My first experience with cast iron.

22-rimfire said:
Looking good Hickory! That looks good enough to eat. That reminds me.... breakfast tomorrow, use up the last of the sausage before my wife tosses it. She's a date freak. She'll pour an entire gallon of milk down the drain on the date posted on the bottle and it still smells just fine.... oh well.... part of being married I guess. ;)
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They definitely were.

Btw I'm just like this with dates, at least where milk is concerned.
I drank some sour milk once and now I take no chances.
 
Just received a 14" cast iron pizza pan today.
Can't wait to strip it and season it, and make a pie!
 
Been into a poached egg thing lately. So, it will be a poached egg with the link sausage. The sausage will be fried in a small cast iron skillet.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Nice, what make ?
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It's a cheapie by Camp Chef, but out of the box it's much smoother than the Lodge 14" pan.
It came preseasoned, but I stripped it and reseasoned it this afternoon.
Looking forward to cooking the first pie on it tomorrow. Once it gets warm out, it'll get the grinder treatment.
 
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We have switched over to cast iron also, tired of replacing teflon pans every 5 - 7 years.

While the newer, pebbled lodge works ok from the factory, I smoothed mine out with an angle grinder and flap disks. It takes about 15 - 20 minutes per pan, and use a respirator!!! My snot hasn't been that black since baling hay as a kid. I try to get it as smooth as possible, but there always will be some grind marks and depressions - but that's a good thing. The seasoning grips better to a surface that isn't super polished. After all that, check out "The Culinary Fanatic" on youtube, Jeffrey Rogers. He has the best seasoning routine, IMO, and really knows his cast iron. He's a guru.

After searing steaks, baking cornbread, etc., cast iron is king in our house. Nothing else comes close to the quality of cooking that cast iron provides, IMO. The big thing that I've learned is to always preheat the cast iron first. I seldom have problems with sticking.

You can also try carbon steel pans. Mine don't retain heat quite as well as cast iron, but they are much lighter and have long handles that can usually be held without oven mitts or towels. My favorite brand so far is AUS Ion, from Australia. They offer both a glass smooth finish, and a very slightly pebbled finish, and they both work wonderful. They are pricey and worth every penny, and come with a multi - century warranty. Handling, washing, and season for carbon steel is identical to cast iron. 90% of the time, it's wiping it out with a paper towel when finished and you're done. No need to wash, heating it up on the stove the next time will kill any and all bacteria.

All of you reading this are in an elite club - you actually know the difference between carbon steel and cast iron, lol!
 
sodak said:
While the newer, pebbled lodge works ok from the factory, I smoothed mine out with an angle grinder and flap disks. It takes about 15 - 20 minutes per pan, and use a respirator!!! My snot hasn't been that black since baling hay as a kid.
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That sounds like a lot of work. I'd much rather find and clean up an old pan.
 
3fifty7 said:
You don't need a special piece to make a pie.
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I tried it with a couple (defrosted)frozen pies to get a feel for it and it worked well.
The next one will be a homemade (once I find a sauce recipe that replicates NY/NJ sauce recipes).
 
sodak said:
...You can also try carbon steel pans. Mine don't retain heat quite as well as cast iron, but they are much lighter and have long handles that can usually be held without oven mitts or towels. My favorite brand so far is AUS Ion, from Australia. They offer both a glass smooth finish, and a very slightly pebbled finish, and they both work wonderful. They are pricey and worth every penny, and come with a multi - century warranty. Handling, washing, and season for carbon steel is identical to cast iron. 90% of the time, it's wiping it out with a paper towel when finished and you're done. No need to wash, heating it up on the stove the next time will kill any and all bacteria.
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I just bought a 9" Lodge cast iron frying pan with one of their lids. Do I need to season the lid? I was driving past the factory (South Pittsburg TN) on my way back from a job further south in Alabama and thought.... I've never stopped at their factory store... Anyway, picked up the blemished skillet and lid (they call them seconds but I can't tell any difference). I was interested in seeing a lot of their products displayed beyond skillets and dutch ovens. Tempted to pick up a couple other things like a 2-quart cast iron pot with lid (they call it a serving pot). But didn't. They have these cast iron griddles that they have pictured on an outdoor charcoal or gas grill. That looks appealing to me. The cast iron would really even out the heat.

They also have a line of carbon steel cookware that is a lot lighter. It is a bit more expensive than their cast iron stuff, but not terrible if you want to try a couple things.

Will make breakfast in the new skillet tomorrow. I have an 8" (Lodge), now a 9" with lid, 10" (made in Taiwan), and a larger skillet, I believe Wagner brand. By far, the 10" has gotten the most use over the years. I have always liked cast iron skillets and so forth. But until the last 10 years, I never really focused on any brand and simply bought what I saw when I was in the mood.
 
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22-rimfire said:
I just bought a 9" Lodge cast iron frying pan with one of their lids. Do I need to season the lid? I was driving past the factory (South Pittsburg TN) on my way back from a job further south in Alabama and thought.... I've never stopped at their factory store... Anyway, picked up the blemished skillet and lid (they call them seconds but I can't tell any difference). I was interested in seeing a lot of their products displayed beyond skillets and dutch ovens. Tempted to pick up a couple other things like a 2-quart cast iron pot with lid (they call it a serving pot). But didn't. They have these cast iron griddles that they have pictured on an outdoor charcoal or gas grill. That looks appealing to me. The cast iron would really even out the heat.

