Cast Iron cookware

[+ Truereview]

Come for dinner (I'm a great cook - especially Middle Eastern, Italian and NE regional American), stay for drinks (I make my own cocktail bitters and shrubs), get too tipsy and stay for breakfast (I bake my own bread to go with your eggs. Or you can go lighter and have some of my homemade yogurt). Still swooning?

No, I stopped swooning, now I'm too damn busy booking a ticket to NYC and picking our China pattern.

 

PS - yogurt please, all over me.

[+ Eric Hassan]

No, I stopped swooning, now I'm too damn busy booking a ticket to NYC and picking our China pattern.

 

PS - yogurt please, all over me.

 

LMAO! I'll make a fresh batch of yogurt for you and have it ready for your arrival.

[BgMstr4u]

I love cooking risotto. [Don't believe the recipes. Use a LOT of butter and more garlic!] A risotto cooked in cast iron is just better. The heat is more even, and that makes a huge difference, because the arborio rice on the edges of the pan will get as much heat as what is in the middle and when you add the white wine the shell of the rice will soften equally throughout the pan, which is the key to imbuing the rice with whatever flavor you are featuring.

[mike carey]

Come for dinner (I'm a great cook - especially Middle Eastern, Italian and NE regional American), stay for drinks (I make my own cocktail bitters and shrubs), get too tipsy and stay for breakfast (I bake my own bread to go with your eggs. Or you can go lighter and have some of my homemade yogurt). Still swooning?

Now, I'm swooning too!

[dcguy20]

Love my Le Creuset cookware. I got a part-time job at two different kitchenware stores several years ago for the 40% employee discount just so I could buy some Le Creuset. I lasted about 3 years at one of those stores. I really enjoyed it until management changed.

[MikeBiDude]

http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html

 

Great link, good info.

 

I always laugh and think "wild west chuck wagon", those old sourdough dudes cooked everything in cast iron!

[jjkrkwood]

Come for dinner (I'm a great cook - especially Middle Eastern, Italian and NE regional American), stay for drinks (I make my own cocktail bitters and shrubs), get too tipsy and stay for breakfast (I bake my own bread to go with your eggs. Or you can go lighter and have some of my homemade yogurt). Still swooning?

 

Only if THIS is a euphemism....

[+ Gar1eth]

If your cast iron is enameled, then the acidity issue is of no concern. The enamel interior is non-reactive.

 

Cast iron sounds god but would be awfully heavy. Plus I grew up for the most part on a in a house with an automatic dishwasher. While I'll hand wash a lot of kitchen items, and even when I use the dishwasher I'll pre-wash the items, I still like putting dishes in the dishwasher-especially for the heat ith drying to 'sanitize' things. And of course you can't put cast iron in the dishwasher.

 

 

If the cast iron is enameled, then does it still have the hot surface/texture for searing that cast iron is known for?

 

I picked up a cheap porcelain 10" skillet the other day without BPA-I've only used it for norm stuff.-scrambled eggs, rice, noodles, and etc. I haven't tried browning meat in it. But since it doesn't have BPA, it's 'supposed' to be healthier than other non-stick coatings like Teflon. And the more expensive ceramic pots (not mine though) often say they are oven safe which gives you the ease of cleaning of a supposedly safer 'Teflon' along with the oven cooking ability of cast iron.

 

As long as we are talking cookware-a pet peeve of mine. When you look at all the websites they go on about how riveted handles are better than soldered ones because the soldered ones are more likely to come loose. But I have trouble with food getting stuck around the rivets especially gooey stuff like eggs. I've gone to scraping around the rivets with toothpicks trying to get food out from between the edge of the rivet and the pan. I'm sure there are food particles left that I can't get to. Talk about a breeding ground for germs.

 

Gman

 

PS I don't think this is a particularly gay topic, @mmk123 . There are lots of (hunky) straight chefs.

