Not babying my cast iron anymore!

[Paranoid]

I got tired of having to keep seperate pots for boiling water.

I decided i'm just gonna use it like they used to use it in the old times- hard!

lets see what happens.

[kentuckyhippie]

I've used mine hard for over 30 years and it's just getting better with age

[Cheryl in SD]

My mom had cast iron that she used hard. I didn't know there was another way. The only 'babying' she did was to set it on the stove after washing (and yes she did just wash it) and turn the burner on to make sure it was dry and didn't rust. Those pans are still wonderful.

Cheryl

[MoonShine]

You show 'em who's boss

[bare]

Perfect example of why even a bachelor needs 200 lbs. of cast iron! I have a frying pan that I ONLY cook eggs and in a pinch pancakes. One just for meat and such. Lemme see, I have four fry pans, three dutch ovens, a griddle that sees little use and I'm always on the lookout for more..

The dutch ovens are the ones that get the most overall use. I'll cook anything in 'em, including acid based foods and toss 'em in with the dishes for washing.

[Kazahleenah]

well... there's yer prollem....



ride em hard an put em away 'wet;.

[BigBoy]

There ya go! I cook anything in mine. I will say tomatoes are a little hard to clean up. But like I said on another thread, I use soap and water and sometimes even a long soak and I have no problems with mine.

[antiquestuff]

Well, that's how I use mine! Use it "hard", clean it like any other pan, and the only special thing I do is make sure it's completely dry right after washing, so it won't rust.

[Pony]

Well, I didn't know I was supposed to molly-coddle them... I use them for in the house and out of the house (campfire and cookstove) cooking.

Soak 'em clean (because it's just easier that way), rinse 'em, splash some oil in, and that's that.

I cook tomato, etc., in them because it's a good way to increase the iron in my diet.

Pony!

[Cyngbaeld]

I think there is a difference in the way most folks cook these days over the way they used to cook. We always just used the cast iron when I was much younger but these days it seems to rust more and stick more. I think the difference is that most folks use a lot of 'polyunsaturated' fats if they use fat at all and that tends to make cast iron sticky. We used to use a lot of unhydrogenated lard and fat back. When we cooked meat we left the fat in it. And the meat tended to have a lot of fat. Those fats were nondrying and the oils we use today except for olive oil and coconut, tend to be drying oils. A drying oil will form a hard coating which is why it can be used as a binder for paint or sealer for linoleum. I won't cook with drying oils anymore myself.

[Pat]

The only "mottle codling" mine get is I very very seldom wash them with soap. I've eaten from cast iron all my life, and used one set for almost 30 years (then got transfered and couldn't ship them due to the weight), got back and my ex stole them. So, I'm on my second set (and only a couple of years old... sure wish I still had my original set). I agree they only get better with "abuse" and age.

I agree with the modern oils, but we don't use them either. We do have our own meat butchered (and do our own birds)... so guess it's more like the old style cooking... and yes, been using fatback for flavoring (same as I was raised on) my whole life too.

Pat

[jassytoo]

My MIL gave me most of mine years ago and some of those belonged to her mom. The only thing different I do with mine is dry them on the stove after washing, like Cheryls mom .

[texastami]

I got a set of cast iron for Mother's Day... including a huge 15" skillet that ended up holding our Thanksgiving Day turkey! It was fantastic!! Best gravy I have ever made!! Will ALWAYS use it for the turkey!! (heavier than sin tho!!)

I make almost everything in that big ole skillet - cinnamon rolls to spaghetti sauce to pizza to eggs and sausage!

I am careful to only rub it down with LARD - no other "sticky" type oils - it works wonderful!!

I have a dutch oven and three saucepans but haven't used them too much!! really need to!!

[Jen H]

I didn't know you were supposed to coddle the cast iron. I use the heck out of my 12" fry pan and dutch oven. A scrub with hot water and they're ready to go again.

[wyld thang]

Here's one good way to season a iron pan:
Oven 425
Melt 1/2 stick of butter in the pan on the stovetop(on med)
Whisk 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 eggs(preferably fresh from the chicken;0)
Pour into pan, cook on stovetop 1 minute(dont' stir)
Put pan in oven, bake 12 minutes.
Take it out and put maple syrup on it.
Put the pan back in the oven and turn it off(the oven;0).
yum yum!! Don't worry, a lot of butter stays in the pan.
Make sure people see it come out of the oven, this impresses the children!

[wyld thang]

Sorry, I should have said "re-season" ;0)

[starwalker]

First thing I did was find the size I wanted at a Flea market. My sons had bought me a brand spanking new set! Junk. I bought the old ones. They had YEARS of black crust on the outside. We built a fire outside and chucked the whole lot in there after we had coated them in cooking oil. All the crud came off the old ones and the new ones were black like they should be. I let them cool. Took them in and cleaned them up. Then after washing I put them on the stove and heated them up again. Took some lard/crisco and put a light coat on the inside. Everytime I use and wash them, I turn the burner on and coat them while they are good and warm. Mine never stick. Well, except with ONE item. Corned Beef Hash. That stuff sticks in a non stick pan!

[Corky]

Someones comment earlier was to ride um hard and put um up wet.
DON'T PUT UM UP WET!!!!!

I use the heck out of mine and wash them just like everything else but I will say that they do better with less scrubbing. It depends on what I have cooked in them how much scrubbing they get.
Stuff will stick if you scrub off too much of the seasoning or just wipe them out after cooking something like bacon in them. Bacon tends to leave little bits of meat stuck to the pan so they need to be cleaned with hot water but no soap in this case. dry them well on the stove and wipe a little grease or in my case a light spray and wipe out with olive oil cooking spray both inside and outside. I live on a river bank and they have to be coated at all times to keep from rusting here. I love my cast iron!