I just went through this with $5 cast iron skillet I found at a thirft store - but I used the technique described by America's Test Kitchen. Worked wonders!

Scrub with fine steel wool to remove rust and grime, add oil to cover the bottom, heat over medium heat until oil shimmers, let cool a bit, pour in a pile of salt, and using heavy gloves and paper towels, scrub with the salt and rinse. Repeat the oil/heat/salt until you get a nice black patina.

I wash my well-seasoned cast iron pans regularly with soap. I do, however, re-season them sort of regularly, maybe three or four times a year. And most of my use of the pans includes using oil or butter. But I'm just sayin', if the pan is well-seasoned enough, a little soap isn't going to ruin anything. As long as you rinse!

I agree with Ruby Jane. Sometimes you cook something a little smelly in a cast iron, but you don't want to remove all the seasoning. A little light wash with luke warm water and soap will help and not ruin it.

Ok I think I screwed up big time!! My mom gave me a couple of skillets, ang I had a fire going outside. So.... I thought I'd put them in the fire for a few minutes and get the years of stuff off the out side. I only had the in the fire for about 3-4 min each side, and when they cooled they rusted imeaditly. I washed with hot water and a scour pad, then oiled, but still look bad. Is there hope? Can someone please help........

Oh, I barely even soap. The trick is to get them super-hot before adding food, and rinse them immediately after cooking. Once rinsed, put 'em back on the burner until all the water evaporates off and let them cool.

Works every time.

I season mine every other month or so with shortening.

Dear factoryfk - I don't have an answer or know how to help, but thank you for posting! I was thinking of doing the same thing with a fire and now I wont.

You can throw them in a camp fire to season (that's what cast iron use to be used on back in the day)...but you need to rub them down with something first. This is how my grandfather did it and this is how I have gotten my new dutch oven where it is today. The trick is rubbing them down first with lard, bacon grease or vegetarian alternative (I guess...I am not a vegetarian, so I don't know what that would be). As far as maintenance, I wash my cast iron...as my mother did before me, but you never let it sit in water and you heat the sucker up to dry it to be sure its completely dry. Since I almost use cast iron exclusively to cook with, my skillets and such keep getting seasoned with each use, so I don't have to do much with up keep.