Like all good things, cast iron gets better with age :-) The more you use it the better it will get. I don't store mine oiled. I do marinated meats on my cast iron plate often. The marinade cooks on but comes off easily with soaking. The meat doesn't stick.
Whatever you do, DO NOT pour cold water onto it when it is hot, or thermal shock may well shatter it. Whan I cook something messy on my cast iron, I boil a kettle and our boiling water on it and leave it to soak. Cleans up in a jiffy.

I have several in different sizes. I prefer the ones without grill ridges. i agree with Colleen that they'll get better with age. I have always heard not to wash them but I always do with a dip into the soapy and go around with the sponge, rinse under running water, and then on the gas burner to dry. I don't ever leave them wet. I think you'll love cooking on cast iron, but your pan won't be "seasoned" with the first few uses. I almost ruined a pan with a teriyaki marinade. I don't recommend it in a grill pan. I think it was just too sweet and the sugar in the marinade burnt.

stir fryi, you won't regret your purchase once you start using it. If you can find a wire brush to clean it with, I find that helps remove food particles quite well. Coat your chicken with oil, and it shouldn't stick once your pan is properly heated. I don't oil my cast iron to store them either. Once it's well seasoned, you won't really need to.

I agree, I have cast iron pans that are decades old and they just get better, my favorite is as slick as teflon.

The best seasoning I've found is to make french fries, the hot grease just soaks right in, but I normally coat my cast iron with crisco and put it into a hot oven when it needs seasoning.

As Colleen mentioned, cast iron can be shattered, I cracked a nice skillet by taking it off a campfire and putting it into a bucket of cold water so that the kids wouldn't touch the hot pan. Sigh.

I'm assuming this is not enameled cast iron, which is something different entirely. I wouldn't do something with a sweet sticky marinade right away, if ever. That stuff is going to accumulate into those little ridges and be a bear to get clean, although Colleen's boiling water method works well for me too.

I think when you get used to it, and it becomes properly seasoned, you're going to love it, but there is definitely a learning curve with cast iron.

Annie

I keep my cast iron pans seasoned by leaving the grease from bacon, etc. in them until them are mostly cooled down, then clean with paper towel -- NO GREASE ever into the septic field. And, like the others, only wash with a soaking or soapy water when stuck-ons won't budge. I also agree that sticky marinades will probably be a problem.

I cook marinated meats in my cast iron grill pan, but I've had it for a very long time. I have a separate one with smaller ridges that I use for vegetables. My marinades are never sweet, however, and so you might want to wait until your pan is fully seasoned before you grill marinated meats. I tend to grill outside much more than I do inside, and now I have easier access to my back yard than I did in Venice.

If you season with vegetable oil and use too much, it can become gummy and sticky. I would use Crisco.

Lars

Well, I used the pan for chicken breast last night. I lightly oiled the chicken first.

It definitely did stick -- but not as badly as I expected. The trick (just like Rachael Ray says) was not to pull at the meat until the pan "released" it. Clean-up wasn't too bad -- just some dried slivers of chicken stuck on the grates.

I am going to "season" again in the oven. At this point I can't imagine cooking a hamberger patty in it (it would tear it all up) but I'd try chicken again.

I was thinking of frying bacon in it tomorrow. But if I can't use soap to clean it, won't it smell/taste like bacon grease after?

stir fry, I make bacon in my cast iron regularly, and I just wipe it out well. It doesn't seem to take on a detectable flavor but if it worries you, I'd make something the next time that you don't mind if it tastes a bit smokey.

I do burgers occasionally in my cast iron skillet, but no ridges, so I'm no help there.

Annie

I oil my cast iron pans w/vegetable oil, then wipe it out. I've got a skillet that's just right now as far as the seasoning goes. I tried cooking hash browns in it last night and kept thinking they'd stick, but they didn't. Then I thought I'd turn them to mush before they'd brown and that didn't happen either. I felt so happy because I'd cooked hash browns properly, finally. I use to cook them in the oven figuring they'd stick to the pan too much cooking them on the stove and they didn't turn out really good that way. I love this pan now. I've had it for ages, but just finally learned how to use it and clean it properly. Now I need to conquer the smaller enameled, non-stick cast iron pan I bought about a year ago. It has ridges in it and I'm not sure if it was a good purchase, for me.