cast iron skillet

**GLC1968** · 01-20-2010, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by gnat23

But yah, I use my cast iron for everything. My favorite is the crust you can make on a hunk of blackened salmon. NOM.

Oh, good idea! I haven't done salmon in ours yet but I will now!

I have quite a bit of cast iron but just a few weeks ago bought a cast iron ebelskiver pan and it is SOOO MUCH FUN! I love playing around with different ingredients from sweet to savory. And every single time I turn one, I marvel at how cool they are.

**oxysback** · 01-20-2010, 09:06 AM

Yum! I just made this Monday and it's delicious!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...-iron-skillet/

**GLC1968** · 01-20-2010, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by oxysback

Yum! I just made this Monday and it's delicious!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...-iron-skillet/

Holy crap, I just drooled on my desk. That looks amazing!

**smilingcat** · 01-20-2010, 06:09 PM

Originally Posted by oxysback

Yum! I just made this Monday and it's delicious!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...-iron-skillet/

A classic french tarte tatin with few minor differences. very yummy.

**Eden** · 01-21-2010, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by oxysback

Yum! I just made this Monday and it's delicious!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2...-iron-skillet/

Holy crap - 3 sticks of butter and 1/2 a cup of sour cream.......

I have 2 cast iron skillets. One picked up at an Amish farmers market and one from my mother in law, who never seasoned it properly (and so hated it as everything would stick). I also have carbon steel wok (at least I think it must be.... it will rust if you leave it wet, but it certainly isn't iron... would be too thick and heavy). I impressed my Chinese co-workers with that one. It is well seasoned and well used. Nothing sticks to it anymore. All I have to do after cooking is rinse it and put it on the stove to dry. I think they'd never seen a white person with a proper wok....

I don't cook acidic things in my cast iron. I like the the condition of them too much at the moment to want to start again... I specifically like them for pancakes, fried potatoes, frittata - love them for frittata, directly from the stove to the oven and out again, no problem and all I have to do is turn the pan over to plate it. I still prefer a small pan with curved sides for fried eggs though.

**NoNo** · 01-25-2010, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by Eden

...and one from my mother in law, who never seasoned it properly (and so hated it as everything would stick)...

Ok, time to ask the experts: What is the best way to season cast iron cookware? I know enough not to use soap when I wash it, and I was told spray it with PAM or drizzle some olive oil on it afterwards. I wouldn't say it's at the non-stick level, but I can see some kind of layer developing. Am I doing it correctly?

**Tuckervill** · 01-25-2010, 04:56 AM

You coat it with oil all over, front and back and handle and put it in the oven at about 250* for an hour or so. Put something on the rack below it to catch the drippings. Wipe it off, and, if you really want to do it up good, repeat the process.

If the pot is brand new, you should wash it with soap and water first, then dry it well before you add the oil, because there is usually wax on it to keep it from rusting while it sells.

Karen

**pumpkinpony** · 01-25-2010, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by Tuckervill

You coat it with oil all over, front and back and handle and put it in the oven at about 250* for an hour or so. Put something on the rack below it to catch the drippings. Wipe it off, and, if you really want to do it up good, repeat the process.

This works good - just make sure you put it upside down in the oven, or you end up with a sticky varnish like coating... I did that once. Took some time to get the pan back to it's normal self.

The other thing that helps is cooking lots of naturally fatty foods in it.

**Tuckervill** · 01-25-2010, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by pumpkinpony

This works good - just make sure you put it upside down in the oven, or you end up with a sticky varnish like coating... I did that once. Took some time to get the pan back to it's normal self.

The other thing that helps is cooking lots of naturally fatty foods in it.

Yeah, I meant to say that. Turn it over.

I could have written Oxy's post, down to the Pampered Chef scraper and the permanent home on the stove-top. But I have three of them living there, all nesting together on the back left burner (just like my ex-MIL and my grandmother did). Whenever my mother comes over and wants to tidy up, she puts them in the oven! What she doesn't realize is that I never store anything in the oven because I'm deathly afraid of fire, and storing something in the oven is just an invitation for me to turn the oven on without checking first! Drives me nuts, because then I don't know where they are!

Karen

**oxysback** · 01-25-2010, 09:58 AM

Originally Posted by NoNo

Ok, time to ask the experts: What is the best way to season cast iron cookware? I know enough not to use soap when I wash it, and I was told spray it with PAM or drizzle some olive oil on it afterwards. I wouldn't say it's at the non-stick level, but I can see some kind of layer developing. Am I doing it correctly?

What I do after I cook in it is scrape the excess food out under running water (I use a hard nylon spatula or one of those handy little square scrapers that Pampered Chef sends with their stoneware), wipe it with paper towels, and put it on a burner on high for about 5 minutes. When it's good and hot, I remove the skillet from the burner, spray a wad of paper towels with cooking spray and wipe the inside of the skillet. It'll be hot. Be careful! My skillet has a permanent home on my stovetop.

**OakLeaf** · 01-25-2010, 10:48 AM

Five minutes is great to refresh and protect the season after you wash a pan, but initially seasoning it will take longer. I've had better luck on the stovetop (where I can control excess oil by periodic wiping) than in the oven. My experience is that if oil pools, it will not varnish and season the pan. Because of the curved bottom, it was extremely difficult to season my cast iron wok (it's getting there though, finally).

**uforgot** · 01-25-2010, 11:11 AM

I purchased one at our local flea market for $4! It's a little one. I googled "seasoning cast iron" and there were a lot of instructions out there! I seasoned it 3 times this weekend and cooked everything in it on Sunday. It was great! My teflon skillet went in the trash. Now I'm going to go back and find a large skillet, dutch oven....

**marni** · 01-21-2010, 05:43 PM

not only my desk but my computer are now soaked. I can see I am going to have to break diet restrictions for a day and try this. OMG

**uforgot** · 01-22-2010, 03:08 AM

I'm going to have to try this. I'm really tired of my "non stick" cookware that really doesn't last. I'm going to find one this weekend and try some of these recipes. Not PW though. Can't imagine where my cholesterol would go with her stuff.

**tulip** · 01-22-2010, 06:45 AM

Non-stick pots and pans are made of some really nasty stuff, apparently. I used to have a parrot, and was told by the avian vet to never use non-stick cookware because it releases fumes that can kill birds. Not a good sign.

Just put some olive oil in a cast iron skillet (or butter if you're making something sweet). Keeps things from sticking.

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