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Main Boards => Recipes/Grilling/ Barbecuing/Smokers => Topic started by: ChuckC on June 01, 2008, 04:37:00 AM
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I would like to try my hand at cast iron cooking, especially, but not limited to Dutch ovens.
Any advice on what to get and especially.... how to care for it ?
I know it is different than "normal" cookware and have heard tidbits, but what should I look for ? What should I do ? What should I NEVER do ?
Thanks
ChuckC
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Make sure you clean whatever it is that you get first, then dry it completely. Next thing you have to do is to make sure you season it by using some type of oil, some people like bacon grease, but it can get ta smoking up the kitchen in a hurry. Coat the inside of the pan or pot with the oil and put it in a hot oven for maybe 20-30 minutes. I like to use peanut oil on my first seasoning because it can take a little higher heat.
Make sure you don't use any soap on it when cleaning it after use or you'll have to re-season it.
Also when you're done cleaning it make sure that you dry it completely and coat the inside again with a light coat of oil and a paper towel.
Soon you'll have a well seasoned, non-stick pan that will last forever.
Keith
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idos.com :thumbsup:
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at yard sales look for the nastist pans and buy them cheap.The outside will cleanup with oven cleaner and the inside a rub down dry with steel wool. Do a season as above and you'll have a great pan.
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You can also use kosher salt as a scouring agent. NEVER use soap to clean a seasoned cast iron piece of cookware. Those Chinese bamboo cleaners are very good for getting off stubboen particles. They look like a stubby broom, but it's all bamboo.
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If you want to buy a new Dutch Oven, may I recomend a Lodge. This company sell Ovens that are preseasoned and ready to go. They are a very old company and very helpful. Check out their Web site. Also pick up a copy of "Log Cabin Dutch Oven" by Collen Sloan. It's available at 3 Rivers. A blend of 1 part Vinegar to 3 parts water Cuts the grease and loosens deposits from cooking. Apply while Oven is still warm from cooking let stand and then gently scrub with a brush. Dry with a little heat from the stove and wipe a little cooking oil all over Oven. When storing leave the lid slightly ajar, so air can reach the inside. This will insure that rust will not form. If the the Oven is cared for in this manner it will develope a rich finnish. Wood
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It is good to make sure to season properly and keep them seasoned over time. Camp chef builds a great oven as well. In the world of oven's, I look at finishes.
idos.com
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IMO A black pot is a black pot. It comes down to what you want. I have a black pot that was owned by my great great grandma. It ain't a lodge, or a campchef ;)BUT it cooks just as good.
I just wish I had a dollar for every meal that has been cooked out of that pot.
Best of luck in your black pot cooking!!!
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When you get your dutch oven try a campfire dutch oven peach cobbler
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http://www.wag-society.org/
A lot of information on cast iron cookware in general.
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what is the best way to get rust off from the top of a lid? (On a dutch oven pot)
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What if you accidentally left the dutch oven in the back of the truck and didn't know it was wet inside and now it is really rusty? Should I just buy a new one or is it worth the effort (elbow grease) to save it? How can I save it if I decided to do so other than electrolisis?
I know, I'm an idiot for leaving it in the back of the truck but honestly, I just forgot it!!!
greg
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Glen you could just send it to me and I'll junk it for you..%>)
Or a can of coca cola and wire brush.It might take as long as 15 mins if its bad. Then season.
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sounds good. I'll try anything to save myself the money of buying a new one.
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I like animal lard for seasoning.
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I like to season mine in a gas grill.
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Aside from Stainless pots, Cast Steel is all I use.
I've brought more than I can count back from a rusty crusty death. The key here is a campfire. Set the rust bucket right in the fire. Heat it slowly until it's glowing red, then (with a stick or poker) start moving it to the edge of the fire, so as to not cool it too fast. After it cools off enough to handle, But before it gets damp, rub her down with oil or grease (another vote for peanut oil) and stick it in the oven @ about 300. Let it soak up the oil oil for about 45 min. then turn the oven off.
Next morning you can cook breakfast in it.
I never use water in my Cast Iron. If something sticks, and leaves a residue, burn it off by heating the pan, then cool and re oil. Yeah, it'll smoke but it fills the pores with carbon, and aids to the no-stick finish.
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How to you clean the pot if you do not use soap?
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Just wipe em out with a towel. ;)
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I never had a problem with soap and water in my pans. I just clean and wipe dry. Then melt some lard in the pan and wipe all over it.
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There're lots of varying opinions on cast iron from what brands are best to how to care for them. I also use nothing else here at the house and most of mine have come from yard or estate sales and antique stores. by far, the two best brands are Wagner and Griswold but unless you find them at a yard sale, you often have to pay fairly high prices for them. Still not always as high as brand new stuff but I don't buy much of anything like that new.
Anyway, about the easiest way I've ever found to clean cast iron is to put it in the oven on a self clean cycle. It comes out a bare dull grey just like it was new. Strips every bit of crud (and seasoning) off of them. I've also done the campfire method on a hot osage fire and it worked real well but the oven is easier.
I have not tried the self clean on a rusty piece, just cruddy ones. I have one pan that was rusted and I tried to sand it clean then season it but the rust has always "shown through" and instead of getting nice and black, the pan has a kinda reddish blotchy look. I always wanted to take it to a garage and have it sand blasted but I might try the self clean first some day. For now, that one sits in the basement....
