Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Cast iron pans get better with age, unless you have a compulsion to scrub them clean them with dish soap - a big no-no. Even worse - the soap filled steel wool pads, a bigger NO NO! The idea is that oils from cooking keep the pan seasoned, eventually making it somewhat non-stick. If you scour it with soap, you're stripping the oils. I use my cast iron pan primarily for cooking steak (screaming hot pan, sear on both sides for 2 minutes then pop it in the oven to let it finish cooking.) For clean-up, while pan is still hot, I pour a cup of HOT tap water into it, let it sizzle and sit for a few minutes (never leave a cast iron pan soaking for more than 5 minutes - it WILL rust) then I take it to the sink and give it a quick scrub with this "chainmail scrubber" aka Cast Iron Cleaner. Fold it up and scrub away. It removes any little bits of food that may have stuck on, but it leaves the oils. For stubborn jobs, add a small scoop of coarse salt. Scrub, then rinse both the pan and the scrubber until the water runs clear. Thoroughly wipe the pan dry with either a paper towel or an old towel (there will be some brownish tinge, so you don't ruin your good dish towels.) I hang the scrubber by it's convenient round loop. I've used it about 10-12 times now and I'm very happy with it. I've put it through the dishwasher several times and it still looks new. When you're not scrubbing a pan with this cool tool, it doubles as a stress-reliever: it has a nice fluid movement to it, with a light "tinkling" sound accompanying it. If you have a kid that needs a calming, anti-stress fidget toy, this works well! Size-wise, it's actually about 7x 9 inches and the links are put together well. I foresee having this in my kitchen for a long time to come.