Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

They are a good value for the money you will spend . Anyone who is having issues with them , here's what you need to know . First , they have a rough finish , as they are pre-seasoned . What did I do ? Sanded that off . It's not terrible , and will give you that smooth finish you want . Most cast iron that you buy today comes pre-seasoned . Then I washed it with mild dish soap ( think Ivory , or Dawn ) and WARM to HOT soapy water . Dry it using non lint cloth ( cut up on old clean t-shirt ) . Then to make sure it's perfectly dry turn on a burner on medium and sit the pan on it for 5 minutes . While that's going on I also turned my oven on to 400 degrees . It's important to make sure that your pans are perfectly dry so I took the extra precaution of putting them into the oven for 10 minutes . Take them out using oven mitts , oiled them down using some clarified butter (unsalted ) making sure that I wiped down the whole pan , sides , bottom , handle , etc . Now wipe off extra oil put the pans into the oven upside down and bake for one hour . Also put them on the middle rack and line the bottom rack with tinfoil . Repeat the oiling down process and baking process 2 more times . You now have a base seasoning , and a smooth surface . It will now clean up really easy . To do that , run the pan under hot water , will it's hot , NEVER use cold water ,( it will crack ) , use a wooden spoon to scrape off any food , use a lint free cloth ( piece of clean old cut up t-shirt ) , to dry it and stick it on a turned on burner or turned on oven for 5 minutes . That's it . When cast iron heats up it is self cleaning , also it won't rust . Over time you will get the black patina that you want . Then you can even cook acidic foods like tomato-based sauces in it .