Cookin with Cast Iron: (care instructions includ.) recipes and tips

[2dream]

Hey 2dream, look at all these pretty colors! http://www.chefsresource.com/cookware-staub.html

Did ya'll see that tea pot??????

Dragonlaurel - ouch.. you win. I will be forced to part with my money now. (I am so easy).

 

[dragonlaurel]

Now I just gotta wait on the mailman to bring it. I already got lots of eggs and the stuff to make the cornbread. Probably gonna be here friday or saturday. Yes, I sent it priority mail.
Everybody has their priorities you know.

 

[2dream]

Now I just gotta wait on the mailman to bring it. I already got lots of eggs and the stuff to make the cornbread. Probably gonna be here friday or saturday. Yes, I sent it priority mail.
Everybody has their priorities you know.

Sounds like you have your priorities in order to me.

 

[big brown horse]

Hey 2dream, look at all these pretty colors! http://www.chefsresource.com/cookware-staub.html

Did ya'll see that tea pot??????

Yup and it is only $119.

 

[freemotion]

Hey, don't forget to look in antique and junk shops for cast iron. I bought some Lodge skillets new, and got a Wagner griddle at a tag sale and a Wagner skillet at an antique shop (only $15!) There is a huge difference. The Wagner's are smooth as silk and pretty much non-stick when pre-heated properly. The Lodges are a little bumpy-textured and I really need to use some grease to cook in them. Still love them, but I look for Wagner pans every chance I get.

It is not the seasoning alone. The griddle was like new because the older lady's hubby found it in the shed, covered in rust, and he used a grinder to clean it up. It was bare metal, I had to season it from scratch.

Two of my pans live on the stove full-time. The little Wagner skillet for cooking eggs and the Wagner griddle. We had grilled cheese sandwiches tonight with some beef stew I'd previously canned.

 

[ORChick]

I have 2 muffin pans, and 2 corn stick pans that were my grandmother's (and possibly her mother's before), and about 30 years ago my mother gave me a (new) set of 2 different size frying pans, a dutch oven, a square pan (maybe meant for cornbread? I use it for Yorkshire pudding), and 2 saucepans. I never used the saucepans and gave them to the Goodwill, but the rest sees constant use. And then I found a lovely 12" frying pan at a garage sale - for the exorbitant price of 50 cents! In the last few years I found another muffin pan, with fluted sides, kind of like mini-Bundt pans, and a deep sided fry pan, both at antique stores - each was 12 dollars, I think. And I bought a tiny Lodge pan, maybe 5", to toast spices and nuts. I love my cast iron! And I use it on the glass top stove here in the new house, even though I hear one shouldn't. Quite honestly, I value the cast iron more than the stove

Abifae - I would not recommend putting your cast iron through the dishwasher. If you want to clean it back to its un-seasoned state you would be better off, IMO, putting it in a self cleaning oven at self cleaning temp until all the "gunk" burns off. Or on a covered gas grill at a high temp. If you have access to a bonfire you could bury the cast iron in the coals, and leave it till it all cools down - I think I read somewhere that that is what used to be done. And if it is just rust inside you need to get rid of, and not that crusty stuff that accumulates on the outside, boil up some water and some rhubarb leaves - the oxalic acid from the rhubarb is supposed to take care of the rust. You might still need a bit of steel wool and elbow grease after any of the treatments, and then you need to re-season it. I admit to not having tried any of these things myself, just read about them. Let us know the results if you do any of these things

 

[big brown horse]

Right on freemotion, all of my cast iron came from resale shops and such. But you have to admit, that stuff is so pretty.

I'll keep my eye out for Wagner brands. Mine aren't labeled, a letter here or a number there and that is it.

My favorite skillet isn't even flat anymore, it is sorta hollowed out from use. It still works well though.

 

[big brown horse]

Oh ORChick, that is how I cleaned my first used skillet, in the oven during a self clean. The gunk just flaked off when it was cooled.

 

[abifae]

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