re: Just asked Google how long I should cook raw green beans on the stove...

Some secrets to a real cast iron skillet

#1 Never marry a wife who is strong enough to swing one when angry

#2 Buy the real McCoy (usually inherited or at a garage sale of old old folks)

#3 Before the first use, you have to "season" it with heat and proper oil

#4 Never put it in a dishwasher

#5 Never wash it with soap and water
(I have an old skillet brush, looks like a tiny old fashioned broom from 200 years ago)

#6 Never cook unattended where you scorch food to the bottom

The one I use the most is at least a century old and still good as new. Aside from a pressure cooker, the BEST way to fry a chicken. Thing seriously weighs a ton (or feels like it) but is more faithful and true than any woman I ever knew. When I get that out of the drawer the hounds go wild because they know something good is about to happen.

Also, when I fry with it I use old fashioned white block of real lard not the "modern" vegetable oil Crisco now sells as lard. Always have at least a 1 pound block from some company you never heard of and hard to find these days at your local grocery.