They also have a line of carbon steel cookware that is a lot lighter. It is a bit more expensive than their cast iron stuff, but not terrible if you want to try a couple things.

Will make breakfast in the new skillet tomorrow. I have an 8" (Lodge), now a 9" with lid, 10" (made in Taiwan), and a larger skillet, I believe Wagner brand. By far, the 10" has gotten the most use over the years. I have always liked cast iron skillets and so forth. But until the last 10 years, I never really focused on any brand and simply bought what I saw when I was in the mood.
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I would season the lid, this'll help protect against rust plus it'll match your skillet.

So far I'm really loving some good cast iron fried potatoes, but that pizza shown above looks pretty good and is something I may want to try.
I have acid reflux among a few other things so I'd have to go pretty light on the sauce.
 
So a couple of years back I was in the same boat as a lot of you guys; tired of replacing non stick cookware. I did the research and landed on goo triply stainless cookware for my pots and cast iron for my skillets. My mother gave me 3 cast iron skillets that were my grandmothers. They were in rough shape but I stripped them and reseasoned them. I've ended up buying another larger Lodge, a enamel covered Le Creuset, and was given a Lodge Wok for Christmas.

Man, I love cast iron. I'll try to get some pics this week.
 
I love cast iron! My dad has a few 100+ years old Griswold's (one for me one for my sister). I have been using Lodge CI for years with no issues, everything from steaks to paella. I keep bacon drippings in a small jar in the fridge for when I feel that the pan needs to be re-coated, but for the most part cast iron has been trouble free. residue typically wipes away with a paper towel, or if it is really coated on (like after broiling steaks) I put water in the pan, bring to a low boil and scrape it off with a spatula. either a light misting of canola oil, or a small pat of bacon grease wiped around the still warm pan and voila! I don't stack my pans, but hang them on steel hooks from one of those chromed steel shelving units from Home Depot.

I may try to smooth my 10inch Lodge out, just for shits and grins.
 
Probably have more cast Iron than everything else from a full set I got in high school to a newer set and odd pieces added here and there ... gotta have a dutch oven ... deep skillet ... griddle and big stock pot at the least.


Horsewright said:
All we use, all we've ever used. Even camping, biscuits and gravy?
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As Horsewright said biscuts and gravy on an open fire and some bacon ... probably cooked that almost everytime we went camping or at the hunting cabin whether it was 90 degrees or snowing ... biscuts or cornbread in the dutch oven doesn't get much better.

I still use them constantly pancakes on the griddle nothing heats more evenly IMHO and a big pot of chilli simmering in the deep stock pots ... just warms ya right up after being out in the cold or wet all day.
 
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JJ_Colt45 said:
Probably have more cast Iron than everything else from a full set I got in high school to a nwer set and odd pieces added here and there ... gotta have a dutch oven ... deep skillet ... griddle and big stock pot at the least.




As Horsewright said biscuts and gravy on an open fire and some bacon ... probably cooked that almost everytime we went camiping or at the hunting cabin whether it was 90 degrees or snowing.

I still use them constantly pancakes on the griddle nothing heats more evenly IMHO and a big pot of chilli simmer in the deep stock pots ... just warms ya right up after being out in the cold or wet all day.
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Man, no pot cooks chili as good as cast iron. I've tried it with my All-Clad and while it does a great job I swear the chili gets a deeper flavor when I let it simmer in cast iron.
 
Love cast iron.

My first pan I got for $6 at Goodwill and after research it if memory serves is a 60's department store one made by Wagner... I'd need to research it again but it's a no.8

My pride and joy though is a N0.8 Griswold small logo. It would have been purchased after my step great grandfather got home from WWII.. though after his wife passed I don't think it had gotten much use after before I got it after he passed. It is a splendid pan.
 
spectrum055 said:
Love cast iron.

My first pan I got for $6 at Goodwill and after research it if memory serves is a 60's department store one made by Wagner... I'd need to research it again but it's a no.8

My pride and joy though is a N0.8 Griswold small logo. It would have been purchased after my step great grandfather got home from WWII.. though after his wife passed I don't think it had gotten much use after before I got it after he passed. It is a splendid pan.
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Awesome, I hear great things about the old Wagner and Griswold iron.
I'd love to find one like that to put back into use but around here people aren't donating anything old or of quality, and that's just in general.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Awesome, I hear great things about the old Wagner and Griswold iron.
I'd love to find one like that to put back into use but around here people aren't donating anything old or of quality, and that's just in general.
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Every now and again just visit goodwill or thrift stores where they don't care how or what and just want to sell. Though I didn't know what I had when I bought that pan from goodwill... Took me hours combing through cast iron forums and sites to find a picture with the same handle angle and placement of the 8 to know it was Wagner(if my memory is right... I did the research like two years ago).

The Griswold was sort of a fluke. When we where cleaning his house for a sale my mom handed it to me and told me to put it in my truck. Mostly because she knew I'd give it the love and use it needs to last on into the future rather then turning into a possible abused camp pan.
 
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