Got reunited with CI a few years ago when I found 3 different size "name-brand" (Lodge, griswold, etc.) skillets for next to nothing at a yard sale. It took SEVERAL applications of oven cleaner to get the unknown GOOK off. I reseasoned like my Grandmother always did... HOT pan and a dab of bacon grease smeared all over... inside and out. As for cleaning, if cooking something "dry" like eggs... once pan was seasoned, only needed to be wiped out with paper towel. If something "wet"... scrape with metal spatula... HOT water, cheap salt and a scrubber. Then on burner till hot and another dab of BG. IMO, KEY to cast iron is USE IT!! I think it's easy to find... CHEAP at yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets... cuz it is HEAVY and some people think it's "old-fashioned"... they don't know what they're missing. When I first started "collecting" CI, stored several pieces in oven. Then noticed minor rust?? Figure from steam coming off whatever was cooking while pieces were sitting there. Just scrubbed it off, a little more BG... but I moved pieces to where I saw them everyday and then use them frequently.

Elenal, glad you're enjoying it. Happy to have helped, and sweet of you to let me know that! If you season it just like raw cast iron it will build up a patina and release much easier. Even though it's a matte enamel it will still take a seasoning, which makes it easier to clean. Happy cooking!

Wow, cooper--that's really a testimonial to that microhood. Amazing. That's really great. We started out getting a microhood (actually a convection microhood) but then the convection part was so pathetic I ended up returning it and having to fight for my money back...I decided we'd just have the microwave somewhere else and got a hood instead (it cost about the same, actually). Unfortunately, since we'd planned the microhood originally I had only 30" for the hood, and I can really see now why they recommend 6" over the width of the range for the hood. Oh well. I bought up (the 650) because I hated our range (we were keeping it at the time) and I was dreaming of the day we'd replace it with a decent one -- gosh, one of this girl's dreams has finally come true--backwards, sideways, and 4 years late, but hey...

When cooking something that the wok shape is suitable for, I've found the cast iron one to be not to my liking. And not even close. I can't imagine a stainless steel wok being useful either but I haven't tried one. maifleur, it's true that most standard range/cooktop gas burners don't get as hot as they should to take greatest advantage of what a wok can do but when both are properly preheated, how could it be that a cast iron wok doesn't reach the same temperature as a carbon steel one? Do you have high temperature woks? I find I rarely use much more than the bottom 50% of the surface and often not even that, the food is never near the top. I don't have a commercial range but I do have one of the brands known for higher BTU burners and have a wok grate. It's ALMOST as hot as I can make good use of. I'm not Asian and that's why I qualify it.