If you buy a pan new, you will pay very little for them. I just bought a 14 inch deep pan for about $20 (and it will last until my children’s children’s children robot dog eats it). If you go to a garage sale, most people don’t understand that cast iron is like chefs gold and will sell it to you for dollars.
Fix it up, then you have to season it. I have used butter, vegetable oil and lard to season a cast iron pan. You basically just heat it up so that the oil and fat kind of melt into the pan. Pans will actually have their own flavor too. So this can be simple for the beginner, and very sophisticated for the seasoned cast iron pan chef.
Here’s an article with some great tips for seasoning your cast iron pan.
Read the article from thecornerkitchenblog.com here.