Cooking

[Streetwise]

@Flumpweesel, What are your favorite meals to freeze?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Been cooking for myself for, well I decline to give you that information- however I personally enjoy it and I happen to LOVE leftovers!! 

[Streetwise]

@xXInkedPhoenixX, What are your favorite leftovers?

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Streetwise Definitely Chili! I make a spicey Turkey Pumpkin Chili that is AMAZING and only gets better as the days go by. A bit of cheddar, bit of sour cream, cilantro on top- maybe some CORNBREAD with honey and butter. Nom nom!

Edited December 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Patrick_G]

On 12/2/2021 at 7:45 PM, eatyourpeas said:

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

That looks great! I make bread in my cast iron Dutch oven all the time. I thank chef Mark Bitman for the recipe in the New York Times in the early 2000s. 

[Streetwise]

I saw cast iron lids on the Lodge website.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Streetwise lids can be handy, most of the time you might see "self basting" with Lodge there could be spikes in the lid which  makes it that way. 

Vintage and antique lids get INSANE. I'm looking at one on a watchlist that's nearly 400. It's just a wish, I don't think I'll ever go there and I don't really need it (it's just rare). I invested in a lid years ago that was a bit over 100 (more expensive than the pan).

You should pick one up from Lodge when you can- they aren't absolutely necessary but come in handy from time to time. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
rearranging...

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@JettsPapa @OnlyGenusCaps @KaitieG I haven't fainted at any of the supposed "misuse" tales here so far. One of the reasons I love cast iron so much is it's pretty much indestructable- I mean come on some of my pans are literally 121 years old and you would never know it. Even if you "mess up" a cast iron pan there are ways to bring it back to life.

The no rust thing-- that's why I use Crisco. After cooking (no soap but yes you can use soap) scrape off any bits (that fall off like butter was still in the pan) rinse it really good with hot water and "dry" it off with a papertowel and a bit of Crisco. Anti-aging cream for your pans. 😄 They need their beauty sleep too!!

Edited December 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
Typos are lame

[Taco Playz]

These all make me very hungry and now I want to eat lol.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Taco Playz

[eatyourpeas]

On 12/3/2021 at 6:24 PM, Streetwise said:

I saw cast iron lids on the Lodge website.

I would recommend another pan and flipping it to use as a lid. 🙃

[Streetwise]

On 12/3/2021 at 10:31 PM, eatyourpeas said:

I would recommend another pan and flipping it to use as a lid. 🙃

I was hoping you would reply! I’ll get another and try to learn some new skills.

[eatyourpeas]

On 12/3/2021 at 7:37 PM, Streetwise said:

I was hoping you would reply! I’ll get another! Now I am thinking about other sizes, but maybe I will wait.

Before you go crazy buying more, remember these can go in the oven. You can make casseroles, frittatas, quiche, lasagna, stews, braised meats and vegetables, baked goods, bread pudding, sauces, gravies, mac and cheese, pulled pork, etc. Play with these and see if you really need anything else, then get what you are missing. You'll be surprised at the mileage you can get from just two of these. 🙂

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I do lots of recipes that do both stovetop and oven....the pizza in my original post here is cooked on the stovetop first then finished in the oven. I also do a German Apple Pancake that you cook the same way, saute the apples with cinnamon and sugar, pour the batter over the apples bake for a little while on the stovetop then finish in the oven. It get flipped over onto a plate- if you do it right, the cinnamon apples are in a pretty pattern. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Something must be in the the water, we had turkey chili and cornbread for dinner! As for cast iron love my lodge pieces, use bacon fat to season, and kosher salt to scrub it out. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Beardedbillygoat1975 ...tis the season...fa la la la looove the chili!

[Patrick_G]

I’m the family cook and I cook with cast iron probably 75% if the time. I try and not be to precious with it. I wash it with hot water and a plastic brush, dry it off with a towel and put it away until the next meal. Dutch ovens get a wipe down with some oil but the skillets have a thicker layer of seasoning so they don’t need extra oil. The only thing that seems to affect the seasoning is if I braise in tomato sauce or something acidic. 
@Streetwise, I have about four pieces of lodge. In some ways I like it better than vintage. The surface isn’t as smooth but the extra weight makes up for it. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Patrick_Gsame here on the cooking. I have enamel, stainless and the cast iron. Only pans I haven’t played around with yet are those carbon steel ones. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Beardedbillygoat1975 carbon steel woks if you do wok cooking are the best, IMO

[Patrick_G]

On 12/3/2021 at 8:44 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Patrick_Gsame here on the cooking. I have enamel, stainless and the cast iron. Only pans I haven’t played around with yet are those carbon steel ones. 

