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Farm Kitchen:  Cast Iron cooking  |
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Nicol
True Blue Farmgirl
200 Posts
Nicol
200 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 09:07:27 AM
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I just purchased this cookbook http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=Ql6WTpnBOU&isbn=1570614253&itm=1yesterday (with a 30% off coupon ) and thought someone here might be interested. I read the introduction and browsed through the recipes last night. There are a lot that I am going to try. They look so delicious! I love cooking in my cast iron skillet. I also have a Le Creuset grilling pan (purchased deeply discounted) and a Le Creuset dutch oven that was a gift. We use the grilling pan nearly once a week in the winter and the dutch oven I consider to be an heirloom to hand down to my children. Anyone else enjoy cast iron cooking? |
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sqrl
True Blue Farmgirl
605 Posts
Melissa
Northern California
USA
605 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 09:16:22 AM
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I love my cast iron cook wear. I have three beautifully well seasoned pans, two dutch ovens one with a lid one without and some muffin tin or I guess not tins but irons. I would love to find a big deep frying pan with a lid. I'd be happy to find one without a lid. My Step-Mother-in-law has one that I've had my eye on and she doesn't even use it but know she wouldn't give it up. I'll find one someday. You see them at yard sales and the such, some people don't seem to like them because you have to maintance them. Their a lot safer than cooking in teflon who know what thats made of.
Blessed Be
www.sqrlbee.com/artisan
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lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 09:18:30 AM
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I too love cooking with cast iron. In fact I have quite a collection going and is what we use almost all the time with the exception of something like tomato sauce. Made that mistake once  . We love the way that the food tastes and when I make my bread it has a nice crust on it, just wonderful. The best part is, if properly cared for they will last forever!!! |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 09:33:02 AM
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I cook with cast iron every day and love it. I especially love my giant skillet and lid. I keep it out most of the time since I use it daily. I use a 10" skillet to bake cornbread in..yum!
My grown sons get me cast iron ware for gifts quite often and so I am getting a pretty good collection going too. Dutch oven cooking is fun too..I have 2 and would like to get one more..a more shallow one...next. Some of my cast iron came from my mom, who never likes to cook with anything buy non stick. her loss, my gain!!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 10:08:44 AM
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I admire all of you. I am terrible with cast iron cookwear. Neither my mother nor my husband will let me near it OR the wok. I can't help it, I just have an overwhelming urge to use the steel wool on it. I know better but....I just can't leave it alone.
Really embarrassing!
Lucinda
Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. ---Bronson Alcott
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 10:24:11 AM
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I love to cook in cast iron. I only have a 10" skillet but am slowly going to get more. My mom never cooked in anything else. There's nothing better for frying chicken or baking in the oven.
Once I got over my phobia of having to wash the pan each time with soap and water, it stays well seasoned. I scrape it under hot water, wipe out, and dry on the stove top. I figure if I did the same thing for my stoneware and it was ok it would be ok for the cast iron too. I'd love to have a big skillet -- on the hunt for one of those.
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State |
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thehouseminder
True Blue Farmgirl
361 Posts
USA
361 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 10:55:02 AM
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Hi Kay,
You would have been in awe of the cast iron skillet my ex's Aunt Ingna had. She had raised eight children and her skillet covered all four burners on her stove! She could cook for an army in that thing and although she would never say where she got it, rumor was that it was Army Surplus.
Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. ---Bronson Alcott
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FarrarFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
330 Posts
Lynda
Frohna
Missouri
USA
330 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 11:43:38 AM
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I would love to do more cooking in my cast-iron, but I think I've messed it up or possibly even ruined my dutch oven. Does anyone know how to re-season a cast-iron dutch oven? I have a 10in skillet and use it ALL the time. It's the only piece I have, given to me by my mother when I got married 26 years ago. Actually I told her I was going to take it with me and that's all I wanted for my gift from my parents. It was already well seasoned and we cooked in it all the time at home, too. So I was very comfortable with it.
Each year our family make an annual trek to Bass Pro Shop and they sell cast iron ware. I commented on how much I would like to use cast-iron ware, especially with a dutch oven. Well, to my surprise, my husband made another trip out there just to get that dutch oven. I thought I followed the directions to season it correctly, but evidently not, because it is sticky and each time I use it no matter how well I have coated it with shortening, I get a residue of rust. And it smells rancid, like old oil. Can I start all over with this pan?
I don't know how to un-do what I have done so that I can use it properly. Consequently, it has been taken to the basement and put on a shelf. Eventually when we build our house on the farm, I would love to have a big open fireplace with a swing arm to cook with a dutch oven over the fire. I think I need some more help before I even get to that part of my dream.
Looking forward to learning from the "seasoned" cast-iron cookers. Thanks for you input.
God bless you all.
