Cast Iron

Hey everyone!

I have been using cast iron pans for the past few months. They are so much fun to cook with. I was wondering if anyone else here uses them?

If so, a couple questions.

First, what is your preferred way of cleaning them? I generally just use the back side of a sponge and hot water, with maybe some salt on a particularly tough job.

Second, what are some of your favorite things to cook in cast iron? I am still playing around with things, especially stirfry. The extremely hot temperature they can reach is perfect. I also make an amazing hamburger, mixing onions and minced garlic into the meat, than coating it with seasoned salt and black pepper. I preheat the oven to 500 degrees, with the pan in it so it is nice and hot. I just cook it in the oven. Throw it on a big wheat roll when it comes out and put a few slices of dill pickles. Mmm...no ketchup required. Easy, fast, and absolutely delicious

:goes off to buy a cast iron pan:

Yikes! How are they fun?? I remember we had a couple of those when I was a kid. They were a major PITA to clean and I never really felt like I got them clean. I used good old steel wool and some major elbow grease. Ours were pretty old though. I suppose newer ones wouldn't be quite as rough.

When I moved out on my own I got non-stick teflon pans and haven't looked back!

Don't scrub to hard on those, that takes off all the "seasoning" I do use soap and water and a green scrubby sponge. Than a thin coat of vegetable oil to keep it from rusting. I use mine for cornbread all the time it comes out awesome in cast iron. I also use it on the grill for blackened fish its the bomb.

I've got a cast iron dutch oven, which is amazing for chicken and cobler.

I have 3 cast iron frypans, large, medium, and small. They're a pain to maintain, but they're great for cooking. I've had them for years.

Cleaning: I know some people season theirs, but I've never had luck with it. I use an SOS pad to clean them, and they clean well.

Favorite Foods: Omlets are great in them. I use a little margarine, and that tends to work best for them. I like the medium size pan, a few eggs mixed with a few tablespoons of water. If you do it right, you can keep the omlet from sticking to the bottom, and you'll get these nice little golden crusts on the cooked side. I like my omlets with cheese, ham, and a little broccolli. I also sprinkle some habanero sauce on top of it before eating. Hmmm... now I'm seriously hungry for one now. -_^

Burgers are great in them. Also I stir fry veggies, pork, and anything else that needs a good steady (and usually higher) temperature.

Kash said:

:goes off to buy a cast iron pan:

Click to expand...

They are super cheap on Amazon. Getting the 10" and 12" pans will just bump you over the $25 for free shipping. They are actually pretty nice too (I mean, they are just cast iron...not much to screw up). They are pre-seasoned as well, which is helpful.

I know they are a pain to clean. But they are really fun to actually cook with, so much that it is worth the extra time. And reseasoning them is not all that hard. Just coat it in oil and stick it in the oven for a while. Not to mention how much cheaper they are as compared to other pans.

Food has such a good taste coming out of them. And being able to go from stove-top to oven/broiler is something that I am just addicted too.

Try putting plain water in the pan and bringing it to a boil to clean it. After that just use some soap and a sponge to get any left overs, give it a quick rinse and dry with paper towels. Super quick and easy way to clean them. All I use is cast iron when I'm cooking on the stove.

I agree that I much prefer food cooked in cast iron than in those non-stick pans.

For washing the pan, I agree with what has been mentioned already and avoid putting salt to clean it out : salt will make the iron rust. The way to season a cast iron pan is to put it in the oven or over a burner till it gets really really hot then pour a generous amount of vegetable oil and spread the oil all over the inner surface with a paper towel or something while it's still hot (so be careful not to burn yourself).

Put it back in the oven or burner for a while till you notice some of the oil has been absorbed by the surface. Take it out and wipe the excess oil.

Here are two ways of seasoning your pan, The Irreplaceable Cast-Iron Skillet and How To Season A Cast Iron Skillet.

Enjoy !

Looks like I need to reseason my pans.

Hey Cheesy:

I'm curious about your "baked" burgers. How is the grease output when cooking in the oven? About the same as on stove-top? Do you need to flip the burgers? Thanks! I don't own a cast-iron pan.

I found a great burger recipe from a George Foreman grill book. I've cooked them both on the George and on stove-top. Stove-top is juicier. All you need is worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper, garlic powder, onions (if desired, the wife does, I don't) and shredded cheddar cheese. Mix all in a bowl with the ground beef. Make into patties and cook on George or stove top until done. Please note since the cheese is mixed into the patties, the patties will tend to break apart as the cheese melts. That's about the only downside of it, but it's one heck of a great burger! Enjoy for all who try it!

Gary

The possibilities for original topics here never cease to amaze me. Good job Cheesy!

My parents had them and I made pancakes with them last weekend. So much better than the newer pans. There is a way to get them to be stick free.You have to oil the pan and then heat it in the oven at 300 for an hour. works great and last a long time too. These are the directions that were on the back of my parents cast iron pans.It works. The only downside to them is they weight a ton

opps MHC beat me to it

gary61071 said:

Hey Cheesy:
I'm curious about your "baked" burgers. How is the grease output when cooking in the oven? About the same as on stove-top? Do you need to flip the burgers? Thanks! I don't own a cast-iron pan.

Click to expand...

It depends. They are certainly very juicy. However, you can always push some of it out with the spatula! And yes, I flip them. You probably don't HAVE to, but getting the slightly burnt taste that only a cast iron pan can give you requires it

baggss said:

The possibilities for original topics here never cease to amaze me. Good job Cheesy!

Click to expand...

Thanks!

EDIT: Oh! For all you people that want to impress with a great meal, here is a good one I made the other day.

Get some chicken breast. Marinate it in a mixture of red wine, a dry vinegar of some sort (rice wine or rice vinegar is very good), minced garlic and minced ginger. Throw some pepper in there if you want.

Preheat your pan to 500. Throw on the chicken breast. Sprinkle on some black pepper, oregano and whatever else (cut up some peppers or squeeze a lemon on it...anything!) Bake or broil it for a little while. When it is done, put some grated parmesan and mozzarella and broil until it JUST starts to get a little brown.

So delicious!