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.

I love when people that can't be asked to learn something new complain about the people that have.

The pan isn't the problem 🤷

Edit: I see this comment has reached it's intended audience. PS: your struggles to season a pan are pitiful.

I have no idea what kind of pots and pans I have. I know they're not cast iron though lol. I just use them and they work.

I've stopped using cast iron after some experimentation. It has some uses, but none of which can't be done equally well in a stainless steel or carbon steel pan.

I find these respond to temperature changes better and so are easier to control. My big iron pan also doesn't heat evenly enough, so extra care is needed to cook things consistently if it spans a wide area of the pan.

I think the best place for iron cookware is for oven pots, not for hobs and frying.

... Just get a fucking non stick pan and don't use wooden or iron utensils on it. Done, problem solved.