I recently bought a vintage carbon steel sauté pan. It’s not much lighter than my “lightweight” cast iron. I think it’s going to be great. 

[lindabee53]

Shortly after I moved into this house, my niece and I were working in the yard.  She was raking under a tree and got hung up on something, so we looked.  It was a piece of metal sticking up.  I got the shovel and started digging - really didn't want metal bits sticking up with my 4-year-old grandnephew running around.  We eventually had a hole about a foot deep and pulled out an old cast iron skillet.  It cleaned up pretty well, but I've hesitated to cook in it.

It sounds like you're all really good cooks.  My cooking is nothing to brag on - cooking for one kinda killed my desire to do anything special.  However, friends seem to show up when I'm doing soups or stews - they're my thing - and stews are great in cast iron, as long as it isn't a tomato based stew.  I don't like the effect that acid-y foods have on my cast iron.  I don't do spaghetti sauce in my cast iron, either.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@xXInkedPhoenixXORD, I don’t have a wok at present, so if my wife want me to make more stir frys…..

[Patrick_G]

On 12/3/2021 at 8:47 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Beardedbillygoat1975 carbon steel woks if you do wok cooking are the best, IMO

I’ve been eyeing the lodge cast iron wok

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Patrick_G the principal behind wok cooking is super hot and super fast, cast iron is slow in comparison to a super thin easy to handle/pan flip carbon fiber wok. You would need a lid too to do the veggie steaming. New Lodge is pretty rough so would be harder to do tradtional Chinese cooking HOWEVER they do make them because there is a market for them- to each their own of course. 

[Patrick_G]

On 12/3/2021 at 8:59 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

@Patrick_G the principal behind wok cooking is super hot and super fast, cast iron is slow in comparison to a super thin easy to handle/pan flip carbon fiber wok. You would need a lid too to do the veggie steaming. New Lodge is pretty rough so would be harder to do tradtional Chinese cooking HOWEVER they do make them because there is a market for them- to each their own of course. 

I do have a couple carbon steel woks that I really love. In the future I’d like to have a little separate wok kitchen. For now an extra powerful exhaust hood helps take care of any excess smoke. 

[Minanora]

On 12/2/2021 at 8:37 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?

I use avocado oil to season my cast iron and my carbon steel pans. I never touch my good carbon or cast iron pans with soap. Ever. (edited to add that I do this because I washed my grandmas with soap when i was a kid and I got a wooden spoon to the back of the head)

I do not recommend cooking anything acidic in your cast iron. Just from personal experience, it can do a number on the seasoning. Tomato fail.

Cast iron is my favorite! And, not just because one of my brother-in-law's sells Saladmaster... I have some Saladmaster pans.... they're okay, but nothing can replace my cast iron.

 

Lodge makes a luxury/pro line that has a milled interior that is smooth as silk too. Sexy, and the most epic nonstick, similar to the one @KaitieGshowed in her photo. There's another manufacturer that makes a similar one as well. The pores in their castings are much finer, so you get that slick out of the box interior.

Another note, I use chainmail to clean my cast iron and all of my pans except the polished exterior of some of the all-clads I have. a good one is "the ringer" branded chainmail cleaner. just make sure you get a LEGIT "the ringer" not a cheap knockoff. There's no replacement. the welds on the rings, the grade of stainless, priceless. I just make sure to use a wood spatula to push my chainmail around when I'm working with a molten hot pan.

 

On 12/3/2021 at 8:53 PM, lindabee53 said:

It cleaned up pretty well, but I've hesitated to cook in it.

Cook in it! just cook a bunch of bacon fat in it first; get it really well seasoned. Winner!

On 12/3/2021 at 4:36 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

o, 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!

I did exactly this with my dutch oven and "it's" lid as well. Lid was a bit of a pain, but now that it's seasoned well it is a camp essential for cooking red meat.

Edited December 4, 2021 by Minanora