Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Here's the deal....for those complaining about how it rusts, they need to take a moment to learn how to care for cast iron. There is no such thing as defective cast iron causing it to rust, only improper methods of cleaning and seasoning. ALL cast iron will rust if not properly handled so disregard those reviews. Also, those complaining about it not heating evenly there are two things to consider. First, two burners are going to be a little less efficient in getting it to temp than a central, dedicated griddle burner. We just got a new stove and compared to the old el'cheapo model, the difference in output is astonishing. The old stove would have taken way longer to get to temp considering the low output. Second, cast iron takes a while to come to temperature in areas not directly over flame. You have to give it time to distribute heat to those areas. I laughed when I saw a IR image of heat distribution and the belly aching about it. This person was using 2 burners and it was beyond obvious not enough time was given for proper heat dispersion...So they called it a bad product, I call it bad science. Warm it up slowly at first as to not crack it (if its super cold), gradually increasing the temperature over 10-20 minutes, yes that long. Both edges of mine are a good 6 inches away from the central burner and those areas were blazing hot. Enough to hash-mark the pork loin I cooked last night. Cooking was very even and consistent, you just have to give it time to stabilize. You could light one back burner on medium and I guarantee you that in a half hour, if you try to pick it up form the end furthest away form the heat source that you'll be severely burned. That's how cast iron works. Heat creeps through it over time and heat is retained for a very long time. If your cooking is uneven, you're not giving it enough time to stabilize. - So....don't use soap when cleaning *unless* you plan to re-season it properly immediately afterwards. Use something that wont scratch and scrape it clean under warm running water while the griddle is still warm...Then place it back on the stove and reheat to remove all water. You could rub a thin film of oil on it too. We're conditioned to scrub-scrub-scrub with dish soap, don't do it. It's a sterile cooking surface when brought to temp, don't worry about "stuff" being left on. Get the bigger chunks off and that's it. A little left over grease from what you were cooking makes it more resilient and how its supposed to be. When you bring it to temp, simply wipe with a dish rag to remove any accumulated grease from the last cook and go from there.