Cooking

[Streetwise]

I finally leveled-up. Let’s talk about cooking.

[eatyourpeas]

The best ever! Nice choice! 😍

If you get two of those you can make one of these!

Edited December 3, 2021 by eatyourpeas

[lefty o]

now you can make fancy grilled ham and cheeses sammiches!🤪

[Streetwise]

@eatyourpeas, tell me more!

@lefty o, I am going to have to practice flipping eggs and grilled cheese.

What is the best oil for seasoning?

[lefty o]

On 12/2/2021 at 10:37 PM, Streetwise said:

@eatyourpeas, tell me more!

@lefty o, I am going to have to practice flipping eggs and grilled cheese.

What is the best oil for seasoning?

dont wanna ask me, i cook on old hand me down junk pans.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Ah I love me some cast iron. I was in kitchen retail for several years. I own Le Crueset, used to have some Lodge but it's heavy! So I've "upgraded" to 80-100 year old cast iron pans. I just bought a muffin pan that's from the late 1800s. They are a joy to have. 

Though they say "pre seasoned" it's debatable so get yourself some Crisco and bake that sucker in the oven (lots of youtube and information pages on how to). Then I'd recommend making some greasy stuff in that pan for a bit! 

[eatyourpeas]

@xXInkedPhoenixX I just got hungry!

@Streetwise You make bread the usual way, (yeast, flour, water, honey), and you put both top and bottom in the oven until it reaches 500F (like a dutch oven), put the loaf in the pan, cover it, lower to 450F for 20 minutes, then take the top off and continue cooking for another 40 minutes or so, depending on the size of the loaf. The trapped steam will give you the nice crunchy crust, and the inside will be nice and spongy soft.

Serve warm with insane amounts of butter. 🙃

I love cast iron. It goes from the stove, to the oven, to the BBQ, or right on the coals of a bonfire. I still have the one I bought for $4 when I was in college. Oooops, I am old! 🤪

Edited December 3, 2021 by eatyourpeas

[lindabee53]

My dad used to be the cast iron king and said you can use any kind of oil.  My son-in-law is quite the cook, uses cast iron, and swears by sunflower oil.  I've had good luck with it, but I also had good luck with Crisco.  I don't know why, but corn oil just makes a sticky mess for me.

@xXInkedPhoenixX and @eatyourpeas  Your dishes look wonderful!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@lindabee53 you are right (your Dad is definitely right), there are lots of oils you can use so our friend streetwise will find lots of advice/opinions online. Crisco has been used for a very, very long time to season pans, even Lodge at one point had the process on their product sleeve (not sure about now but I haven't looked). It's time tested and I find it's one of the easier ways for cast iron newbies to break into it, they can get fancy later. I keep circling back to Crisco myself though. It's like a lovely moisturizing cream for your precious metal. 🙂 Plus it puts one hellava crust on things. Ha! 🙂 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 12/3/2021 at 1:02 AM, eatyourpeas said:

nice crunchy crust, and the inside will be nice and spongy soft.

What time did you say you were serving dinner? I don’t want to be late. 😁. 

Cast  iron makes the most phenomenal potato dishes. My grandma taught me to “break in” my cast iron after the initial seasoning with potatoes and bacon grease for awhile (healthy was not in the vocabulary).  

 

On 12/3/2021 at 12:22 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Lodge but it's heavy!

This is very true. I got a full lodge set about 20 years ago when I worked corporate management for Cracker Barrel. (Discounts I love them). I have not used them since I had several reconstructive surgeries on my wrist. 

[Taco Playz]

I make a pretty darn good omelet.

[Flumpweesel]

On 12/3/2021 at 10:43 AM, Guppysnail said:

Cracker Barrel

the cheese? I had an uncle that loved that haven't seen it in years

On 12/3/2021 at 5:22 AM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Le Crueset

I had some of that in a rental once I think the landlady was sick of the weight great pans for sauces .  I use a cast skillet for streak so it is seasoned with either rape seed oil or butter. The rest of my pans are much lighter although maybe I could switch out the gym membership if I reinvested . 

I am certainly  impressed with your cooking skills though those  looked amazing . 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Flumpweesel
missed a bit

[Guppysnail]

On 12/3/2021 at 6:56 AM, Flumpweesel said:

the cheese? I had an uncle that loved that haven't seen it in years

The restaurant/retail chain. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. Not the cheese. Funny though when the recruiter contacted me to come work for them I said “I’m sorry but I really know nothing about cheese” I had not heard of the restaurant p/retail store. They are not affiliated. 

Our retail store sold Lodge cast iron. 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 12/2/2021 at 10:37 PM, Streetwise said:

What is the best oil for seasoning?

Cast iron isn't as complicated as the hipsters would have you believe. 

Yours says it is already seasoned so, you could well be set.  That said, if it isn't some chemistry helps...  **Warning: Nerding out about to happen**

What you want to form a good solid lacquer coat on the inside is a "drying" oil.  This is why people online will tell you need flax seed oil; it's relative is linseed oil used in painting.  But flax seed oil is expensive and a pain to get.  Plus, you aren't going to eat what you cook when you do that.

