BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron

Subject: BS: Skillet good and greasy: iron pan
From: peregrina
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:27 AM

I just seasoned and started using a cast iron pan. Third seasoning was making cornbread. Best ever. Now I understand that song in a different way...
anyone want to share cast iron cooking tips, favorite recipes (or other songs)?

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Peace
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:40 AM

Not specifically. However, for people who could use it, cast iron cooking ware imparts elemental iron--the same stuff you may be buying at the store in vitamin and mineral pills. However, it could well be very detrimental to people with thallasemia.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: bobad
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 09:36 AM

And can also be detrimental to those with hemochromatosis.

I use mine to oven roast vegetables in, they get nicely browned and crisp (the veggies, not the pans) and it also helps to keep the pans seasoned.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Deckman
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 09:42 AM

We use a complete set that belonged to "Bride Judy's" granny. They are also quite useful in dealing with these damned bible thumpers! Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Ned Ludd
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 09:44 AM

Careful using them on open fires- they can warp if they get hot enough!

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 09:53 AM

Not the good stuff, Ned. I clean mine in the (electric) self cleaning oven cycle. And yes, they have to be reseasoned after that.

When I find a pice of good cast iron for sale at a reasonable price I buy it. Can't have too much of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Amos
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:19 AM

Pray tell, Keepers of Cast Iron Mysteries: what is a seasoned skillet? How does one season such a thing?


A

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:26 AM

You take a new cast iron skillet, cover it with a fine layer of vegetable oil or lard, put it in your oven - upside down - and heat it up for one hour at 350 degrees and then let it cool down for several hours. The main purpose is to build a layer on the skillet to help prevent rusting but most cooks will swear that it helps the food taste better.   I've done the same thing with the grates for my smoker/grill and it works wonders.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:33 AM

New cast iron is grey and everything sticks to it. With use it absorbs oils, turns black, and develops a slick, nonstick cooking surface that is a joy to cook with. You can speed the process along by wiping the cast iron down with lard or shortening and baking it in your oven, a process called seasoning.
- Phil

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Deckman
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:40 AM

I prefer to use the forehead grease of a female bible thumper ... I've found that hitting them with a cast iron fry pan on the LEFT side of the head brings a better quality grease to the surface ... but perhaps I digress? Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:42 AM

Please Ron....NOT oil or non stick spray. Both have polymers in them that will 'gunk up' the iron. Another method is to nearly fill the skillet with salt, then bake at very high heat for an hour at least. Dump out most of the salt, and rub in what's left with a half a lemon. Rinse, warm, and LIGHTLY grease with a solid fat. Vegetable fat is best as it won't go rancid as fast as meat fat.

You don't have to 'bake' the first method either...I've done it on the stove top/hob and outside on the grill. It will smoke.

Never put soap on cast iron...just rinse it out with HOT water, warm (to dry the water left in it) and lightly grease before putting it away.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:52 AM

Crossposted with Ron. Down here cast iron cookware care is matter of strong opinons. Heck, we even have a song about it. I've tried seasoning cast iron with vegtable oil and it didn't work well. I'd recommend using lard or shortening.

Another thing that we should have mentioned is spreading some tinfoil in the oven below the pan you are seasoning since it will drip. Putting the pan in the oven upside down sounds like a good; it should ensure any excess lard will drip away. I'll have to try that.
- Phil

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: pdq
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 11:28 AM

In the US, everyone knows what Crisco is. It is vegetable-based but looks like lard. This is the best choice when curing a new, clean pan. Liquid oils should be avoided as they will eventually cause hard deposits, sometimes even gummy ones.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 11:32 AM

I did one with vegetable oil and did not have a problem with "gunk", but I think you are right - Crisco or lard probably would be a better choice.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 11:55 AM

Well, 'once' won't gunk, but it will build up....and ONLY super high heat will burn it off. It just doesn't work as well as Crisco.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: GUEST,Terp
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 12:15 PM

I use my Wagner skillet just a few times a year to cook things that my Doc doesn't approve of like red fannel hash and cornbread. I never thought to roast veggies in it but I'll give it a shot.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: GUEST,Terp
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 12:18 PM

Oh, and you can't beat it for doing Home fries though I'll probably never get 'em as good as my mom did. It was her skillet.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Emma B
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 12:35 PM

I love my cast iron skillets and season with good olive oil - word of advice though - don't drop them on a quarry tiled floor unless you like the 'crazy paving' effect!