[craigville beach]

yes, you can brown nicely in an enameled cast iron pan.

you need to be careful how you clean it and don't use a steel wool pad or a scrubbie The pan will over time stain, there are cleaners you can buy but the staining doesn't effect the use. i have also found that making white rice in it sometimes cleans the stains out for me.

[MikeBiDude]

Cast iron sounds god but would be awfully heavy. Plus I grew up for the most part on a in a house with an automatic dishwasher. While I'll hand wash a lot of kitchen items, and even when I use the dishwasher I'll pre-wash the items, I still like putting dishes in the dishwasher-especially for the heat ith drying to 'sanitize' things. And of course you can't put cast iron in the dishwasher.

 

 

If the cast iron is enameled, then does it still have the hot surface/texture for searing that cast iron is known for?

 

I picked up a cheap porcelain 10" skillet the other day without BPA-I've only used it for norm stuff.-scrambled eggs, rice, noodles, and etc. I haven't tried browning meat in it. But since it doesn't have BPA, it's 'supposed' to be healthier than other non-stick coatings like Teflon. And the more expensive ceramic pots (not mine though) often say they are oven safe which gives you the ease of cleaning of a supposedly safer 'Teflon' along with the oven cooking ability of cast iron.

 

As long as we are talking cookware-a pet peeve of mine. When you look at all the websites they go on about how riveted handles are better than soldered ones because the soldered ones are more likely to come loose. But I have trouble with food getting stuck around the rivets especially gooey stuff like eggs. I've gone to scraping around the rivets with toothpicks trying to get food out from between the edge of the rivet and the pan. I'm sure there are food particles left that I can't get to. Talk about a breeding ground for germs.

 

Gman

 

PS I don't think this is a particularly gay topic, @mmk123 . There are lots of (hunky) straight chefs.

GMan, your germ worries make me smile....

 

BTW I don't put any of my pots/pans in dishwasher. Beats up the copper (my pans show a band of copper) and in general easier to wash by hand. Also, nothing with wood goes in my dishwasher.

 

Please - if you put kitchen knives in dishwasher, don't even tell me I won't be able to sleep.

 

P.S. Who keeps knives in a wood block on the counter? Mine hang on magnetic strip on wall.

[+ Gar1eth]

GMan, your germ worries make me smile....

"Leftover"eggs in the crack between the rivet and skillet would be perfect bacterial growth material.

 

BTW I don't put any of my pots/pans in dishwasher. Beats up the copper (my pans show a band of copper) and in general easier to wash by hand. Also, nothing with wood goes in my dishwasher.

 

My mother put her copper bottom pans in the dishwasher for years.

 

Please - if you put kitchen knives in dishwasher, don't even tell me I won't be able to sleep.

Ok, I'm not telling you. I would hate to disturb your sleep. So just keep imagining I'm hand washing everything. Just IMAGINE ...

 

P.S. Who keeps knives in a wood block on the counter?

 

I do!!! I do!!!

 

Gman

[MikeBiDude]

"Leftover"eggs in the crack between the rivet and skillet would be perfect bacterial growth material.

 

 

 

My mother put her copper bottom pans in the dishwasher for years.

 

Ok, I'm not telling you. I would hate to disturb your sleep. So just keep imagining I'm hand washing everything. Just IMAGINE ...

 

 

 

I do!!! I do!!!

 

Gman

Research bacteria in wood knife blocks on countertops vs hanging on wall. Sorry to tell you....

[+ Gar1eth]

Research bacteria in wood knife blocks on countertops vs hanging on wall. Sorry to tell you....

 

I've worried about it already. :confused:But now thanks to you, I guess I'll have to read about it.

 

Gman

[MikeBiDude]

LOL, I'm not germaphobe, but yeah I put up a magnetic strip for my knives after reading up. Problem is - how to clean inside those wood blocks??

 

Like many many things, we have been using these things for years and years without a lot of issues. But you can't be too careful.

 

At some of the professional food safety classes I've taken, the instructors point out that the "24 hour flu" as our mothers used to call it, was probably a food borne illness from home kitchen.