In His hands,
Lynda |
Edited by - FarrarFarmgirl on Jul 22 2005 11:45:12 AM |
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sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 6:10:45 PM
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Lynda, try the Lodge Cookware site (do a search...I can't remember the address!) and I think they have a section on seasoning. It will be a bit of work, but worth it.
good luck,
Sharon
PS I took my cast iron Dutch oven when we had to evacuate due to fire... I LOVE my cast iron cookware! |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 7:48:16 PM
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I think the first step to cleaning you dutch oven would be to take some SOS pads and clean out all the old oil that did not quite work. I know with a seasoned pot you should not use the steel wool because it will take the season off...but since your season is the problem...I guess the steel wool would be a solution! :) Once you pan is oil-free there should be no problem seasoning it again. Cast iron is very forgiving.
Good luck!
Ciao
Alee |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 11:39:33 PM
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Just rub the inside with some vegetable shortening (bacon grease works better if you have that) and then put it in a 200 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Take it out, let it cool, and wipe with a DRY paper towel. If you don't want to do the oven thing then you could fry some bacon in it, empty the grease, scrap the pan, and wipe out with a paper towel.
Then you have to turn around three times and repeat the following: "I will NEVER use soap and water on my cast iron again. Nor will attack it with an SOS pad." LOL!
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 22 2005 : 11:51:42 PM
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Lynda -- I forgot to mention that you should try to get the old stuff off first before you re-season. Try taking baking soda and a scratcher to it. That works for my Pampered Chef Stoneware.
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."
--Eleanor Roosevelt |
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Farmer Macleigh
Farmgirl in Training
39 Posts
Tennessee
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2005 : 7:11:18 PM
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Since childhood I have never known what a kitchen is without a cast iron skillet. It represents all of what's best in the kitchens of matriarchs and the heritage to be passed on to daughters. They make perfect buttermilk cornbread. I've also used mine for Mary Jane's brownies!
Hope sustains the farmer. -- Old Proverb |
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shepherdess
True Blue Farmgirl
359 Posts
Robin
Eatonville
Washington
USA
359 Posts |
Posted - Jul 23 2005 : 10:53:20 PM
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MY husband and I both have cast iron cookware. He cooks in a firepit in the back yard year around. I cook with it everyday. We have all sizes and shapes. We love it.
Farm Girl from Western Washington
" From sheep to handspun " |
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Thistlewoodmanor
True Blue Farmgirl
51 Posts
Deb
Geneva
IA
USA
51 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2005 : 3:01:58 PM
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I lost my 18" cast iron frying pan thru divorce, but I use my 10" all the time for everything from eggs to cornbread. I started using it when I was told my youngest son was slightly anemic and needed more iron in his diet...he's never been much of a meat eater.
Just recently, a friend gave me a dutch oven with lid, a frying pan, a deep skillet/pot and a soup pot with a handle. They were stored in his barn and are extremely rusty! Does anyone know how I should clean them up?
Last week my husband was blacksmith at the county fair and made me a tripod to hang my pots from over the fire. I can't wait to use it!
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~annavon431/ |
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JoyIowa
True Blue Farmgirl
273 Posts
Joy
273 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2005 : 5:10:58 PM
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Deb,
I've got to know: How does one lose an 18" cast iron pan in a divorce settlement? (My over-heated mind has come up with all sorts of justifications of how to tell the judge why I should get the pan!) Truthfully, it's more of a retorical question than anything else.
As for your rusty cast iron, your hubby doing what he does no doubt knows someone with a small sandblaster. Barter for that person to sandblast them at half power. Then wash, wash, and wash, then season, season, season. Lacking that Charlie (my blacksmithing husband), says to sit upwind of a cool breeze and use 220 grit sandpaper wrapped around a small kitchen sponge and sand away. By the way, oldtimers used to bury them in wood coals and burn the grease build up off. (The trivia these blacksmiths come up with...) How are things going by the way?
Joy
To live without farm life is merely existing, to live with farm life is living life to it very last experience. |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2005 : 6:45:51 PM
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Boy a tripod..now that would be nice! I was asked to cook a dutch oven dish to serve to a youth conference group Thursday night..they will deliver the ingredients to me even..that will be fun.
I have rescued some pretty rusty cast iron ware..it can't really get beyond repair I don't think..by using steel wool and lots of elbow grease..and then washing it and oiling it (I use shortening) and baking it to season. Using it alot makes it better and better by the way..the more you use them the better they get!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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FarrarFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
330 Posts
Lynda
Frohna
Missouri
USA
330 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2005 : 5:57:35 PM
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Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions and help with my poor dutch oven. Cleaning the basement is my next major project, so I'll be bringing it up to give it another try. As hot as it is right, now heavy-duty cooking is not first on my list but, stew and chili season is right around the corner so having the dutch oven ready to go sure will come in handy.
Kay, you're absolutely right, removing the old stuff first will be key to re-seasoning it so it will work properly again. And, I love your additional advice, I'll try to find my ruby red slippers when I do that and maybe I'll end up in KS so I can visit my daughter. I had to laugh out loud at that one. That was a good one! :o)
But you also had some advice that might work a lot better and that's the baking soda paste. I recommend that all the time to the guest at my shows. And I have even compared cooking with cast iron as with the stones so guests would understand the concept of using stoneware. I guess it's been in the basement too long, I wasn't making the connection. Great idea, thanks so much!
