Cooking in Cast Iron

MacTech

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I just recently discovered the joys of cooking on Cast Iron cookware, I *LOVE* this stuff, food tastes so good on it, every meal tastes like it was cooked outside over a campfire

perfectly browned, crispy bacon
delicious, fluffy scrambled eggs
fluffy, perfectly browned pancakes
nice thick burgers so juicy that they saturate the bun they're in
Steakhouse-quality steaks
deliciously roasted veggies

so far, *everything* I've cooked on my new CI cookware has come out *perfect*, for lunch today I've brought in a meal I cooked up last night on the CI skillet;
Prime Rib steak, cooked medium-rare, so tender that you can cut it with a fork, and a roasted veggie mix of orage peppers, onions (perfectly carmelized), mushroom mix (Shitake, Portabello, and some third kind I don't recognize) and Broccoli (not a fan of Broc, but this stuff came out darned good), the only seasoning was a seasoned Wok Oil, it looks and tastes like a five-star gourmet meal

CI is so incredibly awesome for cooking that I threw out my beat up old Teflon coated cookware, Cast Iron all the way for me now :)

That said, CI does have some idiosyncracies and quirks that you need to keep in mind if you're going to cook on it....

first, cook on low to medium heat only, as CI heats slowly but evenly, there are no hotspots or cool spots on a CI pan, the entire pan reaches the same temperature, it takes as long to cool as it does to heat up, so if you're cooking on too high of a temperature, it won't cool down instantly, CI holds heat for a good long time, one of the reasons why it's so great to cook on, consistent, even heat, it *CAN* take high heat, after all, it's a big chunk of iron in the shape of a pan, but bear in mind that CI holds heat for a long time

second, the *ENTIRE* pan gets hot, including the handle, be sure to use a handle cover or a good high-heat resistant oven mitt/glove, as the handle will be just as hot as the cooking surface

third, CI needs to be *seasoned*, yes, even the preseasoned pans, and that seasoning needs to be maintained, both the cooking surface and the underside of the pan, a properly seasoned pan is just as non-stick (if not moreso) than Teflon coated cookware, and unlike Teflon, if you damage the seasoning, the pan can be scrubbed clean and reseasoned, the seasoning can be repaired, unlike Teflon

how do you season CI?, easy, coat the pan with a fat or oil (crisco, pam, olive oil, bacon grease) and then put it in the oven (or barbecue grill) for an hour or so on 450-500 degrees, you're basically burning a layer of oxidized fat/oil into the pan, the pores of the iron will absorb the seasoning oil, protecting the pan from corrosion, and giving you a nice slick cooking surface that rivals teflon

be careful with acidic foods and/or water, as they can damage the seasoning, cooking tomatoes, or tomato based foods in a CI pan will weaken the seasoning, but a good solid wipedown and spraydown with Pam will restore the damage, which will repair itself in time

fourth, CI is versatile, the same skillet you cook your steak, bacon, and scrambled eggs in can be put in the oven for baking bread (cornbread, especially) or roasting meats, or making stews, it even can work as a slow cooker

fifth, CI is *HEALTHY*, food cooked on a properly seasoned CI pan needs almost no oil/fat to keep it from sticking, I've cooked thick burgers and steaks, and bacon on my skillet with *no* oil, they just don't stick, veggies and eggs require a light coat of Pam.

another side benefit of CI is that food cooked on CI actually absorbs some iron from the skillet itself, the longer the food is cooked and/or the more it's moved around, the more iron is absorbed, acidic foods (like tomatoes) also drastically increase their iron content

as my preseasoned Lodge skillet is still relatively new, the factory preseasoning is a good starting point, but just that, a starting point only, the more I use it, the better the seasoning layer will get

cleaning up CI is deceptively simple as well, as long as you bear in mind two cardinal rules....

One; NEVER use dish soap to wash a CI pan, as it will damage the seasoning, perhaps even remove it, forcing you to reseason the pan
Two; NEVER allow water (especially soapy water) to sit in the pan, it will also damage/remove the seasoning

here's how I clean my CI cookware

1; let it cool for about 5 minutes on a cold burner
2; wipe down the surface of the pan with a paper towel to remove food residue
when cooking bacon or other meats, these two steps are all that's neccecary to remove food residue, I then proceed to step 4
3; for veggie residue or egg residue, basically any stuck-on food, I fill the pan with hot water, and scrub with a fiber scrub brush to loosen the crud, then dump the water, repeat until the stuck on stuff is gone, then wipe dry and put it back on the burner on temperture setting 2 to drive off water/dry the pan
4; while the pan is still warm from the burner, give it a light coat of Pam on both the front and back, and put it back on the burner on 2 for another 3-5 minutes
5; after 3-5 minutes, turn the burner off and let the pan cool
6; hang the pan back up until I need it again

