Cast iron pans are great but very heavy if they’re any size. I’d suggest going for carbon steel as they’re lighter to handle. Indestructible, they will last a lifetime. I have a set of four in different sizes. The smallest is reserved exclusively for frying eggs and pancakes, and woe betide anyone who ever put garlic in it. The others are used for everything from searing steaks to grilling fish to roasting potatoes. Being all steel they readily go from oven to cooker top and vice versa, but you need to remember to use an oven glove!

The regimen for seasoning and cleaning and maintaining is pretty painless and if the carbon coating they build up gets damaged it’s easy to fix.

Just about the biggest thing to avoid is exposing them too much to acid like vinegary or tomato based sauces- I keep an enamelled pan for those.

Best of all- they aren’t expensive- no fancy poncy branding to think about, and they can be found easily online or from brick-and-mortar catering shops.