I'm so glad to hear you are familiar with Pampered Chef products, that means you must have a well-stocked, high-quality kitchen. Good for you.
I'll let you know what works best and when the pot of beef stew and biscuits are ready. Have a blessed evening.
In His hands,
Lynda
Pray in faith and you will not live in doubt. |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2005 : 11:11:48 PM
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Lynda -- I LOVE Pampered Chef. I have quite a few things but not as much as I'd like! I keep adding to it as finances allow. I love my stoneware, especially the deep dish baker and the loaf pan. My mother-in-law gets Pampered Chef pieces for me for Christmas and my birthday. One year she got me the food chopper. I just went nuts because I had been wanting it for so long. My husband thought I was crazy that way I carrying on about it!
Hope you found your red slippers!
Kay - Living in Beautiful Washington State
"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."
--Eleanor Roosevelt |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2005 : 11:27:25 PM
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I love pampered chef too..and have a niece here in town who is consultant. I have been slowly collecting pampered chef stuff for years...especailly love the chopper and the rotary cheese grater. (I use mine for grating soap to make laundry soap too) and gosh...the batter bowls, the little brown scraper things. ....lots of the stuff!!!
Hey Lynda..those little brown scrapers are the perfect thing for cast iron too!!!!
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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sleepless reader
True Blue Farmgirl
1022 Posts
CA
USA
1022 Posts |
Posted - Jul 25 2005 : 11:54:02 PM
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Pampered Chef YES! The stones, the chopper! Jenny, I use my grater for grating the soap in your laundry soap recipe too! I use the little brown scraper on cast iron, on things stuck to the kitchen floor and it's perfect to clean out the insides of pumpkins! Today I used one to scrape stickers off my son's dresser...no scratches in the wood! They're the best buy too:)
Sharon
PS Jenny, what are you doing up so late?!LOL from your wide awake farmgirl friend! |
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westernhorse51
True Blue Farmgirl
1681 Posts
michele
farmingdale
n.j.
USA
1681 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2005 : 06:33:45 AM
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a friend of mine is cleaning out an old house for a women she is caretaker for. She asked me if I wanted her old cast iron pans, if not shes throwing them away. Of course I said yes, there are 5 of them. I havent cooked in one of them in years and when I did it was far & few between. What do I have to do to maintain them?? Michele
"she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands". Prov. 31:13 |
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Nicol
True Blue Farmgirl
200 Posts
Nicol
200 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2005 : 07:31:04 AM
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To maintain cast iron you don't really have to do much. Make sure you never use soap in it. After the pan has cooled after cooking, wash it out with a scraper such as the little brown Pampered Chef scraper and water. If it needs to be reseasoned, just rub a little oil in it and then put it in the oven on about 250F.
I too love Pampered Chef! I have slowly been building up my collection. I think my most recent purchase was the food chopper which I use for onions and nuts mostly. I love making pizza on the stones. |
Edited by - Nicol on Jul 26 2005 08:50:20 AM |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2005 : 08:39:58 AM
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I would save my little brown scrapers in a house fire I think. (smile)
Jenny in Utah
The best things in life arn't things! |
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2005 : 5:59:02 PM
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I don't even know how many cast iron pots and pans I have. My mother gave me a full set of saucepans with lids years ago, and I have the usual corn stick pans and skillets. But one of my favorites was the one that was passed to me by my grandmother, who had married in 1924. There was something very special about feeding my family out of the pan that my mother had used to feed her family, and my grandmother had used to feed her family when my dad was a child.
I had to give it up when I bought a new stove. Over the years, the bottom of that old skillet got a bit of a bulge, and it didn't sit flat on my new glass top JennAir. But I gave it to my daughter, and it feels nice to know she cooks for my grandchildren in it.
I never would put my cast iron in the dishwasher; hand wash only! But I always use soap! And that old skillet I gave to my daughter was as smooth and glossy as a mirror, and didn't rust unless I soaked it for days in something wet. I have another flatter skillet that doesn't have quite the patina of the old one, but it's nice too, and I use soap on that one, also. I love to cook cornbread in that pan by first cooking chopped bacon, and then pouring the cornbread batter into the sizzling hot pan before putting it in the oven. Very crunchy cornbread crust!
I'd suggest that folks go to antique stores for old pots and pans and kitchen implements. Oftentimes, they're there because they stood the test of time, and lasted. I bought my sifter there, lots of heavy old wooden spoons, wooden bowls, stoneware pitchers, etc. And often they're cheaper than new, too, and of far superior quality than those produced today. |
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Nicol
True Blue Farmgirl
200 Posts
Nicol
200 Posts |
Posted - Jul 27 2005 : 07:25:56 AM
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| When I went to an antique store this weekend, they had cast iron pans for over $100. Ouch! I like them but I'm not sure if I want to spend that much. |
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Farm Kitchen: Cast Iron cooking |
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Cast Iron cooking
