5’4” female, touchy wrists. I cannot use cast iron cookware without pain. Found that out in my mother’s kitchen. She’s even had carpal tunnel issues.
Get the strong one to put the skillet on the burner. Cook. Tell strong one to clean it. If it’s well seasoned it will just be a wipe off.
Leave it on the stove top. Or have strong one set it in the oven.
It’s not like you’re doing curls with it.
I have my first cast iron skillet. I’ve gotten so many different instructions on how to season and care for it I’m a bit confused. I have washed it with a bit of dawn on my finger tip and a plastic sponge. Then I towel dry it, dry it on the stove, and oil it and heat it again. I don’t use it more than a couple times a month as with hubster not eating solid food I don’t cook much. Some say never wash, others say wash sometimes, etc. etc. 
Oh I agree 100 percent with the op. I inherited a couple of ceramic pans and they suck.
If i wash my cast Iron. Like after gravy or a messy fry up.
Wipe out as much as you can with brown paper.
Sprinkle heavily with salt. Small amount of water. Keep wiping with paper.
I get it as dry as possible.
Then into the warm oven.
A tbsp of Crisco wipe it around. Back in the oven (off) til you think about it.
The less you do the better. You don’t need fancy oils or equipment. My Granny never oiled her skillets with anything but old time lard.
She swore by brown paper and salt clean up.
Ceramic-coated nonstick skillets - Agreed, even with babying the pan (handwash only, medium-low or lower heat, nothing sugary or acidic) they still need substantial food lube to be non-stick, and discolor and have reduced efficacy very quickly (say 8-12 weeks of regular use on my first try). I was gifted another one, and honestly only dare use it for eggs, and it’s discolored but still working with said lube at 12 weeks, but I’ve also only used it 8-10 times.
I have several cast iron and one high carbon steel pans, but I bought them new, and the manufacturer’s seasoning left much to be desired, compared to some of the multi-generational skillets mentioned above.
I’m actually in the process of re-seasoning my newest, where lack of use and a too-sugary marinade caused some stick-age that required de-seasoning the pan to get it off. It’s also one of those slightly lighter models than the common Lodge pan, but it’s no lightweight. And since the burned on patch was in a very small area, I suspect it is a result of uneven seasoning which was on of the more common complaints on the otherwise pretty highly rated reviews.
Anyway, a few more seasoning sessions and we’ll be back to a solid base, just needing more time and seasoning.
We had a glass-top range, so no cast iron. I’m happy to be back to gas burners and my lovely cast iron pan.
I love my cast iron front pan, but it’s heavy. I’ve recently discovered carbon steel, which is much lighter. And it works really well for fried eggs, and pancakes.
I like using metal utensils.
It’s disappointing to hear about the ceramic fad that’s apparently upon us. I’ve heard enough here that I’ll avoid them.
I can’t speak against cast iron because I have no real experience with it, but since many folks like them, more power to you. I have a cast iron crepe pan that I thought would be useful for toasting buns, but I never really successfully seasoned it despite several attempts and despite its fairly small size and having virtually no sides, it’s really heavy. It doesn’t seem like a good companion for my glass-top stove, either.
So I prefer the light non-stick crepe pan for toasting buns and bagels that I’ve had for years and was about $9 at IKEA. If I ever accidentally leave it on a hot burner as I’ve done a few times before, there’s a spare in the cupboard!
On the subject of longevity, as I mentioned before I have two non-stick skillets that I’ve had for many years, and still doing fine. One is from IKEA and has a glass top which is very useful when you need a cover but need to see what’s going on inside, notably in the steaming phase of preparing fried dim sum.
The other, as I mentioned elsewhere, is a T-Fal nonstick that I’ve had for over 15 years. With good care and the use of plastic or rubber utensils, it has remained as perfectly non-stick as when it was brand new. Fried eggs just effortlessly slide right off. The underside has a pattern of copper swirls that I suppose is intended for improved heat transfer – I don’t know if it does much good, but I love that skillet and wouldn’t give it up for anything! Notably, it never goes in the dishwasher and very rarely gets exposed to even mild dishwashing detergent – almost always just gets wiped down with paper towel.
