Don't soak your cast iron. If you need to get some baked on shit off, put some water in there and simmer on the stove top for a couple minutes. Remove crud, dry, and wipe on some vegetable oil, dry with a clean paper towel and store.

Just used the cast iron skillet my wife gave me for Christmas 2 years ago to bake some homemade mac and cheese last night. It turned out great.

To get it ready for its first use, I cleaned it, dried, it and then preseasoned it with some vegetable oil before baking it for an hour at 350.

I was worried the post mac and cheese cleanup would be a pain in the ass, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. I scraped most of the dried cheese off and then soaked it in warm water while I did other dishes. Then I used a plastic-bristled brush to clean it. It all came off pretty easily. Before putting it away, I rubbed more vegetable oil in it.

Oh, and the search function worked awesome as I wanted to see if there was already a thread on cast iron skillets. Kudos, BF!

Can't wait to use it again.