OP here - cast iron skillets really scare me from a high-maintenance perspective. isn't the care of cast iron a lot of work?
Hi! Sorry I didn't get back to you.
Actually, cast-iron is pretty easy to take care of. If you use it frequently, then you don't need to do anything. If you don't, you need to oil the pan down before you put it away. You should wash in the sink, not the dishwasher (I confess, I don't know why, it's just how it's done in my family. I guess you could, actually. . .)
If a cast iron skillet gets rusty (and boy howdy, the ones I found in that old stove hadn't been used in at least ten years) you should wash it well, then rub it down with crisco or oil.
I know people who swear by building a big fire and thrusting their skillet into the heart of the fire to temper it, but I think that's a holdover from olden days maybe. No one in my family has done it, and our skillets are just fine.
The best part is that I have skillets that I will be able to hand down through the family. My mother has skillets that were left to her by her mother. (My grandmother died in 1977, and her skillets were old then!) It's kind of like Fiestaware - so long as you don't break it, you'll be using it until you pass, and if your kids carry on the tradition, THEY can use it.
