
The MRS did the cooking and I held down the jobs, cars and manual labor including....some cleaning.In fact, with me staying out of "Her" kitchen and her staying out of "My" garage, we got along real well for 48 years.:thumbsup: