I got a new....

eman1200

eman1200

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Bro do you even lift
cast iron skillet. I have no clue why, other than a new cast iron store opened up near me and 'cast iron' sounds effing badass so I wanted one. but now it seems like it's actual work to use/maintain the thing. season it.....dry it or it'll rust after each use....sup with that? also, I don't really cook so I'm not sure why I got this thing at all. I'm thinking of taking it to the range to shoot at it for fun. PTING! PTING!
 
I think it would break if you shot it.

Wifey bought some a couple weeks ago. We are staring at them cuz it takes too much work. Might take em back.
 
Cast iron:

Get a nice ribeye steak.

Get the skillet good and hot (note - those babies will get REALLY hot, so I generally stay at or below med-high. Also, they don't heat very evenly, so make sure to preheat longer than you think.

Add pepper and kosher salt to ribeye steak.

Drop steak directly into skillet.

Listen to that sear, flip steak, sear, remove, let it rest, and admire your work.

Eat.
 
I got one a few years ago, but I don't think it is near as good as the one my Mother had when I was a kid. She would have whipped me if I washed it with soap or a scrub brush. After it cooled, we wiped it with a paper towel (or maybe it was a real towel back then; I forget).
 
For clean up, water only. If you have to scrub, one trick is to add kosher salt to the dry skillet and rub it in with a paper towel. The coarse salt will scrub off anything that's baked on.

I generally wipe it all dry with a towel, then put it on the stove and warm it up for a few minutes to bake it dry. Let it cool before putting it away.
 
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Matthew said:
For clean up, water only. If you have to scrub, one trick is to add kosher salt to the dry skillet and rub it in with a paper towel. The coarse salt will scrub off anything that's baked on.

I generally wipe it all dry with a towel, then put it on the stove and warm it up for a few minutes to bake it dry. Let it cool before putting it away.
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see....that's WORK.
 
My wife makes a peach upside down cake in our cast iron skillet that is just out of this world. Any recipe that starts with fresh peaches, a stick of butter and a cup of brown sugar can't be all bad, right?

Once you get the thing seasoned, maintenance is trivial. Let it cool, wipe it with a paper towel. If stuff is stuck just dump a little salt in there, scrub, rinse, wipe with a little olive or coconut oil. We usually cook in it with olive oil or butter -- butter really works best, but you have to watch the heat. You'll know when it's really seasoned well when you can cook fried eggs and it's like Teflon.
 
Took a bit to get the hang of but it is the best once learned.... only real draw back is the weight
 
forsonsinc said:
Took a bit to get the hang of but it is the best once learned.... only real draw back is the weight
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I actually feel like I'll be getting a workout at the same time I'm cooking bacon.
 
I think that maybe you need to learn how to cook bacon. See, the pan is on the burner....
 
DaleB said:
My wife makes a peach upside down cake in our cast iron skillet that is just out of this world. Any recipe that starts with fresh peaches, a stick of butter and a cup of brown sugar can't be all bad, right?
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If you want to send your HbA1C into hyperdrive and cause your eyes to roll back into your head with gastronomic orgasms, try Pineapple (or Peach) Upside Down Pancakes.

Same start with the cake, but sub pancake batter when the fruit, sugar, and butter is all GB&D. No syrup needed with the final product.

Troy Whistman introduced these to me at the Beacon Cafe at T67 (Hicks Airfield near Fort Worth). Soooooooo gooooood!
 
I cook everything in cast iron. Very little "maintenance". Nothing sticks if you do it right.
 
I have cast iron that I try to use at least several times a week. I’ve gotten my pot to the perfect season level. The skillet had a rusty set back after I left cornbread in it overnight.
 
Interwebs tend to overthink cast iron. I cook eggs over easy in mine on a weekly basis and clean up with whatever soap is left in the scouring pad after I give it a quick squeeze.

As for drying, just put back on the stove and use the residual heat if it's an electric range. If gas, just leave it on low flame for a few minutes until it's no longer wet. If it doesn't look right, just put a drop of oil in it and wipe it around with a paper towel.

Easy peasy.
 
asicer said:
Interwebs tend to overthink cast iron. I cook eggs over easy in mine on a weekly basis and clean up with whatever soap is left in the scouring pad after I give it a quick squeeze.

As for drying, just put back on the stove and use the residual heat if it's an electric range. If gas, just leave it on low flame for a few minutes until it's no longer wet. If it doesn't look right, just put a drop of oil in it and wipe it around with a paper towel.

Easy peasy.
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aight, I'll give this a shot, thx.
 
Yeah, you can get way deep in some super involved advice that makes it seem like a cast iron skillet is some sort of hoodoo black magic.

I've had to take soap and a scrubber to ours a few times. Just wipe it down with oil and let it set a while, preferably warm. Cook with butter a few times. It will recover.

I will say, though -- ours is really OLD. My Mom gave it to us, I think it was a wedding present -- theirs, not ours. It dates back to the 1940s, I'm sure, maybe earlier. The bottom is smooth. Some of the new stuff has a rough finish. Our new gas cooktop came with a cast iron griddle that's like that, got a rough grainy finish. It's OK, but just barely. I like the smooth finish a LOT better.
 
The hardest part about cooking in cast iron, for me, is heat regulation. I need to practice more so I can get the heat right - I get it too hot or not not enough and the eggs suffer. Once in a while I get it right. It just take practice. In my aluminum non-stick pan I can get it right the first time every time.

I guess I need one of those IR thermometers so I know what I'm doing.

