Cast Iron Thread

Why wouldn't you?

very smooth cooking surface. the shit at walmart is all mottled., how can that work? my wife hates the pans cause they are all crusty on the outside. her loss.

I have an 8" skillet I inherited and a 13" Lodge one I bought for browning roasts.

I've got a Lodge 14" and a 10".

I need a griddle next but I cook a lot of stuff in the big skillet.

>using cookware from literally 100 years ago
>who knows wtf was cooked on it

I hope this is satire

5qt dutch oven
12" pan
8" pan
10" grooved griddle

They do alright. I primarily use the pans for frying but I also sear and sautee in them as well.

The dutch oven I use for stews and occasionally long set curries.

I have used the grooved griddle all of twice. Prefer an actual grill but it worked well for charring some veggies in a pinch. I had her heating up in the oven along with a casserole so it wasn't like I was wasting gas or anything.

I have a cast iron pan but I always use the hammered one.

The dutch oven is for camping. With that thing any fire becomes a stove or oven.

My mom gave it to me a few years ago. It's a foot in diameter. No brand or logo i can see

Should I get an enameled dutch oven? Are they as useful as an unenameled?

>What kind of cast iron cookware does Veeky Forums own?
12" skillet
Used for: corn bread, frying green tomatoes, okra, chicken, cubed steak, etc.

I also use it for making dutch baby recipe.

I have a 8inch for more personal portions of cornbread, dutch baby.

I really prefer nonstick if I'm not using oil in a big way.

>Should I get an enameled dutch oven? Are they as useful as an unenameled?
It's the thing you should have a le crueset copycat, because they tolerate acids such as tomatoes. It's just that cast iron is cheaper when not enamaled. And you can chip/damage porcelain coating if you're a newb. While porcelain gets etched and less smooth with age, losing nonstick, the opposite is true with cast iron getting more and more slick with age.

Got a 10-1/2 inch Wagnerware my Dad gave me when I first moved out. I left it in the sink because I didn't know how to use it and it rusted to hell. I ended up stripping it and reseasoning it with 12 coats of oil or some anal-retentive shit like that.

Still make omelettes on it most mornings and it also cured my anemia.

vintage corningware is just as good as enameled cast iron and usually cheaper

Well really I was just interested in them for more acidic purposes. I have a cast iron skillet that I love to bits, and considering I've seen some nasty things made in dutch ovens, it would save me some cleaning time.

Really, I have nothing against either. Would have probably just gotten a lodge dutch oven.

I use Cornell paper plates, reinforced with a sheet of corrugated carton, and wrapped in 2 sheets of tinfoil. Use 'em for camping, hunting, picnics, etc. Trick is to soak 'em in water for 2-3 hours prior to use. They is true gangstar.

Get an enameled one if you want acid resistance. Also, new production Lodge cast iron is very rough, and if you're concerned about cleaning, definitely avoid it.

i was thinking of smoothing out my cast iron pan.

Should I?

Guys how am I supposed to clean stuck shit outta my pan without using soap and washing off all the grease?

Steel wool works well, as long as you avoid applying heavy pressure. And you can wash cast iron with soap, just rinse well and try not to grind soap into the seasoning.

I use those coarse steel pads. Another thing you can use is kosher salt with a paper towel and a little water.

Keep burning it until it flakes

>No actual cast iron, but I have a De Buyer carbon steel.

I've got well over 50 pieces of cast iron, some going back over 100 years old. All of it is usable, and has been in our household at one time or another.

Best piece is a solid, heavy popover pan. They come out like personalized Yorkshire Puddings. Freakin' tasty.

But yeah, I've got a single piece of De Buyer, it's my go-to pan for anything skillet related besides fish (got a dedicated fish cast iron pan, eliminates the transfer of odors etc). Had it now for 4 years, wish I had found it sooner.

Pic related.

>i was thinking of smoothing out my cast iron pan.
>Should I?

Highly recommended as long as it is a new pan, not vintage. Grinding out a vintage pan will ruin the value of it (assuming it has any value).

Lots of ways to do it. Google is your friend.

youtube.com/watch?v=pf_gnyxyKKw

What's a good size cast iron to begin with? 13 inch?

Cooking for just yourself? 10" to 12"

Bigger ones get heavy quick, better to get one that you're comfortable using.

Cast iron is still pretty inexpensive, compared to other types of cookware. Get a few sizes, styles.

Found this BSR for 10 bucks the other day. Gonna strip and reseason with a few other pans later

As someone who owns a 13", don't start with it, too big for most cooking. I only use it to brown roasts and cook large amounts of meat at once. If you are only cooking for yourself I would say 10 and 12 otherwise.

Can we talk about brands?
Who provides a solid quality cast iron pan?

Start to look around antique shops, second hand stores, make friends with a scrap metal dealer (interesting stuff shows up from time to time). Yard sales too.