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 12:55 PM

My favorite is one from Grandmere's kitchen that she gave to my mom, already well used and seasoned, to help my parents set up housekeeping when they got married. I fixed this morning's breakfast in it - some leftover chicken, bell pepper, and onion from last night in scrambled eggs.
- Phil

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 01:17 PM

I have all my mom's (which were her MiL's)--a 12", 10", 8" and 7", then the stuff I've bought (old)--a non lidded chicken fryer (6" deep), 2 5", a round griddle (12"), and an ableskiver pan (looks like an egg poacher)

I've also bought quite a bit for the daughter. We both still need a camp Dutch Oven with a coal lip lid. All but one piece of ours is Lodge, Wagner or Griswold.

I bought a set of new stuff when I was first married....damn stuff had 'rings' in the bottoms of the pans, and would NOT season. I finally fed it to the dumpster.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 02:14 PM

The camp Dutch Oven with raised lip rim- my folks would never go camping without one. Stews or whatever in the oven and biscuits or corn bread on the lid.

We have several cast iron cornbread pans, each with six depressions, for making individual portions. Mostly we use a large cast iron skillet for corn bread, which we cut into wedges for serving.
A large rectangular cast iron flat with raised rim is excellent for fish, chicken, etc.; it was used mostly in camp, but we have used it rarely in the oven. On the old coal stoves with the large surface that could be heated, it was used on the top.

In our collection, we have a large circular griddle with swing handle (to hang over a fire), cast iron kettle, a large covered roasting pan, and a waffle iron (on a base which fit the eye on a wood stove, the two-part waffle grid could be turned over).

We have a number of skillets, but for our eggs and butt ham slices, we have gone to a couple of heavy Paderno skillets (steel, finish composition unknown) that are non-stick.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: RangerSteve
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 02:49 PM

I've got seven cast iron pieces. There's nothing better for corn bread. Also, the best Irish soda bread I ever made was in a cast iron skillet.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 03:00 PM

I always cook on cast iron skillets and griddles. I picked up three sizes of skillets over the years and seasoned them myself. The abomination in my household is for someone to wash one in such a way that they get down to the bare metal or so that it can rust. It has only happened a couple of times because of the severity of displeasure such an occurrence engenders. I have two griddles, actually one was meant to be a fajita pan (it's oval) but I use it like a skillet. There is also a second or third generation family deep skillet with a heavy lid (Dutch oven). My friend who spotted it at a family home when she was helping with the estate told me that I should keep it because it was the best kind of pan for frying chicken. I don't fry chicken often, but I use that if I do. I have a little swing-handle deep 1-quart pan my mom got for me and seasoned, but I don't remember to use it because it is in the back of the cupboard.

I also have a three-legged antique cast iron pot that goes over the fire if you have an arm for swinging cast iron pots over the fire. I don't. So it's filled with cat toys and sits beside the fireplace.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Deckman
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:11 PM

Maggie, I also have a three foot diamater cast iron "cannible pot." It sits by the stove full of wood. When I was a kritter, many years ago, Dad would brine his salmon in it for smoked salmon. Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 04:52 PM

Oh yea...I forgot the swing/bail handle Scotch Pot and the 2 corn 'pone' pans....depressions shaped like ears of corn for cornbread. Damn stuff still sticks in the kernel dents tho, so I just use a skillet and hang the cuties on the wall.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Peace
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:02 PM