[Epigonos]

I entertain frequently which means I spend serious time in my kitchen at least two or three times a week. The two items in the kitchen, about which, I am “totally” fanatic are my knives and my skillets.

 

My knives are all hand made for me personally. The majority are made from 1084 or 1095 carbon steel. They are easy to hone and easy to sharpen. Yes they do darken over time but I’m interested ONLY in function NOT appearance. I want my knives razor sharp and that is easy to accomplish with these knives. My two favorite knife makers are Joe Calton at www.caltoncutlery.com and Moriah Cowles at www.orchardsteel.com. Moriah’s knives are totally hand forged and thus more expensive than Joe’s. All of my knives are stored on magnet holders attached to my kitchen walls. As far as I’m concerned stainless steel knives are worthless.

 

My skillets are all either cast iron (Lodge or older brands), and de Buyer French carbon steel. Yes they are heavy. I expect my skillets to sauté thin cuts of chicken, pork, and veal quickly and release with ease. I once had a gorgeous All-Clad skillet that either over cooked my thin cuts of meat or ripped off the light coating of flour which I had applied. Stainless steel skillets simply do NOT release quickly enough or they turn the meat into cardboard. I gave the skillet to a dear friend who loves frying eggs in it. I do, however, use stainless sauce pans for the obvious reason. I once owned a complete set of Le Creuset cookware but eventually got rid of it. It was pretty but is simply enamel coated cast iron and thus no lighter than plain cast iron. I found the white enamel interiors difficult to clean and not worth the effort.

 

When I visit shops like William Sonoma and Sur La Table I have come to realize that many people are stocking their kitchens with cookware that they never intend to use. They expect their cookware to act only as beautiful decorator items. For these people stainless steel and enamel lined cookware are perfect – NOT for me – I cook. If you, and you well should, doubt me visit a local fine restaurant and observe what their chefs are using.

[cany10011]

While I appreciate the merits of le creuset and cast iron cookery, i find it too heavy for me to wash and store away. I'm doing massive spring cleaning and am throwing away things i haven't used in a year: kitchenaid 600 pro mixer, panasonic bread machine, cuisinart 10-cup mixer, a large french press, an extra stock pot, a le creuset casserole dish, and a keurig coffee maker.

[+ Gar1eth]

I entertain frequently which means I spend serious time in my kitchen at least two or three times a week. The two items in the kitchen, about which, I am “totally” fanatic are my knives and my skillets.

 

My knives are all hand made for me personally. The majority are made from 1084 or 1095 carbon steel. They are easy to hone and easy to sharpen. Yes they do darken over time but I’m interested ONLY in function NOT appearance. I want my knives razor sharp and that is easy to accomplish with these knives. My two favorite knife makers are Joe Calton at www.caltoncutlery.com and Moriah Cowles at www.orchardsteel.com. Moriah’s knives are totally hand forged and thus more expensive than Joe’s. All of my knives are stored on magnet holders attached to my kitchen walls. As far as I’m concerned stainless steel knives are worthless.

 

My skillets are all either cast iron (Lodge or older brands), and de Buyer French carbon steel. Yes they are heavy. I expect my skillets to sauté thin cuts of chicken, pork, and veal quickly and release with ease. I once had a gorgeous All-Clad skillet that either over cooked my thin cuts of meat or ripped off the light coating of flour which I had applied. Stainless steel skillets simply do NOT release quickly enough or they turn the meat into cardboard. I gave the skillet to a dear friend who loves frying eggs in it. I do, however, use stainless sauce pans for the obvious reason. I once owned a complete set of Le Creuset cookware but eventually got rid of it. It was pretty but is simply enamel coated cast iron and thus no lighter than plain cast iron. I found the white enamel interiors difficult to clean and not worth the effort.

 

When I visit shops like William Sonoma and Sur La Table I have come to realize that many people are stocking their kitchens with cookware that they never intend to use. They expect their cookware to act only as beautiful decorator items. For these people stainless steel and enamel lined cookware are perfect – NOT for me – I cook. If you, and you well should, doubt me visit a local fine restaurant and observe what their chefs are using.