You'll start to see which ones are the quality, which ones are the crap. Don't just look for the big names, the post a few up talking about a BSR was a good find for $10.

You'll run across some real workhorses, you'll find some that almost seem dainty for their size.

Just make sure nobody ever used it to melt lead...lead test kits are cheap.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cast_iron_cookware_manufacturers

Cast iron is by definition solid quality. You could make it in your backyard and your great grandchildren will be cooking on it.

I almost exclusively cook on cast-iron. The ONLY time I don't is when making omelettes or scrambled eggs. I just can't quite get the seasoning good enough to cook it. Otherwise yea, cast-iron all the way. It's affordable and extremely tough. If you manage to chip it, no worries. It's just iron, not like teflon or something. And they're "self healing", too, so that chip or scratch will become non-stick again.

I have a slightly newer Griswold that my family mocked me for buying at a swap meet for $15

Perfectly seasoned, its a practically unbeatable pan

Big dutch oven and a cheap set of skillets.
Kettle grill on the porch has a cast iron grate.

Absolutely, my china skillet was coarse as fuck, sanded it smooth with an orbital sander / wire brush.
Works breddy gud now.

You do realize that the heat of cooking sterilizes the pan, don't you?

The reason cast iron cookware exists is because it's tough and lasts a lifetime, if not longer.

I think they're worried some one may have exposed it to toxins at some point. As another user said, make sure there's no lead on it--and makes sense, too. Most of "the good" ones have lived to see hard times. Like the civil war, when troops were desperate to melt down lead for bullets. How do we know they didn't use the iron pans?

Seems strange to me that a layer of lead would still be on it a century and a half later.

I wouldn't worry about it, if you don't feel comfortable using an old pan just have it sand blasted and you've got a clean slate.

old wagner square skillet

Made this last night
BBQ rotisserie chicken + pepper jack quesadilla

I use Grams 1950's century 10 5/8" skillet every day. I also have a smaller one that I don't use as often. Also have 2 corn stick pans from same era.

Century is the brand before anyone asks.

I'll put in a third vote for De Buyer. I have three of them, and I'll probably get a couple more in future. Very reasonably priced too.

How do you handle a cast iron pan? I'm asking because I was raised by wolves and never learned anything despite my mom insisting that cast iron was best. I got some burnt shit(probably sugar) stuck to the pan, I can't really get it off without scraping with metal tools, will this destroy my pan?

>will this destroy my pan?
Dude, it's fucking cast iron. Nothing will destroy that pan

Not the pan, but it'll kill the seasoning. In your case that's a non-issue because the burnt on sugar has killed the seasoning already.
Go to town on it with tools, steel wool, abrasives, whatever. Season it, start cooking on it again.

any of you use chainmail to clean your cast iron?

>any of you use chainmail to clean your cast iron?

Feck...I've got a knight in shining armor from the middle ages doing my dishes right now.

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>I wouldn't worry about it, if you don't feel comfortable using an old pan just have it sand blasted and you've got a clean slate.

Careful there bucko.

Lead leaches into cast iron...the pan is actually porous, that's why the seasoning can grab on as well as it does.

Not just Civil War bullets, also backyard sinker casting by fishermen.

Better to be safe...a lead test kit is $5 at the hardware store. Able to test multiple items.

There re too many pans out there to need to use a tainted one.

Rather than going that extreme you can try several rounds of how I clean cast iron. Pour a generous amount of ordinary table salt into the pan (it's cheap so you can use several tablespoons) and add just a tiny bit of water until the salt becomes a kind of paste. Now rub the salt paste around the pan with a paper towel or other implement. It scours the pan without being too cruel to the seasoning.

Help me make sure I'm not fucking up on maintaining my pan. I don't have any issue with rust but I want to make sure I'm not sabotaging the seasoning.

Here's how I clean it after each use.
>hot water (NO SOAP)
>scrub sponge to get the crusty shit out
>rinse
>heat on the stove to evaporate any excess water
>rub down with vegetable oil
>store

boil some water in the bottom of the pan to soften the stuff, then scrub with a nylon brush or salt

I got a 15 bucks Kitchencraft skillet. The bottom is not smooth so it did not become perfectly black after seasoning like in all the pics I see around. I need to find someone with a sander to give it a smooth finish.

Smoothness has nothing to do with the color user.

You shouldn't have to rub it down with vegetable oil every time. If it rusts on you after rinsing and drying it then the seasoning wasn't good to begin with.

If you're doing that out of an abundance of caution, that's one thing. But if it's rusting on you without regular oiling then the seasoning isn't right.

>Here's how I clean it after each use.

If you're just using the pan for frying, all you need to do is wipe it out with a paper towel after frying and put it away.

I haven't washed my cast iron frying pan in years, as it only used for frying up bacon & eggs, corned beef hash, etc.