This could be more expensive than collecting knives !!!

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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Thanks to the input from you guys on the Cast iron thread I went ahead and bought a Lodge Skillet, nothing sticks, this stuff is great I shoulda bought one years ago.
I now need a Dutch oven so I'm thinking this could now end up more costly than collecting knives !!!!:(
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you're stoked... cast iron is great...:thumbup: we cook on ours regularly....

you need a dutch oven.... you will not be disapointed....:D yes they are expensive, but so are knives...:o i have had mine for years.. it is well used....
 
Yea, cast iron is the way to cook IMO. Its really not that expensive compared to today's nonstick anodized aluminum cookware.
 
Fiddleback said:
Yea, cast iron is the way to cook IMO. Its really not that expensive compared to today's nonstick anodized aluminum cookware.
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No you are actually right and the downside to coated pans is that they all start off great but in the end they all start to let stuff stick again !!!
 
Mmmmm tasty! I don't have cast iron cookware at home though... I might have to get some. Do you guys season it in any way so the stuff being cooked doesn't stick to it? I read somewhere that you need to be almost a rocket scientist to propertly season a cast iron dutch oven! :D :D
Mikel
 
We buy a coated pan every couple years for $20 - 30 bucks. What's a cast iron pan go for these days?
 
Mikel_24 said:
Mmmmm tasty! I don't have cast iron cookware at home though... I might have to get some. Do you guys season it in any way so the stuff being cooked doesn't stick to it? I read somewhere that you need to be almost a rocket scientist to propertly season a cast iron dutch oven! :D :D
Mikel
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Lodge stuff comes ready seasoned. I didn't even use any oil when I took the pic above, but when you finish with it you just wash with hot water, dry well and apply a thin coat of Pam !
 
+1 what Fiddleback said.

I don't have a Dutch oven myself, but aside from a carbon wok (large, lightweight, and easily manuevered), the cast iron cookware gets all the use.

Lasts forever, heats and cooks evenly, and if anything, gives you added iron!
Not sure if I'm doing the 'greatest' cleaning job, but I just stick'em under fast moving water, while still hot, to knock off the food particulate, and if there are any stubborn stuck foodstuffs, just hit'em quickly with a scrubber. Dry, and re-coat with some oil/fat (I happen to use olive oil in the kitchen). Soap never touches these. Some degree of oil/fat seems to be always present.
They're my parents from some odd years ago, and don't look any worse for wear. Friends have a cast-iron skillet that looks older than I am, but aside from the iron being worn smooth(???), they look to not be affected functionally; they sometimes scrub with soap and water, or even leave it in the sink(!), but that layer if grease they have going is tough stuff!

If I were to choose one skillet for the rest of my days, it would definitely be thick cast-iron.
Gotta love cast-iron cookware.
 
didn't know Lodge comes already seasoned, very nice!

I haven't had the opportunity to season my cast-iron cookware, but the carbon wok recommended seasoning after purchase, and the directions said, something to the effect of:
1) scrub to 'bare' metal, to make sure there is no protective coating/packaging, and to make surface more receptive to greasing
2) heat/warm cookware (to allow bonding between cookware surface & fat/oil)
3) apply animal fat/vegetable oil, coat evenly over entire surface
4) repeat at least once more, and any time soap/degreaser may touch the surface
 
Lodge makes excellent cast-iron cookware.
Everything tastes so much better cooked in cast-iron... especiall venison stroganoff. yummy.
And I agree, a dutch oven is a must.
A friend of mine can cook almost anything outside with her dutch ovens and a bed of coals... her dutch oven biscuits are amazing.

New cast-iron i just scrub out with hot water and steel wool.
Dry off with a paper towel.
Then heat in oven, coat with cooking oil (using a paper towel) or spray with Pam (or similar) and put back in the oven, turning the oven off.

Applying a light coating after every few scrubbings really helps keep the cast iron in good shape. I pretty much just use hot water to clean mine, like some of you.
 