CI is *SO* much better than Teflon, for example;
CI can be reseasoned if the seasoning is damaged or the pan shows signs of rust, CI can be repaired, when a Teflon pan is damaged it cannot be repaired and must be thrown out
CI can be used on the stovetop *AND* in the oven, Teflon pans can't, due to plastic handles
well seasoned CI is more nonstick than Teflon
CI can take high heat on the cooktop and in the oven, Teflon coated pans cant
At temperatures above 450 degrees (5-6 on my cooktop) Teflon starts to outgas toxic vapors, Teflon will actually delaminate from the pan at 700-800, higher temps will cause Teflon to melt and release highly toxic vapors, Teflon fumes can kill pet birds, and PTFE fumes contain numerous known carcinogens, Teflon leaches poisonus compounds into food, Cast Iron leaches Iron into the food, an essential dietary nutrient
Teflon coated pans have a short functional lifespan, generally less than 2 years, CI pans can be passed down through generations, a 100 year old CI pan, well seasoned, will cook just as well (maybe even better) than a new CI pan, your CI pans will outlive you, and can be handed down to your children and grandchildren

To me, there's no downside to CI, I actually *like* the post-cooking cleanup ritual, its almost like a little cast-iron pet, keep it fed and seasoned, and it'll outlast me
 
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jch79

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I love me some cast iron cooking! I have two OLD cast iron pans that I use for everything from pasta sauces to fried tofu.

MacTech said:
I actually *like* the post-cooking cleanup ritual, its almost like a little cast-iron pet, keep it fed and seasoned, and it'll outlast me

+1! :laughing:

john
 

MarNav1

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Amazing how we've been (conned) IMO into using something (Teflon) that isn't as good as cast iron. Grapeola works good too for cooking on it. Wish I had grandma's CI pans still. Have to get me some!
 

BIGIRON

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Now learn to use a dutch oven with live coals. Outstanding roasts, bisquits and cobblers. I learned from my grandfather and still have (and occastionally use) the oven.
 

Bright Scouter

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We use cast iron all the time when camping, especially when it is with the scout troop. They are easy to take care of if you know how. We personally own three camp dutch overs and one without legs, and a skillet. If you are using the camp dutch ovens with legs and need to cook with more than one at a time outdoors, a dutch oven table is fantastic. We have one that has held 6 ovens at a time. Usually we use 4 or less. I also think using charcoal is easier that wood coals from a fire, but either work.

I have also used the camp chef brand of cleaner and conditioner. The cleaner is the only one I have found that is safe to use on a dutch oven and not worry about hurting or "flavoring" the patina. It is great. I also have heard from many people that it is better to use non aerosol oil on them to season them after clean up.

In short, cast iron rules, especially outdoors!!!!
 

Carabidae

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I love my cast iron, especially my dutch oven. The neat thing about CI is that even some of the most neglected stuff you find at the swap meet can be cleaned up with some sandpaper and steel wool to look and work like new, plus it lasts forever. We have some CI stuff thats been used for 50 years.
 

PurpleDrazi

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Ok . . . so I dug up an old CI skillet awhile back that's got a bit of rust on it.

From the discussion it seems like I need to a bit of sanding/steel wool and then seasoning then it's good to go?

Francis
 

binky

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I have to say that I recently splurged on the analogous surface -- I got a Wolf gas stove with a 22" steel (not stainless), commercial-type griddle.

Just like you said happens with cast iron, the pancakes turn out better than on any other surface. The bacon cooks fine. The only thing that's hard are fried eggs because they pick up the gunk from directly after the cleaning. So I need to wait until I'm done with the pancakes until I fry an egg, and I've also learned (as with cast iron cookware) not to clean it sparkling clean very often. If I only wipe down the griddle then the day or two after cleaning it (with the 3M Griddle Cleaning Kit) then the eggs turn out perfect too. No grey stuff from the griddle cleaning.

Funny thing about bacon grease -- even though there might be lots of it, it doesn't seem to keep stuff from sticking. Veggie oil or butter does, but just leaving some bacon fat on the griddle doesn't help with the pancakes or fried eggs.

I looked for a carbon steel crepe pan, but I haven't found one yet. Williams Sonoma had one that was good (and only $19) but it was just way too small diameter.
 

MacTech

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Ok . . . so I dug up an old CI skillet awhile back that's got a bit of rust on it.

From the discussion it seems like I need to a bit of sanding/steel wool and then seasoning then it's good to go?