 

 

I know I am breathlessly waiting for my dinner invitation. I should probably let you know 3 things before you plan an entire sumptuous feast for me-

 

#1. I'm lactose intolerant.

#2. I don't eat seafood or organ meats

#3. I'm great with vegetables as long as they consist of either carrots, corn, green beans, or peas ( with the green beans and peas being preferably canned)

 

In the meantime before the postman, sorry post-person, arrives with the invite, I wanted to ask if you've heard of this knife maker? He uses steel from meteorites. I've heard people wait for years for one of his knives.

 

http://kramerknives.com

 

Gman

[Epigonos]

Actually Gar1eth I have but he is NOT on my list a knife makers. When I contacted him he told me the wait might be up to three or four years. I thanked him and laughingly told him that at 75 I might NOT live long enough to receive the knife let alone have time to use it for an extended period of time -- he got a good laugh out of that as well. Meteorite steel is a bit esoteric even for me -- I'll stick with plain old 1084 and 1095 carbon steel.

 

I'm afraid you will be out of luck with my cooking as I standardly use HUGE quantities of butter, cream, and milk. If, however, you find you want to try some knowing the above plan to attend Oliver's Palm Springs Weekend Pool Party on Sunday, May 1. as I prepare many of the hors d'oeuvres

[dcguy20]

I, for one, get great enjoyment using my Le Creuset cookware. Using it makes me want to cook even more.

[craigville beach]

While I appreciate the merits of le creuset and cast iron cookery, i find it too heavy for me to wash and store away. I'm doing massive spring cleaning and am throwing away things i haven't used in a year: kitchenaid 600 pro mixer, panasonic bread machine, cuisinart 10-cup mixer, a large french press, an extra stock pot, a le creuset casserole dish, and a keurig coffee maker.

 

I hope you are finding someone who can repurpose these items. It is a waste to throw them out.

[phildallas]

I'm not all that crazy about the idea just using cast iron. Tri-ply give a lot of the advantages of cast iron and some of its own, like being lighter than cast iron, and resistant to acidic foods like vinegar and tomatoes. And while All-Clad is the best know tri-ply, Tramontina makes some very good, much less expensive tri-ply. I'd go for a 2-quart and 5-quart covered sauce pans in tri-ply. I also need a small egg pan, something with non-stick coating. (I know, some of you aren't going to like non-stick for various reasons, but I only use it for eggs and pancakes.) I think my Calphalon Unison Slide 8-inch omelette pan is the slickest pan I've ever seen. Of course, to keep it clean you'll probably want non-scratch utensils to use with it.

 

I'm also very happy with my non-Le Creuset dutch oven that cost less than 1/4th of what a Le Creuset one would cost. I'm just not convinced Le Creuset is worth the premium price.

[tanman4u]

For all our cast iron fans check out this Facebook forum with some wonderful recipes....

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=hillbilly%20cast%20iron%20cooking

[mmk123]

 

I'm also very happy with my non-Le Creuset dutch oven that cost less than 1/4th of what a Le Creuset one would cost. I'm just not convinced Le Creuset is worth the premium price.

 

I would never pay full price for any Le Creuset. However, I was able to able to get a 4 quart soup pot and a casserole dish for a fourth of the price of what it would cost. I was a little skeptical at first but both sellers had a few hundred positive reviews (with no negative ones). Also, they showed very clear pictures of the items and if by some reason what I saw is not what I receive Ebay's Buyer Protection Plan will allow me to return it for a full refund. (Both items were listed as new but looks like they might have been from an outlet because there were one or two scratches on each but other than that they looked to be in perfect shape.) The nice thing about the soup pot with it being enameled cast iron I can use it on the stove and also in the oven.

 

I also do have a 5 quart dutch over and another casserole dish that I was able to get through a rewards program at work so I did not pay for those items at all. I just need to get a large cast iron skillet from Lodge and I will be done.