This is the current “cast” of characters in rotation. Don’t tell Mary - there’s more than that hidden in the basement. Most brands are proud and mark their names prominently. My son has a no name pan that is only marked Taiwan and it is surprisingly good.

If a pan is rusty or thickly crusted with seasoning gone bad I take an SOS pad to it as a first step. It’s the only time I use soap. If that doesn’t do it I put it in the oven upside down with a cookie sheet the next rack down and run the self cleaning cycle. Some folks use electrolysis or concentrated vinegar, but for all the more often I do it, the oven works fine.

It will come out in the white. Anything that touches it will affect it, so my sweaty hands are in gloves. I rub a high temp oil like Avocado or Grapeseed very lightly and evenly on every surface and bake it upside down on 400 for a few hours.