To me, someone who celebrates a bit more of the spectrum than most: Metal hot. Make food hot.
Non-stick means easier cleanup, but my wife seems to think cast-iron is necessary for certain things (searing a prime rib roast, for example.).
After I figure those out, then I gotta figure out gas vs. electric vs. induction vs infrared…
I mean honestly you should be using soap and water on it and not just wiping it out. It doesn’t hurt anything to you soap and water. I use cast iron daily I’ve got six odd pans or something like that that I use and not ever had one issue with utilizing the soap and water on it.
Why? There’s nothing on my pans except seasoning when I use them. I scrub any food bits off after each use. Why would I need soap? What would I want the soap to do?
“seasoning”
Haha…OK
A seasoned cast iron pan refers to how experienced the pan is. The seasoning isn’t additional flavoring, it’s the result of years of real use.
When cleaning a cast iron pan you want to scrub off any “seasoning” (definition 1) without removing any “seasoning” (definition 3).
sea·soned
/ˈsēz(ə)nd/
adjective
(of food) having had salt, pepper, herbs, or spices added.
“seasoned flour”
(of wood) made suitable for use as timber by adjusting its moisture content.
“it was made from seasoned, untreated oak”
accustomed to particular conditions; experienced.
“she is a seasoned traveler”
Doesn’t the soap weaken the seasoning, causing it to flak off faster?
No when everything used to be lye based and acidic, sure. Soap has changed, and we know better now. If you have seasoning flakes off, it’s not seasoning.