Francis

From what I understand, yes, remove the rust, coat the pan with an oil or fat (bacon grease, crisco, olive oil), set the pan upside down on the bottom rack in the oven, with some aluminum foil to catch drips under the pan, and cook it for about an hour at 450-500 degrees, then shut the oven off and let it cool inside the oven itself, when it's dead-cold remove it, it should be reseasoned

you can also do the same thing in a propane barbecue grill, keeps the smoke and other stuff out of the house

this first reseasoning should be considered a starter seasoning, cook stuff like bacon and steak and such in it the first few times to build up the seasoning layers, the more layers you have, the better, seasoning is a continuous process

I'll let more experienced cooks correct me if i'm wrong,
 

Carabidae

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I ususally use crisco, but I hear peanut oil and bacon fat gives the food a good taste. Make sure you apply the oil when the iron is hot, (enough to touch) from heating up first in the oven, since this opens up the metal pores. Usually I do 2 seasonings back to back for new unseasoned iron and have good results.
+1 on the outside propane barbecue grill, the smoke can be nasty inside
 
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karlthev

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I am an avid (and friends tell me good) cook for the past 35+ years. There is no one best cooking material--all have their advantages and shortcomings. I have quite a bit of cast iron cookware and swear by it for some but certainly not all cooking. Any acidic foods will leach the iron right out of the pan and foods taste metallic (although if you've had an iron deficiency, maybe this is a good thing!:confused:). I guess the biggest disadvantage is the sheer weight of the cookware itself. A big roaster with an equally big roast inside, the whole shebang heated to 400 degrees makes for some dicey handling. If you don't believe me, give it a try. I am an avid hiker and occasional backpacker---no cast iron carried in my pack! As I said, great stuff for some uses, others, you may try something else.


Karl
 

bitslammer

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I actually use my cast iron for high heat applications. Because of the density of CI, and its ability to store ridiculous quantities of heat, I find it the perfect tool for a killer sear. My favorite dish is sesame encrusted tuna.

  1. I get sushi grade tuna about 1-1 1/2 inch thick, do a light soy/ginger marinade for 15 minutes.
  2. Pat dry.
  3. Cover with sesame seeds (black & white) and any other spices desired.
  4. Heat CI skillet with very light peanut or sesame oil to smoking hot (just shy of glowing red).
  5. Sear tuna for 30-50 seconds per side.
  6. Chow down!
This will produce a tuna steak that has a wonderful toasted sesame seed crust with a wonderful red rare melt in your mouth center. Next time I do ti I'll post a pic on that food pic thread.
 

BIGIRON

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What B'slammer said. Except find a good porterhouse, rub in sea salt and cracked pepper. Sear about 1 minute on each side and eat (or finish over coals or charcol if you don't like ultra rare).

I like to use a "comal" which is what we call a round flat griddle. Just kind of traditional for tortillas and such.
 

Nitro

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Tips for CI cookware:

If you have an old pan, and you want to start over. ie rust etc. Put it through the self clean cycle in your oven. It will turn everything to ash. Use sandpaper to remove all rust, then reseason.

For the best seasoning, use LARD. Nothing else works as well as Pork Fat, period. Veggie oil like Pam, Cisco do not work as well. Peanut oil will just turn it into a sticky mess.

CI rule of thumb. It's the best for frying Meat and Veggies, but don't bother with sauses, especially acidic, ie tomato.
 

LuxLuthor

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WoW, I have this friend in NYC that is also what I call "born again about cast iron cooking," I didn't think there were any others that feel the same. Now you got me curious as to what I am missing. Do they still make this anymore? If so, what are good brands?

I have to be honest that I'm having a hard time imagining not washing up any pan/pot/plate/cup/glass/utensil with soap, and preferably run through the dishwasher with the "sanitize" feature turned on. I think I would always be worried that I'm gonna get some salmonella, or hookworm infection. LOL!
 

bfg9000

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Don't worry Lux, flame and heat sterilizes everything (like "flaming a loop" in microbiology). Remember this is cast iron so you can burn the residue to carbon and wipe it off. What stays stuck just adds to the seasoning layer.

Something that works surprisingly well is a cast iron wok. Because it's flat on the outside but round on the inside, it's a real wok and yet it works with electric or gas burners without those cumbersome adapters that serve mostly to keep the wok too cold except for one little spot in the middle. The cast iron also allows use of the really high temperatures needed for proper wok cooking.

Lodge makes fine products in the USA (since 1896) and there are a number of clones made in China now, which look to be cast from actual Lodge pans from the identical detailing. The clones are half the price but I kinda worry about lead contaminates in their cast iron (I suppose you could buy those testing strips). OTOH if you want snooty expensive French cast iron, the brand in Williams-Sonoma is Le Creuset (yes, they make unporcelainized versions too).
 
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