My current skillets are OXO brand and have a conventional non-stick surface. I was surprised that they would go all-in on ceramic coatings but looking at the website, the conventional non-stick skillets are no longer available.
No to steel or nonstick-unsafe utensils. Not sure about high heat. What would count anyway? I’m sure we didn’t crank up the gas and leave the pan sitting there or anything, but I’m also sure we sautéed some stuff in it. It wasn’t coddled or limited to scrambled eggs or anything like that.
FWIW, Tfal seems to be the best bang for the buck that I can find for nonstick cookware. Our TFal pans are several years old and short no signs of trouble.
Nonstick TFal is what I look for, too. As suggested in OP, it’s true that the black nonstick ones have become a lot harder to find.
Thanks Beck, I’ll give that a try. Finding brown paper may be a bit tricky. I’ll have to ask for paper at the store a few times. Or maybe do some Aldi’s shopping.
The burner knobs on our stove are marked from 1-10; we don’t cook anything with the pans above “4.”
The other big thing is what you use to clean them. Regular (synthetic) dish sponges are OK, as I understand it, but no Scotchbrite pads, or anything that has an abrasive surface.
Costco had a sale on a set of HexClad pans last May, so I broke down and bought the set. HexClad is a ceramic / stainless steel hybrid, with a ceramic coating that has a lot of little stainless steel raised bumps in a hexagonal pattern that are meant to protect the ceramic, so you can supposedly use metal utensils with no worries. Gordon Ramsey is part owner of the company, and the pans are kind of a fad in cooking videos I watch-- the hexagonal pattern is easy to recognize in the vids.
My review after using them almost every day for almost a year? They’re not quite as non-stick as teflon, but they are pretty non-stick, and since whenever I cook something in a pan I’m going to be using a little oil, it’s plenty nonstick for my purposes, for the most part. They have great heat transfer-- browning and carmelizing stuff is easy-peasy. Also they’re very durable, and I like that I can put the entire pan in the oven if I want to. The finish seems to be holding up well-- and if it doesn’t, there’s a lifetime guarantee. Not cheap, even with a sale, but overall I’m happy with my purchase.
It wasn’t intended but my own cast iron use is pretty much all outdoors these days. It’s best suited to smokey, greasy, splattery and HOT cooking. Smash burgers, pot stickers, scallops are things I want to cook outside anyhow and my CI skillet & griddle pieces happens to be close to ideal when using my portable induction single top.
So long as it absorbs oil and is sturdy enough to scoop goop & lift bits. I like single ply cardboard, cereal boxes or seltzer cases, they’re built in crumb catchers. Regular paper is ok for blotting but be aware it can leave linty fibers if rubbed, those rinse right out so nbd.
One can often find a roll of “kraft paper” (which is what paper grocery bags are made of) at stores that sell mailing supplies. Amazon carries it, as well.
Cool, I’ll get some and keep working on my skillet. I really like it, but not washing it is just so … counter intuitive.
Why do you want brown paper and not, i dunno, a paper towel?
On my burner controls the 1 o’clock position is maximum high. I have no problem setting the control to about the 5 o’clock position even with my beloved T-Fal, though I might later turn it down a notch. I’ve had no problems or odours with the non-stick crepe pan that I use for toasting buns and bagels where I have the burner control turned up to about 4 o’clock.
The only time I’ve had the odour of overheated Teflon is when I’ve absent-mindedly forgotten to turn the burner off, and gone upstairs with my toast or sandwich and notice the deadly smell wafting upstairs much later. When that happens I immediately ventilate the downstairs and consider the crepe pan ruined and likely unsafe to use.
I would have thought any front pan at all would be totally fine for warming bread.