I just had to say this some place after reading everythng said about cast iron.
I bought my first 12 inch skillet in the 70s for 15 dollars i think at the grocery store and it has been heavily used since then. Oh at first, cast iron sticks, when seaoning i remember this and choose things to cook in it which are easy to scrap off. No oven seasoning for me, although not above it just dont turn on the oven for that...i will use residual heat. Mostly seasoned that skillet with crisco, i dont use crisco any more but any high heat oil will do...i want to pan to get hot b4 smoking.
To season, at first with each use heat it up with oil on it every time you think of
water any place near the pan. Some times coat the outside, heat up in whatever way is convenient....stove top mostly for me til it smokes. After you build up a nice black coating on it, this is not needed except when you have put water in it.
To clean, most of the time i used a paper towel. If things stick the first approach is to turn your spatula upside down and scrap it off. If push comes to shove just wash the thing and stick it on the stove top with a bit of oil...all better.
So, although others seem to find the brand of the cook pot matters, i dont because I expect the pot to stick at first. When i see what paul has to say about the spatula, well i never thought about that before but likely he is right...i am scrapping the high spots and filling the lows.
Oh and tomatoes with cast iron, to me this is more than a try to avoid. I have seen well seasoned cast iron start to rust right after cooking tomatoes. If i cook tomatoes in one, i will immediately wash in water and heat it with some oil on it.
If at first your pan doesnt seem all you want it to be, be patient...use it and wait.
Oh one more thing, I never ever put the cast iron on the countertop...leaves stains. I toss the pan in the oven if i want it out of my way and it is dirty...and you know what, it doesnt even matter if the oven is hot.