The phrase "Dutch oven" is misused quite often.

A real Dutch oven has three legs, and the lid has a raised flange around the edge. This allows coals or charcoal to be secure on the top, and coals or charcoal can be added or removed underneath.

They are used in camp over a campfire, or with charcoal, or, they are used out on your patio at home.

What some people mistakenly call "Dutch ovens," are in reality, cast iron roasting pots, or stewing pots. These do NOT have the three legs, nor the flange on the lid's edge. They also will have on the underside of the lid, "drip nipples," or "basting nipples" to allow moisture to drip onto the meat or stew. (Try that "basting lid" when you try to make biscuits, cornbread, bread, cakes, cookies, etc., and see how mushy your baked goods are!)

A real D.O. lid does NOT have the "drip nipples" on the underside of the lid.

These roasters or stewers are for the top of the stove, or the stove's oven.

As for Lodge, if I were starting in to cook with a real D.O., I'd buy the Lodge 12", eight quart, "deep" D.O. Not much you can't do in that one as it is very, very versatile.

Stay away from the cheapie Chinese and Mexican D.Os. Often the lids do not fit correctly and they'll have "hot spots," which leads to uneven cooking.

Buy Lodge and if you take care of it (them), it'll last beyond your grandchildren's lives.

I have six D.Os., and have been using them for over 50 years. One, a 10" size, has been in my family for more than 150 years. Still a great D.O.

BTW, you should NEVER put cold water in a hot cast iron D.O., pot, or skillet. It will crack them.

Have fun.

L.W.
 
Along the same lines as Leanwolf said about staying away from the cheaper lines; Sams Club (and I think maybe Costco) sometimes sells a Wenzel set in a wooden crate. Very low quality stuff; stay away from it. I've seen a friends pot (I say pot because it does not have legs, but does have a lipped lid) actually crack on the fire and the skillet was warped. I, too, have Lodge and it is great stuff.
 
Our lodge skillet has a permenant place on the stove top. As others have said, the only rule is to never wash it with soap. When done, rinse the food out, heat up to boil off the water and re-oil.

I don't find it the best thing on earth for eggs, but pretty much everything else does wonders. We bought ours unseasoned. To season it, we gave it a healthy scrub in soapy water using an abrasive pad. Then heated it up until dry. I oiled it over the whole surface, inside and outside with vegetable oil. Then I put it in the oven at 350oF for 1 hour. Let it cool, then heated it up on the stove top and re-oiled the inside again. The pan turns pitch black after a few months.
 
Good man, Pitdog! While you are using those knives, you'll certainly be eating good.:thumbup:

Stay away from the cheapie Chinese and Mexican D.Os. Often the lids do not fit correctly and they'll have "hot spots," which leads to uneven cooking.
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With over 60 families in our dutch oven club (many are masters), we have ALL found this to be true. We gave a couple of our Chinese dutch ovens away because of very poor fitting lids (they wanted them for other things). All of us in the club have had real good luck with the Lodge brand (and a few older brands not currently sold).

You want your outdoor dutch oven to look like this (legs underneath, flanged lid). There will be coals under the oven, and on the lid too - depending on what you are cooking. The lid can also be reversed and used as a skillet. Few things that we can't do with our dutch ovens.
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So do you YARD SALE, My wife has scrounged up quite a few pieces of cast iron in the last year or two. but we still need a good dutch oven, the flea markets think all thier stuff is collectable so itr is marked up, the old griswald is the consistinlt high priced collectables. Pat
 
Thats a good point Pat. My dad purchased a few pieces for the $1 mark that looked as ugly and scaled as could be. He had this big bombfire and tossed the pan on the coals letting it bake overnight. Next day, he gave it a bit of a polishing with some sandpaper and re-seasoned. It looked like a brand new pan.
 
Next you need the Lodge cast iron Hibachi.
The best cooking tool ever!
 
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