Rediscovered my cast iron skillet

[UglyCasanova]

I love this thing. Gets hot and stays hot, non stick, can go directly to the oven no problem, and extremely easy to clean. And it can brown a piece of meat or some veggies like nothing else.

Anybody have some good one pan recipes (healthy - I'm trying to adjust my heating habits)?

 

[BladeVenom]

Keep it seasoned.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Keep it seasoned.

It's well broke in and no soap ever touches it. The thing was stashed away in the back of one of my cupboards. When I was cleaning out the other day I found it and it was like my birthday.

 

[Baked]

I only bust out my Lodge Logic cast iron skillet when I'm making steak. Sear both sides, pop it in oven, done!

 

[lxskllr]

I use iron pans exclusively. I don't have any other kind.

 

[sandorski]

Finally got a set for XMas. Just what I always needed.

 

[Fritzo]

I love this thing. Gets hot and stays hot, non stick, can go directly to the oven no problem, and extremely easy to clean. And it can brown a piece of meat or some veggies like nothing else.

Anybody have some good one pan recipes (healthy - I'm trying to adjust my heating habits)?

Basically use it the same way you would use a grill outside.

When you're making steak, try pouring 1/2 cup of merlot in the pan. It puts a very nice glaze on the steak.

The only thing I hate about using my cast iron pan is it gets so hot it smokes up the house. I have a cast iron BBQ pit that I can use as a grill in a pinch. Switched to using that so the smoke alarms stop going off

 

[child of wonder]

Cooked burgers in my cast iron last night. First time I'd ever tried that and they turned out great. Nice sear on each side of the meat and they were very tender and juicy. Often in the frying pan they end up a little on the dry side.

 

[Cerb]

Anybody have some good one pan recipes (healthy - I'm trying to adjust my heating habits)?

Keep fresh vegetables around, plenty of seasonings, and learn to cook by method. I shy away from vinegar and tomato, but you can use alcohol for pan sauces just fine. Also, despite warnings to the contrary, the only problem I've ever had sauteing in my cast iron skillet has been occasional cramping.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="cast+iron+skillet"+recipes

 

[God Mode]

Mine is 10 years old now. I love it.

 

[Imp]

So the seasoning part... don't they tell you not to reuse oil when deepfrying since continuously re-heating makes cancery stuff?

 

[silverpig]

Hot tip: animal fat works WAY better than vegetable fat.

 

[bobeedee]

It's well broke in and no soap ever touches it. The thing was stashed away in the back of one of my cupboards. When I was cleaning out the other day I found it and it was like my birthday.

Casanova, how do you clean it without using soap?

 

[waggy]

Casanova, how do you clean it without using soap?

while its hot and still has some oil. you put in some kosher salt and scrub it out.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

Since I live in an apartment and can't grill my cast iron skillet is indispensable. I use it at least 3-4 times a week.

 

[herm0016]

we love ours also. you can cook everything on them.

 

[3chordcharlie]

I love cooking with cast iron. Then I stupidly bought one of those flat-top stoves, and found out cast iron will scratch the crap out of it(true?).

Am I screwed and need a new stove?

 

[lxskllr]

I love cooking with cast iron. Then I stupidly bought one of those flat-top stoves, and found out cast iron will scratch the crap out of it(true?).

Am I screwed and need a new stove?

Don't know about scratches, but does that matter? Things get old, and they get dinged. Use it for 10-20 years, and get something different.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Don't know about scratches, but does that matter? Things get old, and they get dinged. Use it for 10-20 years, and get something different.

This is a shiny, glass-top stove.

I'm not saying that because it's pretty and I love it. I actually hate it, and seriously regret buying it. But scratched it's going to look like hell, and a new one is not near the top of the priorities list.

 

[lxskllr]

This is a shiny, glass-top stove.

I'm not saying that because it's pretty and I love it. I actually hate it, and seriously regret buying it. But scratched it's going to look like hell, and a new one is not near the top of the priorities list.

I dunno, function>form every time AFAIC. If it meant scratching my stove to use my iron, I'd scratch my stove. I think if you were careful though, scratches would be minimized.

 

[notposting]

I have some rather cheap cast iron pans that I got a few years from some store I don't usually go to (department store of some kind, I dunno, Kohl's maybe). It was a hot deal from here or gottadeal but the pans have the rough Chinese cast, not the smoother Lodge Logic surface. Seasoning had gotten messed up before (there are some people who think pans are pans) and I spent most of last year restoring it nicely (aka mmmm bacon). Had some company over the holiday season, wanted to cook for us. I came walking in the door to see a brother-in-law with my cast iron at the sink, hot water pouring, soap bubbling, steel wool in hand. I was so pissed. He should know better too.

Going to run my orbital sander over it tomorrow actually. Will start from scratch and give it a fairly smooth surface to begin with and start seasoning anew.

 

[Rhoxed]

have a set of cast iron that were my great-great-grandmothers. Never seen soap in their lives... beans and cornbread never taste as good out of anything else. Also tacos and fried corn tortillas.

I also use a set of cast iron at work when I became head chef a few years back, the WHOLE staff knows the correct way of seasoning them, and our blackened grouper is to die for.

 

[DrPizza]

Casanova, how do you clean it without using soap?

When it's still hot, I get the water in the sink running really hot (my hot water is set to scalding hot) & give it a quick spray with the sprayer to rinse out things, then I wipe it with a paper towel to remove any food, and another burst from the sprayer. I return it to the stove top & any moisture quickly boils out of it.

Basically use it the same way you would use a grill outside.

When you're making steak, try pouring 1/2 cup of merlot in the pan. It puts a very nice glaze on the steak.

The only thing I hate about using my cast iron pan is it gets so hot it smokes up the house. I have a cast iron BBQ pit that I can use as a grill in a pinch. Switched to using that so the smoke alarms stop going off

If you're using oil, switch the type of oil if smoke is a problem: safflower or peanut oil have a much higher smoke point than stuff like olive oil. Still, I also have problems with smoke, but only cooking steaks. That's because I *warm* it up to 500 in the oven before cranking the big burner on full blast & putting it over the burner for a few minutes before adding steak.

 

[Cerb]

Hot tip: animal fat works WAY better than vegetable fat.

Not really, but only a few vegetable fats work well, notably coconut and palm oil.

 

[silverpig]

I love cooking with cast iron. Then I stupidly bought one of those flat-top stoves, and found out cast iron will scratch the crap out of it(true?).

Am I screwed and need a new stove?

I have one of those and it doesn't scratch at all. Cast iron is softer than stainless steel so if you can use stainless on it, you should be fine.