Cast Iron Anyone?

[Jasonw560]

My FIL uses it. He does a lot of "cowboy cooking"...beans, camp bread, stews, etc. Has a fire ring in the back yard.

He wouldn't use anything else.

[awsmith4]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

I got one of these probably 20 years ago in a local antique shop, and gave it to my mother for decoration. It will come back to me when passes away. The one I got has a frame around it that allows the pan to readily flip, but it also takes the cooking surface well above the usable range for a modern heating element. I figure it must have been made for old wood stoves, or maybe for open coal cooking, as I can see no way to effectively get heat to it in it's current configuration. As far as I know, my mom has never used it.

Just out of curiosity, Eric.... You ever see that waffle iron in use?

Not yet (its Al btw) but its frame allows the cooking surface to lay flat but still allows you to flip the waffle. I don't think Papa had used it in years since his wife passed but my stepdad and I will get around to it sooner or later...if it was at my house I would have by now.

[SvilleKid]

I picked up a piece a couple of years back that I thought was a different cornbread pan. Someone had sand blasted (or bead blasted?) the majority of the pan, and it had some surface rust due to a lack of oil after the idiot blasted it!

It has 7 cooking "cups" in a circular pattern with one in the middle of the six. Only, the "cups" were round on the bottom. And, the name indented into the top near the handle was a strange word, that starts with an "A E" joined into a single letter. AEbleskiver. I thought the name was the manufacturer, but it was the name of the item cooked in the pan. I did some internet searches, and found the name readily. It was for a Danish fruit tort (most often time apple - the name interpreted to "apple slices"). The idea was that the batter was put in the hot cup, it was allowed to set for a little bit for the bottom half to crust over, then a fork is used to rotate the batter ninety degrees, allowing uncooked batter to spill oven into the cup area, giving a tort that was now crusted over on 3/4 of it's surface. Filling was then added in the middle, and the tort was rotated the final 90 degrees, letting the remaining batter spill into the cup, and giving you a round tort with fruit in the middle, a little bit smaller than a baseball. There were many recipes available on the web.

I cooked cornbread in it a couple of times, but never did the rotation thing, as it was just too much trouble at the time. I still have it tucked away, and will probably give it a try for it's true intended use one day when I have nothing else to do. In the meantime, I cook cornbread in it several times a year, just to get the surface back to a slickness that will actually allow a rotation attempt.

This is pretty much the type I have:

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pub...RhTTGrP4QuxGrg

It appeared to be an older design than this, but I have no idea of the actual age.

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by awsmith4

Not yet (its Al btw) but its frame allows the cooking surface to lay flat but still allows you to flip the waffle. I don't think Papa had used it in years since his wife passed but my stepdad and I will get around to it sooner or later...if it was at my house I would have by now.

Good luck with getting it back, AL!! Sorry about the name. I even checked to make sure I have it right, then was distracted by a commercial about a show with Eric Roberts, and my mind went totally "old guy" on me! Dammit!

I actually plan on getting mine back in the next several months. Mom's already told all us kids that the ones who gave her stuff will be the ones to get them back when she passes. However, I have one sister who raided mom and dad's house when we moved them out after dad's stroke. And I have no doubt she would do it again if given the chance. So, I'll be laying claim to the waffle pan soon.

[RevSmoke]

I love my cast iron. But, it doesn't cook well on an electric range.

[awsmith4]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

Good luck with getting it back, AL!! Sorry about the name. I even checked to make sure I have it right, then was distracted by a commercial about a show with Eric Roberts, and my mind went totally "old guy" on me! Dammit!

I actually plan on getting mine back in the next several months. Mom's already told all us kids that the ones who gave her stuff will be the ones to get them back when she passes. However, I have one sister who raided mom and dad's house when we moved them out after dad's stroke. And I have no doubt she would do it again if given the chance. So, I'll be laying claim to the waffle pan soon.

My parents are still fairly young (late 50s early 60s) but it will just take one call to mom and ask her if that waffle iron he isn't using is taking up her cabinet space, I play dirty.

And don't worry about the name thing Clem

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by RevSmoke

I love my cast iron. But, it doesn't cook well on an electric range.

Until last year, I used mine on an insert for my Jenn-Aire that had cast iron cooking eyes. It took forever to get a cast iron pan heated, but once it was warm, between the eye and the pan, it would stay hot for a very long time. Was a royal PITA when lower temps were called for, and hard as heck to regulate. I now use them on an insert that has radiant heat coils under the glass, where the heat is almost instantaneous. What a BIG difference! Should have tossed the cast iron eye inserts years ago!