For steaks, though, it's much more forgiving.
 
Matthew said:
The hardest part about cooking in cast iron, for me, is heat regulation. I need to practice more so I can get the heat right - I get it too hot or not not enough and the eggs suffer. Once in a while I get it right. It just take practice. In my aluminum non-stick pan I can get it right the first time every time.

I guess I need one of those IR thermometers so I know what I'm doing.

For steaks, though, it's much more forgiving.
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Someone else mentioned earlier, spend more time warming up the iron. It will spread the heat better and provide more even cooking with less (or no) sticking. Just don't turn the heat up too high.
 
We have a cast iron skillet that's been in the family for like 4 generations. Use it in the oven, over a fire camping, on the stove, could hammer nails with it in a pinch. Actually did use it to drive in tent stakes when I was in the Scouts. Every now and again we wash it in soap and hot water, to re-season it just put in in the oven at 350 or so until it gets hot, then rub it with a paper towel dipped in a little cooking oil.

Great for steaks, chops and such. Real even heat.
 
JOhnH said:
Someone else mentioned earlier, spend more time warming up the iron.
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That would have been me.

I've also seen recommendations to preheat inside the oven in order to get the whole pan to an even temperature more quickly than on the stovetop.

I just can't seem to find the best temp for eggs when I use cast iron. Med is too hot, low is too cool, med low seems about right. But when I cook the bacon first, I use a higher heat and then the pan has to cool down to egg temps and that's what generally gets me all messed up. Aluminum pans will cool down quickly so I can start over with the eggs after the bacon is cooked.
 
They're not that much effort honestly.. but they do require a little more care than your average TFAL..

I've been cooking on cast iron for years. There are some cast iron snobs on line who get obsessive over their seasoning and treating techniques, but honestly as long as you clean it properly they're really not a big deal, and food most certainly does taste and cook better.. and you know you aren't getting some weird teflon coating stuff in your food

Assuming your cookware is already seasoned (most are, if it isn't then follow directions for that), then you can generally cook with it like any other piece of cookware, with the added benefit that you can toss the whole thing in the oven without melting a plastic or rubber handle grip off. Yes, you will need to preheat it first.. I usually toss mine on the range on medium heat first while getting other ingredients ready.. that gives it a solid 5 minutes or more to come up to temp

Afterwards, to clean..: if you cooked something such that food burned onto it then simply deglaze it with something (depends on what you cooked, but a splash of red wine or broth are my go tos, in that order) then scrape the stuff off with a spatula. After that, a quick wash in some warm water, and mild soap (if absolutely necessary) and you are in business. You shouldn't have to go crazy scouring it... if you do then you'll need to reseason. Eventually with enough use you'll have a beautifully seasoned pan. I can cook scrambled eggs on mine and nothing will stick, and the eggs are delicious. A quick rinse in warm water and a wipe and we're done
 
The best cast iron skillets were made before 1920 by Wagner or Griswold. Unfortunately most cast iron back then was turned in for metal drives for WW II.

I have a dutch oven that was made in 1914 and it self basting. A whole chicken can be put inside, then onto the heat and the moisture collects on the lid, then drips back onto the chicken. I got it from my grandmother that got it from her mom who probably bought it brand new. I use to take it when I went camping to make stew in it. Then make breakfast in it. It needs re-seasoning and then it will be ready to go again.
 
Tantalum said:
They're not that much effort honestly.. but they do require a little more care than your average TFAL..
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Probably break even when you figure in the time spent buying new TFAL every few years when the coating starts flaking off.
 
The problem here is the NEW aspect.
They don’t make ‘em like they used to......a popular brand these days is Lodge - crap in my estimation in that the cooking surface is far from smooth and will never be nonstick.
Now IF you can find an older Griswold, that’s an entirely different animal, smooth and easily conditioned. Nothing cooks like a well conditioned Griswold.
 
Matthew said:
I need to practice more so I can get the heat right - I get it too hot or not not enough and the eggs suffer. Once in a while I get it right. It just take practice.
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I'm guessing you have a gas range. With electric, it's much easier to be consistent. Even more easier if it has electronic controls.

But even if it's gas, the wet-your-fingers-and-flick-a-few-drops trick helps.
 
wrbix said:
The problem here is the NEW aspect.
They don’t make ‘em like they used to......a popular brand these days is Lodge - crap in my estimation in that the cooking surface is far from smooth and will never be nonstick.
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You want smooth? Check out a Matter Bourgeat (ok, so it's not really cast iron, but...)

 
wrbix said:
The problem here is the NEW aspect.
They don’t make ‘em like they used to......a popular brand these days is Lodge - crap in my estimation in that the cooking surface is far from smooth and will never be nonstick.
Click to expand...
Getting our new griddle (texture like sand cast) to work well has been a little more of a challenge, but it can be done. It takes a little more oil than the skillet. The skillet is, I believe, a Griswold. The griddle is brand new, supposedly pre-seasoned. Well... it's ht or miss. As long as I use butter things are OK. With pancakes, it's usually OK, but sometimes not. I've debated taking a sander to it and smoothing the surface, then re-seasoning with it nice and smooth. No idea how long that would take, but I suspect it would be longer than I'm willing to put up with. I'll see how it does after another year or so of regular cooking.
 
wrbix said:
Lodge
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That's what I use for most daily Miner tasks the others are Viking and Smithey

you can get the course Lodge one to be seasoned up and coated just fine, just takes a little more effort
 
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