cast iron skillet

[azfiddle]

I have two big cast iron skillets I inherited from my parents- they must be around 60 years old and I love them. I haven't baked in them but use for cooking almost everything that includes "saute" or "brown" in the recipe.
Curries, pasta sauces, stews, chicken dishes etc.

[GLC1968]

what is that? (I see it has multiple spellings!)

This blog shows some nice pictures and a link to a good Williams-Sonoma recipe, too.

http://www.applesandbutter.com/2009/...nitaskers.html

[uk elephant]

I just invested in a big cast iron pot too, with a skillet lid. Made a big pot of beef stew in it so far. Delicious, and the cast iron is perfect for slow cooking stews. Brown the meat, add the veg and liquid, then stick the whole thing in the oven on very low heat for a very long time. Your suggestions of corn bread and other yummy things sounds great. I'll definitely have to expand my repertoire. And good to hear, Mimi, that it will improve my iron levles. That was the point of getting it in the first place.

[Eden]

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.

[marni]

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]

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]

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.

[NoNo]

...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]

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

[oxysback]

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]

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]

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....

[badger]

I have an iron skillet that is has that ceramic coating, like Le Creuset (a cheap Starfrit knock off). Can I "season" it like a real cast iron skillet? Food does stick to it, so I don't cook things like eggs, but for most everything else I do. I'm thinking I may just go and get a traditional skillet.

[OakLeaf]

Nope. Seasoning happens when oil seeps into the pores in the iron and bonds to the varnish. Enameled iron can't be seasoned. (But nothing sticks to it really hard, and it can be scrubbed, used for long cooking of liquids and acidic foods, and - even though they tell you not to - washed in the dishwasher.)

[pumpkinpony]

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.