Having been struck by a cast iron frying pan, I avow they should receive a fairly thick coating of soft rubber on the striking part. The rubber will interfere with the taste of the eggs, but that should be a secondary consideration.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Sorcha
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:03 PM

No, no, no. You smack with the BACK side, dear. And rubber there would interfere with the heat transferance. Sheesh.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:05 PM

Mmmmm, campfire biscuits/damper cooked in a cast iron dutch oven. Cut a piece of lard or shortening the size of a small egg into two cups of self-rising flour, the mix in one cup of buttermilk. Form into biscuits in a well greased pan that will fit into your dutch oven. The big secret is to not overwork the dough which makes the biscuts/damper tough. Bake in the dutch oven for 20 minutes at about 400F.

If cooking with charcoal briquettes then each briquette placed on the lid of the dutch oven raises the temperature inside by about 25F. Or use an equivalent volume of other charcoal. Or a bit lesser volume of wood coals, but you may need to add more coals during baking because they burn faster than charcoal. It's not an exact science.

Same recipe works well in a well greased cast iron skillet in your oven at home.
- Phil

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Greg B
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:09 PM

I discovered one of the best ways to season a pan is to grease it up
thoroughly and then immediately bake corn-bread in it. The temperature
is right and the corn-bread absorbs and leaves just the right amount of
grease behind. I think it sort of 'caps off' the surface and lets the
seasoning cook right in.

Any of the cheap corn-bread mixes work just fine for this purpose.

Then no great loss of money and time if it doesn't work and you end up
scraping the mess that results off with a spatula.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Peace
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 05:10 PM

Right you are, Sorcha. So it then means that three-minute eggs would take longer. And subsequent to that, the term "three-minute egg" would cease to have meaning anymore. The ramifications of this cast iron stuff are beginning to get scary.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 06:11 PM

The process of seasoning stuff can make the house smokey for a while, so do it on a day when you can have the windows open.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: folk1e
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 10:50 PM

I was always taught to cover the skillet with salt and heat for an hour or so until the salt had discolored, pour the salt out grease and cook!

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Janie
Date: 15 Mar 08 - 11:12 PM

Peregrina,

Did you make 'yankee' cornbread, or southern cornbread?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: EBarnacle
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 12:36 AM

I find that if I season with peanut oil, the skillet comes to a good surface rather quickly. One problem I do encounter that I do have to occasionally remove hardened grease buildup from the surface just to keep the surface even.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: peregrina
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 04:06 AM

Janie,

I'm not sure what the difference is; I used nowt but cornmeal, a bit of plain flour and buckwheat flour, eggs, milk, butter, salt, sugar, baking powder....which kind is that?

*
Keep the skillet good and greasy all day long:
is that because you're supposed to be cooking with it all the time, or is it just good cast-iron care?

Mary

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Big Mick
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 01:03 PM

I want you all to know that my Sainted, but departed, Irish Grandmother would approve of you all, as you have the only skill that is absolutely necessary to survival in this world.......

Is there anything better than food cooked in a black iron Dutch Oven over a cook fire?? Especially by my Gran??? I love this thread.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: peregrina
Date: 16 Mar 08 - 06:57 PM

refresh--I mean, reseason, to the top of the list, this time by the salt method.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Janie
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 12:04 AM

One of my cast iron skillets belonged to my grandmother. Another was a wedding gift to my mother (that may be how she kept my Dad in-line those first few years:>) Until my hands and grip got weak and it became dangerous for me to lift and pour from the pots, all of my pots and skillets were cast iron. I gave away the pots a few years ago, but still use the skillets for 99 per cent of anything I use a skillet for. One of my skillets was my grandmother's. It is probably 75 or 80 years old, and still going strong. Another was a wedding gift to my mother, so is 50 years old.

I did make the mistake of using veggie oil for awhile. It does indeed gunk it up leave an uneven finish.

