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Cast Iron Skillets

  • Thread starter Thread starter BagCSC
  • Start date Start date
That would be nice. just take it home and cook. No more seasoning. yeah
 
I just have to say, because of this thread, I have been using the cast-iron skillet a lot more lately and love it. I am beginning to think I might just toss the non-stick stuff in the garbage!
 
I just saw a blurb in a magazine for a cast iron grill pan and i think that sounds like a fabulous way to enjoy grilled meat in winter when it's too cold for the outdoor grill!
 
Well Twinmama...I sure am glad to hear that your cast iron is getting more use. In fact, just today my wife tried to make a grilled cheese in a stainless pan and it stuck miserably....trashed the sandwich. I gave her a little bit of a hard time and said...you should know better....she grabbed the cast iron skillet and made it the right way. It turned out perfect. I have noticed that for some reason, sandwiches/bread grills better in the cast iron when you dont use butter or oil. Just grill it with the slight amount of oil that is left over after you clean and season it.
 
I have a ton of them but don't use them anymore I like the non stick cookware myself
 
I love my deep cast iron skillet that I paid $40 at a antique/junk shop---I know that sounds high but I haven't found anything like it---it's the only thing that I use to make my gumbo roux in---it's fantastic and I only wished that it didn't weigh so much so that I could pack it in my suitcase to Kazahstan. Roux and cast iron skillets go together.
 
Twinmama said:
I just have to say, because of this thread, I have been using the cast-iron skillet a lot more lately and love it. I am beginning to think I might just toss the non-stick stuff in the garbage!
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When I was in the Navy we cooked on steel cooktops, and the food didn't stick. I wasn't a cook, but one of the grunts that helped cook. But they didn't have any fancy cookware, and made a lot of food for us. I think it has to do with how they seasoned the grills much like we do with cast iron cookware.

Have you tried to cook eggs in the cast iron cookware? I'm thinking of something like an omelet, sunny side up or over easy that would normally stick to pans without non-stick coatings or a lot of oil. That would be a good test of your seasoning skills.
 
expatgirl said:
I only wished that it didn't weigh so much so that I could pack it in my suitcase to Kazahstan.
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Pack the cast iron skillet in a box twice the size of the skillet and it won't feel so heavy. Really. Try it.
 
oldbay said:
Pack the cast iron skillet in a box twice the size of the skillet and it won't feel so heavy. Really. Try it.
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Old Bay,

I will certainly give that a try as we have tons of boxes around here--I sure did miss old Ironsides overseas----made a batch of cornbread in her the other evening. Heavenly, and I leave this Saturday to go back.
 
Hope your travel goes well, and take the cast iron with you. Keep in touch with us here.

I guarantee you that if you put that 12" skillet in a 16" x 16" x 12" box packed with cornstarch peanuts that the box won't feel as heavy as the skillet alone does. Can't really explain why as it does weigh more, but feels like less. I think Isaac Newton would say it has something to do with density of matter.
 
My grandmother passed away a few years ago and I now have all of her cast iron skillets. I use them all the time and I like the fact that they are already broke in.
 
I am glad to read all the tips about iron skillets..since I was not familiar with how to cook with them..
 
I have some iron cookware that has been passed down through the generations, as well. I'll tell ya, they sure don't make the iron pots like they used to! But, then again, I don't think that many stoves can handle the super heavy weight cookware. Not electric stoves, anyway.
 
My grandmother has several really old cast iron skillets. She will only cook in those, most of the time.

For some reason, things always come out tasting better. She uses them for breakfasts--fried potatoes, eggs, bacon, pancakes. Grilled sandwiches are the best too!
 
mtmomj said:
My grandmother has several really old cast iron skillets. She will only cook in those, most of the time.

For some reason, things always come out tasting better. She uses them for breakfasts--fried potatoes, eggs, bacon, pancakes. Grilled sandwiches are the best too!
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My grandmother has alot of these also and also does my mom and day the cast iron is all they use.
 
cast iron pans

I love my cast iron pans, I have a dutch oven, large skillet and a grill pan, also a small saucepan. They are great for camp cooking. The only drawback is you need good arm strength to lift them and my biceps are a little weak. I was told by my grandmother to never use soap on them, but for scrubbing to use coarse salt.:)
 
I have a 12" skillet & Dutch Oven I bought over 25 years ago. My wife is always throwing 'em in the dishwasher (I've told her, but ...) and I have to reaseason.

Sometimes, food still sticks and I have to scrub the burnt crud. Somewhere I heard about skipping the steel wool in favor of Kosher salt and hot oil with a big wad of paper towels. It works great!!! Just dump a Tbs of your seasoning oil, reheat it somewhat and put a Tbs salt in there and give it a good dose of elbow grease and it's clean as a whistle.
 
I have never heard the Kosher salt idea. I will have to tell my mom that. She has a really nice cast iron skillet but she has a hard time getting it clean without scrubbing it to death.
 
R3dD0g said:
Sometimes, food still sticks and I have to scrub the burnt crud. Somewhere I heard about skipping the steel wool in favor of Kosher salt and hot oil with a big wad of paper towels. It works great!!! Just dump a Tbs of your seasoning oil, reheat it somewhat and put a Tbs salt in there and give it a good dose of elbow grease and it's clean as a whistle.
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I have a 30 year old cast iron skillet with flavorizing bars and it's always a pain to clean. Do you think the salt and oil method would make it easy to clean. The bars are about 3/4" apart, and it makes it really a lot of work to clean because of all of the corners -- in fact it's like the skillet is nothing but corners (and they're the hardest part of the cast iron pans to clean).
 
Old Bay - I have one of those as well - and I have resorted to using a brush to clean my pan. It makes it much easier - then I can season the pan when it's clean. The brush I use is just one with a plastic handle - in the housewares section in just about any store - just a cheapy - but it works.
 
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