If you compare the modern stuff to the older stuff you will notice two things. One, the older stuff is not as heavy and two, the quality of the old stuff is much better. By quality, I mean the finish of the inside cooking surfaces. All the old stuff (i.e. WAgner and Griswold) has a milled surface on the inside that is smooth and makes a much better non stick surface. The Lodge, Camp Chef and every other modern brand all come with a basic cast texture both inside and out. Other than the lack of inside finish, the Lodge quality seems very good.
I have a Lodge brand dutch oven that we use a lot for chuck roasts and such but when it was new I took my sander to it and sanded the inside smooth before I seasoned it. Couldn't get the sides as well as I wanted but I did the bottom real good and it helped a lot.
As for cleaning, I generally hit them with a splash of water while good and hot then use a nylon scrubby pad, the kind that look wooly, not the felt looking ones, and scrub it, rinse it and put it back on the heat. The heat will dry it in seconds then I wipe it with a dab of bacon grease or lard and a paper towel, flip the towel to a dry spot and wipe like I'm wiping the oil off. This leaves just a very light film. If a pan has years of season buildup, a little soap won't hurt it a bit but certain foods can damage the seasoning. Tomatos are an example. I guess it's the acid content.
Always be sure to wipe the outside real well too or you end up with a pan that is smooth and slick as snot inside and looks like a burnt booger on the outside.... Then it's time for a burn clean and redo.
As for oil, I prefer lard or bacon grease. I figure it's all that was around back in the days when cast iron was all there was and it worked then, so why not now? Also, it seems to me that some of the vegatable oils don't give the nice hard seasoning finish. Instead, they leave a kinda gummy, sticky residue. I've never had any issue with animal fats and the finish.
One last tip.... If you find a pot or pan at a yard or estate sale, try REAL hard to find out if there is a lid that goes with it. Dang old cast iron stuff didn't have any kind of size standardizaton to it and pots might be 9 3/4" across or 10" or 10 1/8" etc. A good cast iron pot with the lid that CAME with it is like a matched set and fits like a machined part. Finding a replacement lid is pure luck. Thankfully, they usually are together but not always. If you see what looks like a frying pan with a lid, BUY it. Most likely it's what is commonly called a "chicken fryer" pan. They run about 10 to 12 inches across and are about half again to twice as deep as a regular pan. They are about the closest thing to a "do it all" piece of cast iron you will find. You can fry in it of course, but you can DEEP FRY in it too! You can also throw a chuck roast or something similar in there with some onions and taters and use it like a dutch oven. Makes a real good chilli pot/pan too.
Dang, I'm gettin hungry!!!!
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Be sure to buy the ones made in USA. Lodge is a good one. I like to use the grill to season mine and a campfire works real nice. You've never had fried taters and onions till you cook em over a fire in a cast iron skillet!
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Also, cast iron cookware will hold heat better on a stove. I never take mine to "High" on the stove. You don't need to.
Season with Vegitable Oil.........animal fats can become a bit rancid if the pan isn't used for a while. Cook with whatever type of fat, but season with a vegitable oil.
All I cook on at home is cast iron (for the most). Once you get used to it, it's great! The hardest thing for me was cooking fancy dinners on stainless steel and copper then taking the move into cast iron. The food really does come out nice. Just watch the temps.
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fido dog,
Question, have you never had a bottle of vegetable oil go rancid on you? I have and it smells awfull. I've heard the same type comments many times about using it to season cast iron for that reason but I simply don't understand it as both can go rancid.
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Dave,
Very true. Animal fat will turn before veggie though. If I don't use a pan for a month I will reseason no matter what was on it.
+1 on the Wagner! I have 2 Wagner skillets and the finish is much nicer. I just wipe 'em out.
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Well being a old cajun I have to chime in hear. Take ur ducthoven outside or in a fire place or barbecue pit, put good coating of Lard on it .That right Lard. Place in fire for 45 min. to hour or so ...let naturally cool down , when cool coat again ...and again...cool down ..now light coat of oil and put up till next cooking (watch out for paper towels can leave little pieces)...cleaning hot hot water, get ya some of those plastic tuffies, use salt for apprasive. when clean rinse several times really hot water. then dry , coat with very light oil and store dutchoven...beware of anyother cleaning metods ,Iron can make some people sick, cant take the iron in cooking ...but this is rare. If someone ever gives you a pot or set cast iron already seasoned through years of cooking , bubba ya got something there , let me tell you , in Lousiana there pasted down to family and friends , what a gift! :thumbsup:
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Quoting from an article by Dean Torges on how to restore an iron skillet that sticks:
"If the skillet has cooking oil on it, wash it with warm soapy water. Never again rub it with oil; never again subject it to soapy water. Dry the skillet and rub a thin film of Crisco vegetable shortening, or tallow, or lard (such as bacon grease or rendered bear fat) over the bottom with a crumpled section of waxed paper or paper towel. Turn the burner to medium heat. Within 10 minutes, the film of grease will dry up and coat the bottom. After it dries, repeat the process. Do it several more times; lay in a thin coat of grease in the hot skillet bottom, wait til it hardens, then lay in another. It will smoke slightly upon application, but soon you will have created a slick, moisture resistant, hardened film of grease."
Dean is a consummate iron-ware chef; check out his web site at http://www.bowyersedge.com/ for some mouth-watering examples.
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Good Lord.......The Venison Shanks sound incredible! Thanks!