Question about cast iron cookware.

[ecoaster]

A.W.,

I saw those yesterday and almost grabbed a set. Cast iron cookeware is awesome. My parents have some and it makes meat taste superb. They never wash it in soapy water, just boiling hot water to clean it and then a light wipe down of the inside with cooking oil to finish. Keeps it from getting rust spots.

[Grizzly Adam]

The best "cook" I've ever known had a title, and it sure wasn't "Chef."

The whole family called her Mom-mom.

She was my mom's mom ... and she'd been cooking evey day for 89 years when she left us at 96.

My cast iron was her cast iron.

I bless her memory.

[Corvus]

I rinse mine with hot water under the sink while scrubbing with a brush that is never allowed to get soap in it. Towel it off, wipe it down with a little oil on a paper towel and put it away with the lid half on it.

[Cristina]

My Auntie gave me one cast iron. I've never had one before. it's like a frying pan. how do i wash it and do i use it the same way i would any other pan. also it has a little bit of rust i think in the bottom is that bad?

[wabi]

She was my mom's mom ... and she'd been cooking evey day for 89 years when she left us at 96.

That comment got my attention, Grizz. My mom's mom was also 96 when she departed this earthly world and was responsible for most of my care & teaching when I was very young (my mother was a school teacher, and granny took care of me every work day).
I can remember the old flour bin with the sifter, and the refrigerator with a potato bin on the bottom clearly. We made cookies frequently, and they were better than anything you can buy!
Makes you question the wisdom of the medical community when they blame all the dread diseases of the modern world on things like fat, salt, cholesterol. Granny cooked with lard & bacon grease, used plenty of salt & pepper, and wasn't a bit worried about eating fresh eggs every day, and still lived to 96 in her own home without running to the doctor for every ache & pain.
Just my opinion, but could it be the additives & preservatives killing us instead of the good old natural products.

Granny taught me how to cook & sew, and yes - I do use cast iron cookwear (or copper clad pans) in my house! No teflon coated pans to be found here.


edited to add:
bstout, a Weber grill ??????
I use a Lodge cast iron charcoal grill for my outdoor cooking!

[roly]

Damn I didn't notice that either

I was really enjoying this thread

[Shotnbeer]

Caution. Don't let the wife near your cast iron. Only guys know how to clean them properly. Soap is a no-no. Boil the stuff off... use aluminum foil waded up to srape out the stuff.. reheat and wipe of the inside with alittle bacon grease while still hot.

[DaGriz]

I've been collecting, cleaning, repairing and most of all using Cast iron cookware for 30+ years. I like Griswold cast iron the best and I have over 200pieces. I developed a reverse electro cleaning process for those pieces that have extremely heavy build up of crud and surface rust. It cleans them to like new with absolutely no damage, change or marking of the piece. Once through the process you re-season and it's good for another 50yrs. Cleaning process is easy and cheap to set up. If anyone is interested I can email you detailed instructions.

By the way, soap is a dirty word when it comes to cleaning cast iron. If you have seasoned it correctly and use it continually h you can wipe it out with a paper towel after use and it will be perfectly clean. A well seasoned and use skillet will be as smooth as glass and as stick free as teflon

[wabi]

Didn't notice the age of the thread, but the discussion of cast iron is always interesting.

What would a spammer gain by resurrecting an old thread?

[j.krug]

My favourite cast iron pan was destroyed a couple months ago. My wife washed it and put it on the burner on hi to dry it before oiling it. Thing is she forgot about it and went down in the basement to do some other stuff. It over heated and warped like crazy. Not even useable any more. I still have a smaller cast iron frying pan but really miss this larger one. Been looking for a good one to replace it but haven't found one I like yet.

[Meat Hunter]

Like DaGriz, all that I ever do to my cast iron is to wipe them clean with a cotton cloth and hang them on hooks in the pantry. My cast iron cookware is more non-stick than the best Teflon skillet that I have ever owned.

I use to word “my” cast iron with a caveat. “My” set cast iron was inherited from my mom and she inherited it from her mom and it would not surprise me if some of the pieces in my set went back another generation or even more.

I am sixty-six, mom was born in 1918, her mom was born in 1900 and her mom was born in 1876. I suspect that there may be a good case for suspecting that some of my set may well date to the mid (Civil War era) or late 1800’s.

Those ol’ Southern gals knew how to cook and they knew how to take care of their cookware and who am I to change the way that they cleaned it.

I also have wondered about the brand of cast iron cookware that I see sold today that have sand-casting bumps on the cooking surface. I just looked at all my pieces and all of them have circular milling/grinding/smoothing marks on the cooking surface.

[wabi]

Hard to get a good pic of the interior, but I just finished cleaning our most used cast iron skillet after cooking trout in it for dinner.
Hard to clean as usual - let it cool and wipe it out with a paper towel.

If it get really dirty while cooking I'll pour very hot (boiling) water in it when I finish cooking and turn the burner off. Let it set until the meal is finished and then wipe it out. The plain hot water will soften any food that sticks and doesn't hurt the seasoning. Just re-oil (I like lard or bacon grease) and it's ready to go again.

[michiganman]

when i was 16,41 years ago my buddies mom taught me how to cut up venison and cook it.She was from Canada and new her wild game.she said if you want it tendor,you have to use cast iron.Ive been cooking with it ever since.Ive got some of the best stainless stell out there,but for wild game,dosent come close to cast iron.Also my mother could cook some great meat dishes,and all them were made with a cast iron skillet.Like been said before,a seasoned one works great

[j.krug]

I picked up a new Lodge 12" cast iron frying pan today to replace the one my wifey destroyed. It doesn't have the machined (smooth) bottom that my old one had but it looks to be a pretty nice pan. I will be using it this Easter weekend to make a nice big breakfast for my family. Can't wait....nothing like the smell of bacon and coffee in the morning.