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The best pan is the $20 no name stainless steel pan from a restaurant supply store. Cast iron is for Dutch ovens that need to retain heat for stews and curries and shit. Anyone that genuinely prefers cast iron over stainless just doesn’t know how to preheat a pan and use cold oil. “Oh I want a pan that requires ongoing maintenance, can never be properly cleaned, isn’t actually non stick at all, and weighs 900 pounds so doing any kind of toss is a total pain in the ass”
i tried cast iron pans many summers ago. but i found myself never using it because cooking is already inconvenient enough and cast iron pans just add a whole other dimension of inconvenience. it also makes me nervous that they’re never/rarely ever cleaned with soap and water. it was also very difficult to find consistent instructions on how to care for them and use them safely. so now i just use stainless steel instead.
My biggest complaint is the smoking oil really upsets my air purifier, that stuff can’t be good to breathe in. I only season my pans outside and that is not even annually, only as needed and it is basically never needed.
After cooking I wipe the pan out with a dry rag and if it is just oily I let it ride. If there’s any crust stuck to the pan I’ll scrape it and wash with hot water in the sink. Dry it with a towel, light spray of avocado oil, wipe it off, put it away.
I’d like to upgrade my hood over the externally exhausted microwave vent I have, but until then I don’t use them inside in anything hot enough to smoke so we’re not breathing that crap in. Good enough for eggs or browning a sautee but I’m not going to sear meat indoors.
Edit: bacon! I love cooking bacon on cast iron but just can’t do it anymore. The smoke is too much, it coats the entire house in a sheen of oil vapor, and splatters all over the stove. I recently got a blackstone and exclusively cook bacon outside.