Cooking with cast iorn.

[S&WM&P40]

How many people cook with cast iron pots and pans? I'm not talking about when your camping, I'm talking about in the kitchen at home.

I have been cooking with them for about a two months now and I love it.

 

[jelo45110]

My wife and I have used cast iron for cooking for years.

 

[S&WM&P40]

My wife and I have used cast iron for cooking for years.

Nice! We got feed up with the cheap china made sets that cost over 100 and only last a few years before they fall apart. Even the higher-high end stuff is made in china(maybe not the whole thing but parts of it are.) When you get use to cooking with cast iron it really becomes fun.

 

[S&WM&P40]

I recomend Emerilware's line of cast iron cookware. And to be honest I am not a fan of Emeril Lagasse. Elzarr the spoof of Emeril on Futurama, now there's a chef. :laugh:

We use lodgecabin cookware MADE IN THE USA!!!! Pricey yes, but money well spent!

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

 

[Treo]

We have some Lodge cast iron but my wife actually found several pieces in a scrap metal pile a nieghbor was getting rid of. She brought it home cleaned it and seasoned it and went to town. She also has several tortilla flats that she uses when she makes tortillas.

The only problem we've had was making scalloped potatoes in the dutch oven, they sat just a little too long and took on the iron taste

 

[aj's 40 cal]

i have a emerilware cast iorn pan that i just used tonight to make some sirloin steaks, i love usin them for steaks and chicken!

 

[lukem]

I've been using a cart iron skillet for my steaks lately. I also have two Fontignac Dutch ovens that I use all the time. I made Shrimp Creole last night in one.

 

[sargedog]

There ain't nothing better than buttermilk cornbread in the iron skillet, makes the bottom nice and crispy. If you really want to jack up your cholesterol put some strips of bacon in the bottom of the pan then pour the batter in and bake. You talk about good, I like to make my over easy eggs in a iron skillet also.

 

[jtg452]

I have 2 Lodge #8 (10 inch) skillets. One is used only for cornbread (it was one of my mother's wedding presents and is probably 50 years old). The other I picked up about 10 years ago at the Lodge store north of Atlanta around Commerce, GA and I use it for pretty much everything else. I also have a griddle that gets occasional use and a 6 inch Lodge skillet that is used mainly for the occasional fried egg.

The trick to baking cornbread is to preheat the skillet on the stove top over low heat and to put in your oil or grease at that time. I cook my cornbread at 500 degrees for 15 minutes. It comes out with a crisper crust that way.

 

[Oldgrunt]

My wife and I have been married for nearly 54 years and still have some of the iron skillets, Dutch oven, etc. we started with. You can't wear it out and you can't find anything better.

 

[S&WM&P40]

We have some Lodge cast iron but my wife actually found several pieces in a scrap metal pile a nieghbor was getting rid of. She brought it home cleaned it and seasoned it and went to town. She also has several tortilla flats that she uses when she makes tortillas.

The only problem we've had was making scalloped potatoes in the dutch oven, they sat just a little too long and took on the iron taste

From what I have read, when that happens you need to re-season the pan. Their website says to clean it with soap(this once) so it has a fresh surface. Rub vegetable oil lard all over the pan, lay it upside down in the oven at 375-400 for an hour.

 

[mappow]

When my EX and I split 10 years ago, the one thing that really P'd her off was that I took our large Cast Iron Fry Pan. Of course being the gentleman that I am, modest too. I let her have the Dutch Oven. I'm almost up to 10 yrs with this wife and the pan is as great as the day I bought it, some 25 years now. Had to re-season it once (EX didn't listen to me once again, hence the EX)
SW&MP40 has it right. Once "Properly Seasoned" correctly, you should never have a problem with sticking or taste transfer. KEY is "Properly Seasoned"! GOOGLE it if you need more directions. After use I clean with soap/water with light abrasion of a green scrubbing pad. Paper towel dry then a dab on olive oil to spread with a dry paper towel, JUST a dab.

 

[wicked]

These days, I use a dutch oven, a square (antique) fry pan, a 10" deep "chicken fryer" and a common 8" skillet daily. I've had the nice, expensive brands of stainless and continue to go back to cast iron. I even have a cast iron wok -- but it's really too heavy to handle easily, so I usually grab the "chicken fryer" for stir-fry meals. I'll never go back to using stainless.

 

[S&WM&P40]

When my EX and I split 10 years ago, the one thing that really P'd her off was that I took our large Cast Iron Fry Pan. Of course being the gentleman that I am, modest too. I let her have the Dutch Oven. I'm almost up to 10 yrs with this wife and the pan is as great as the day I bought it, some 25 years now. Had to re-season it once (EX didn't listen to me once again, hence the EX)
SW&MP40 has it right. Once "Properly Seasoned" correctly, you should never have a problem with sticking or taste transfer. KEY is "Properly Seasoned"! GOOGLE it if you need more directions. After use I clean with soap/water with light abrasion of a green scrubbing pad. Paper towel dry then a dab on olive oil to spread with a dry paper towel, JUST a dab.

I never use soap on my pans, they state not to use soap of any kind on them unless your going to re-season it. Depending on what I'm cooking I'll just wipe out the pan with a rag when done and reapply some oil. If I'm cooking something that is going to make a mess, I use hot water and a stiff nylon brush to scrub the pan, towel dry and then re-oil it.

I heat the pan just a little before I apply the oil(as lodgecabin says to do.) I leave enough oil in the pan so it has a tin coating on it that will not dry up.

I'm dieing to get a dutch over and a reversible griddle! Put that thing right over the open fire and cook my beans and hardtack, with fresh coffee/tea in the percolator.

 

[S&WM&P40]

These days, I use a dutch oven, a square (antique) fry pan, a 10" deep "chicken fryer" and a common 8" skillet daily. I've had the nice, expensive brands of stainless and continue to go back to cast iron. I even have a cast iron wok -- but it's really too heavy to handle easily, so I usually grab the "chicken fryer" for stir-fry meals. I'll never go back to using stainless.

I felt the same way mate! Pans every year-every other year,same old song and dance and handles would get loose or the rivets would start to pull out. If you ding/chip a non-stick pan it's dead and your left without a pan.

If cast iron was good enough for the cowboys and the men/women before them, then it's good enough for me and my family.

 

[cjs]

I've got one that never leaves my stove...I don't even have a spot to store it since it's ALWAYS out. +1 for Lodge!

 

[S&WM&P40]

That's probably the WORST way to make coffee, burned, re-burned and over cooked.

I guess it all depends on who is making the coffee, the few times I have used one I have never burned it.

There is a scene from a civil war film(I think it's Gettysburg) they are expecting an attack to come so they set a trap. They take the coffee grinds and throw them into the fire, to make them think they are having breakfast. All you can see in the whole scene is the dutch oven and other cast iron pans on the fire.

 

[S&WM&P40]

We don't need no stinkin non-stick pans. All-Clad Metalcrafters

As for All-Clad they can take their 2000 dollar+ pans/pan sets and shove them!