The radiant eyes are still not as good from a heat control point as gas would be, but alas, we don't have gas available where we live (except propane). I'm not a big proponent of cooking with LP. Too finicky in colder weather, and doesn't put out as much BTUs as natural gas.

Maybe one day.....

[Fordman4ever]

I use salt to clean my pans. just pour some salt in the pan to use as an abrasive and rub it around with a dry cloth. don't even have to rinse it out. Then I just put some oil in it and throw it under the stove.

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by awsmith4

And don't worry about the name thing Clem

That's Mr. Kadiddlehopper, please! At least that's how I feel half the time!

[SvilleKid]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

There's always cast iron pans or enamel cast iron (le creuset) on craigslist for much cheaper than new. These pans last lifetimes, so no worries buying used.

Not only do they last forever, unless they have been abused, it is really difficult to permanently damage one! Though I have appraised more than one house where they were being used as dog dishes outside, and were rusted and pitted beyond resurrection!

Heck, check around yard sales and flea markets. As long as it's not made in China, but is stamped with a manufacture (especially Lodge, of course), they should be safe to use, and there are deals to be had! I purchased three pans (1 wedge cornbread, 1 stick cornbread and an 8 inch frying pan) from a local flea market (that likes to think they are an antique store!) for a total of $20 last year. Presents for my (then) new DIL. I've picked up several of them free from individuals that have no idea how to use them, and just set them aside as "too hard to use". It's amazing where, and how cheap these can be had used!

[mosesbotbol]

Bacon is amazing in cast iron.

[pnoon]

I have a Lodge cast iron dutch oven. Still new and inexperienced with it.
It does make an amazing loaf of bread.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

[Flynnster]

Sunofa cam home today to my roomemates dirty dishes, including my new skillet. He says "don't worry I washed it really well before I used it"

He used soap, and a metal scrubby thing.

effff

[sevans105]

http://www.google.com/search?q=fffff...ALq7sitAg#i=13

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Flynnster

Sunofa cam home today to my roomemates dirty dishes, including my new skillet. He says "don't worry I washed it really well before I used it"

He used soap, and a metal scrubby thing.

effff

Gotta give them a demo on how to clean or "don't use it".

[Flynnster]

Tell me about it. I reseasond it last night how lodge says to do on their website.

There really is no hope for him though. He brought a lot of kitchen stuff and all of th pans he brought used to be teflon coated, but now are two tone. Silver bottoms with black sides.

[awsmith4]

Everybody went to bed a bit early, except me so I just finished re-seasoning one of my inherited pans. Came out well, I still have a little one that needs some serious scraping but I couldn't fine any of my metal putty knife/scrappers and steel wool was not getting the job done. Guess I'll work on it this weekend.

[Steve]

Love my cast iron dutch ovens and skillets.

[Fordman4ever]

Originally Posted by awsmith4

Everybody went to bed a bit early, except me so I just finished re-seasoning one of my inherited pans. Came out well, I still have a little one that needs some serious scraping but I couldn't fine any of my metal putty knife/scrappers and steel wool was not getting the job done. Guess I'll work on it this weekend.

I've got one like that too. if you heat it up pretty good the flaky stuff comes off a lot easier. Just make sure that if you don't get it all and you want to wait til the next day to finish it put some oil or something in the pan to keep it from rusting up over night.

[McSmokey]

Originally Posted by SvilleKid

Water in cleaning isn't the issue. Soap is the no-no for cast iron. My typical cleanup is super hot water in pan/pot for 10 minutes or so, then wipe it out with a non-soap dishrag. If my stove is still hot, or if I'm cooking on coals, I add water to the level of whatever was cooked, then set it back on fire/heat to get water hot. Been cleaning this way for 30+ years. Only thing is, you can't put the water in it, and walk away and forget it. One day in water, and you will find yourself re-seasoning in a hurry!

For those interested in learning more, and with great recipes and links, go to the International Dutch Oven Society's site at: www.IDOS.com

I found that site in the 1990's while a scout leader, and doing a lot more dutch oven cooking than I currently do. Haven't looked at it in a couple of years. It appears that it may be a pay site to get to most of the good stuff. That's a shame. But if you are really into Dutch Oven cooking, it is probably well worth the price!

I recently acquired to cast iron dutch ovens never actually cooked in one so I have some research to do.