I don't think I saw anyone post this - after each use and cleaning with hot water, I dry mine on the stove burner, drop a teeny bit of crisco in (the only thing I use crisco for), then wipe the very warm skillet with a clean rag to lightly coat the interior.

peregrina, I had forgotten you were from across the pond. What we southerner's call yankee cornbread is made with half yellow cornmeal, half wheat flour, is on the sweet side with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar added, and is usually baked in a square pan.

Southern cornbread is usually made with white cornmeal, is 3/4 cornmeal to flour, is either unsweetened, or has no more than a tablespoon of flour, and is baked in a cast iron skillet. the oil in the receipe is heated in the skillet while the skillet is preheated until it is very hot, and is added hot to the batter.

Southern cornbread is gritty and crumbly, the better to break up into the chili or pinto beans it often accompanies.
With really traditional southern cornbread, the oil used is bacon fat.

I use a stainless skillet with a tight lid if I am going to lightly saute veggies and then lightly steam them with a tablespoon or so of water. I use a silverstone skillet to saute fish, shrimp or scallops, make fried rice, or need to brown tofu. For everything else, from stir-frys, to pancakes, to searing beef or chops or boneless chicken breasts, I use my cast iron skillets.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 12:13 AM

I try to use only hot water to clean my skillets, though there are times when some soap is required. Elbow grease and a scraper is usually better than soap. Martha Stewart recommends using salt if you need to scour. My mother always stressed that you shouldn't soak it, especially not with soapy water. I usually wash it then let it sit on the burner to air dry. I don't usually warm the burner again.

I use a wire mesh screen over the top of the skillet if I'm cooking pork or steaks, or any meat that I want to have a non-wet consistency. I have a glass lid that fits my skillets (thanks, Dad! I found it at his house when I was doing his estate).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: peregrina
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 04:52 AM

Thanks Janie--I realize I've never had the Southern kind. Round here (in 'God's own country'--but I'm a Yank) I can't buy real cornmeal, but polenta works great so far.

All these old heirloom cast iron pots sound so nice--the total opposite of the throwaway economy.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 12:48 PM

Ah, yes- I have my mother's old Dutch oven and her huge "camping skillet", and my true love is bringing to our newly blended home a stack of Griswold skillets of many sizes and an extra large black pot that could feed a tribe! Can't wait to simmer some stew over our new cast-iron wood stove...

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: beardedbruce
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 01:27 PM

I have several pieces of cast iron, mostly Wagner and Griswold. A warning: The new ( Mostly "made in China" or Taiwan marked) cast iron has been found sometimes to contain non-iron metals- I would be very careful using anything that was either "porous" looking or had different "shades" of metal. I buy only US made older pieces,myself,
for use.

Irish/soda bread baked in the pan in the oven....

swedish style thin pancakes ( I have a special 6" pan I use for nothing else)

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 01:33 PM

In Hawai'i I saw some of those huge cast iron pots they used for rendering whale blubber. They are of the size shown in old cartoons of the cannibals cooking up missionaries.
Made me wonder, did the cannibals base their recipe for long pig on the method for rendering blubber?

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Janie
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 02:18 PM

Funny you should mention that Bruce. I started to buy a new skillet this weekend, saw it was made in China, thought about all the recent news on contaminated products from there, and put it back on the shelf.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: beardedbruce
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 02:22 PM

They now use scrap iron- and unless they work real hard at it, there will be heavy metal contamination.

The old pans I have have been used for decades ( some have copyright dates in the '20s) and often have a bright shiny look where they have been "worn" If I can see spongelike surface on the inside I do not get them.

Subject: RE: BS: Skillet good and greasy: cast iron
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Mar 08 - 02:27 PM

Good point. I haven't bought a new skillet in years, with the exception of the fajita pan. I still think it might be a good idea to check them out. I've been cooking on them for 30 years, so it might be a meaningless gesture.

SRS