So, I'll suggest grape seed oil.  It is a semi-drying oil and it works at high temperatures without smoking.  Kind of perfect to get a pan going (though I've not tried it on a pre-seasoned pan TBH).  What I'll suggest is to caramelize onions in the pan using the grapeseed oil and a bit of salt.  Then just wipe it out.  Do it again in a few days time.  You'll develop a good base of "seasoning" that will be pretty durable.  And you get to eat a bunch of delicious caramelized onions!

As for the grape seed oil, it's pricey some places, but weirdly Target has it for like half of what I can get it for elsewhere.

Have fun!

[JettsPapa]

I don't do a lot of cooking any more, but I still do breakfast, and I'm a big fan of cast iron also.  I think we have four different size skillets and a Dutch oven.  One of the skillets was one of the first things I bought when I moved out on my own over 40 years ago, and the best I can remember the others came from my grandmother and my wife's grandmother.

On 12/3/2021 at 6:36 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Cast iron isn't as complicated as the hipsters would have you believe. 

I've always been puzzled by some instructions I've seen that say to never wash them.  I wash mine every time I use them, but I do it immediately, while they're still hot, and I never let them air dry.  I usually put them back on the burner so the little remaining water boils off, or I dry them with a paper towel.  In spite of this heresy they're still seasoned so well that when I cook eggs, and add cheese, whatever cheese drips out of the eggs still doesn't stick.

I do believe it's very important to never just let them air dry.  Rust is bad.

[Tanked]

When I was a child, mom tossed the iron in favor of that new fangled aluminum cookware. I added a few stainless steel pieces.  As an adult I use nothing but Iron for every day use. The single exception is my carbon steel crepe pan.

 

 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 12/3/2021 at 8:33 AM, JettsPapa said:

I never let them air dry.  I usually put them back on the burner so the little remaining water boils off

Yup.  I learned that I needed to do that the hard way.

On 12/3/2021 at 8:33 AM, JettsPapa said:

Rust is bad.

And that's how I learned it.

[KaitieG]

My brother has exactly 3 pieces of cookware: a cast iron griddle, a cast iron fry pan, and a cast iron dutch oven.  I have the same lodge pan that @Streetwise bought and I like it well enough for things--especially bread and pizza, but my favorite is this one.  It's an old garage sale find, weighs about half what the newer lodge pan weighs and has this nice smoooooooth finish.  

Pro tip from my husband: if you burn hash browns in it, DO NOT heat up a bunch of oil in it and then try to scrape it out with a plastic utensil.  I just got to smell the whole thing while I was teaching my class this morning 🤨

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@KaitieG that's a vintage or antique pan. They're the only ones I use. As you said they're lighter, smoother and the best nonstick money could buy.

[JettsPapa]

On 12/3/2021 at 11:53 AM, KaitieG said:

. . . Pro tip from my husband: if you burn hash browns in it, DO NOT heat up a bunch of oil in it and then try to scrape it out with a plastic utensil.  I just got to smell the whole thing while I was teaching my class this morning 🤨

 

I know I said above that I clean my skillets immediately after using them, but occasionally that doesn't happen, such as if I leave leftover breakfast taco makings in it so it stays warm for other members of the household (or if I think I might want seconds).  Also, occasionally my wife will leave one for a while.  I've had good luck with putting 1/2" or so of water in it, and bringing it to a boil, which loosens up food residue nicely.  Again, I'm sure the cast iron experts will faint when they see this, but it doesn't seem to hurt the seasoning.

[KaitieG]

On 12/3/2021 at 1:24 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@KaitieG that's a vintage or antique pan. They're the only ones I use. As you said they're lighter, smoother and the best nonstick money could buy.

Yeah--we like it a lot because of the smooth finish. My mother in law has one she uses a lot that has been at the farm house for several generations--this was as close as we could get. My husband has tried to figure out the differences in the casting, but no matter how much we cook in the new pan, it just doesn't quite feel or look the same.  We've actually considered sanding it (the new--15 year old--one) down so it's smooth and then re-seasoning it...not sure if that's a terrible idea or not.  I'll let you know the results if we ever give it a try. 

[JettsPapa]

All this talk about cast iron skillets reminds me of some years ago when my sister bought a set of table spoons at the estate sale after our great aunt died.  Those spoons all have a flat place on one side from 60 or so years of her using them to stir food in her skillets.

[Streetwise]

You are all amazing!

When the flea market reopens next summer, I might get a vintage piece or two.

I’ll take your suggestions and try something this weekend. It is not as fun to cook single, but this is still an upgrade on my existing pans.

[Flumpweesel]

On 12/3/2021 at 10:13 PM, Streetwise said:

It is not as fun to cook single

But it's important to and you get bigger portions.😝 I always batch cook and freeze meals so I can always eat well even on the laziest of days

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 12/3/2021 at 4:13 PM, Streetwise said:

It is not as fun to cook single

True fact.  There is nothing like cooking a meal for an appreciative partner.  However, that can then flip on its head when it leads to the seemingly inevitable result of offspring who then respond to involved and time consuming cuisine with "I don't want that on my plate!"  Come to think of it, cooking alone wasn't so bad.  😜