Cast iron cooking
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Fond memories of my Mom’s pineapple upside down cake made in her No.8 Griswold skillet, now in my daughters kitchen.
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@ndmike Thanks. I’d love to tell a story that it was acquired over years of searching through garage sales and flea markets, but that just isn’t the case. One of the Griswalds (#9 with the lid) was inherited. Everything else except the other Griswalds was just purchased new over time.
The rest of the Griswalds came as a set that I just happen to fall upon not long after I started looking for Griswald cast iron. Someone had taken serious time to restore them, and they were in perfect condition. Either they didn’t know what they had or they were just trying to unload them, but they were asking less for the set than I see the identical #10 going for on your friendly, neighborhood online auction site. Frankly, I didn’t know what they had, either, or I probably would have offered to may -more- than I did. At the time, I was afraid I was paying too much! I just figured I would splurge, since it was the set!
I guess it really is better to be lucky than good!
TexLaw those inherited and passed down pieces are the best. Sounds like you got a great find on the set. I have most of my Mom’s CI, because I have sisters who don’t like the weight or not being able to put them in a dishwasher. Their loss was my gain. I had a friend that said “you never really die until you end up on the wall at a Cracker Barrel”. There a lot of truth in that statement.
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processhead yep, I can when I get home after work. It needs to be seasoned as my wife’s aunt didn’t take the best care of it. Little bit of surface/flash rust on it.
@ndmike you can sand blast it and reseason it
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I use cast iron on an on going basis from meat loaf pans to 10” & 12” skillets to grill surface and Dutch ovens
You can beat it for heat retention and good flavors
The old stuff has better surfaces for sure
I have a few pieces that are well over a 100 years old and still going strong
I don’t like the enameled stuff at all, why use it?
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The enameled CI works well with acidic foods, chili, spaghetti sauce, etc… If it sits to long it can damage the seasoning and impart a funky flavor to the meal. I have a few pieces to handle those types of meals. We found an old 10in buried on our property that my wife brought back to life. That piece has had constant use at our house. CI will last several lifetimes with proper care. Sounds like I am not the only one that goes checking out places for pieces.
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Enameled also is a good deal easier to clean when stuff sticks or gets baked on. Just scrub away without having to deal with reseasoning or any other such trouble. It’s also slick right from the get-go and doesn’t require special care (other than not banging it around so much that the enameling chips).
But, yeah, the reactivity is the real reason you want enameled. I don’t think I’d want to simmer something acidic in there for a few hours to find that I wished I hadn’t.
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Is there a certain brand you recommend for the enameled ci?
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Is there a certain brand you recommend for the enameled ci?
RJ Adventures Lodge and Cuisinart are pretty budget friendly. For high end heirloom quality Le Crueset or Staub can’t be beat.
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Is there a certain brand you recommend for the enameled ci?
RJ Adventures I’ve picked up a Tramontina 4 qt and 7 qt Dutch oven set and they have held up pretty well. I also had a CI enameled skillet, that my son managed to abscond when he moved out. I believe it was a T-Fal. It has been a good performer as well. I picked up all of these at Sam’s Club at decent prices several years back. TexLaw Is dead on about having the enamel for certain types of food and cooking. It’s all about having the right tool for the right job.
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Any cast iron enthusiasts in here? I like to use a 12 in camp dutch oven as well as numerous cast iron skillets. My best skillet is a very old Griswold that I got as a gift.
@ndmike There’s a following on this site for these gems. I have about 8-10 of them (12,11,10,8,6,4 skillets; 1 Dutch Oven-3 peg; 1 square-about 8 inches; 2 enamel coated Dutch Ovens and a 9-13 baking tray). There may be more. But those are the core. My fav all depends on what I’m preparing. They are the most versatile cooking instruments. The only item that I’m not fond of is when making in them is crepes. Most of mine were gifts from people or the Goodwill store that looked like OMG at the beginning. Glad you also enjoy these instruments of goodness.
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Is there a certain brand you recommend for the enameled ci?
RJ Adventures Don’t know if I have any particular brand that I would tout, I have Le Cruesant(sp?) and Lodge and I have seen a a nickel plated one I think made by Grizzly. I would stick with a name brand. I have seen some older CI but unfortunately the enamel has been abused
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RJ Adventures Don’t know if I have any particular brand that I would tout, I have Le Cruesant(sp?) and Lodge and I have seen a a nickel plated one I think made by Grizzly. I would stick with a name brand. I have seen some older CI but unfortunately the enamel has been abused
YooperDog @RJ Adventures I know one or two are Lodge, the others are toooooo old or worn to determine. I just know that they do well in my world. Maybe if I cared, I would look closer. Cleaned up 3/4 of them with sooo much rust on them, I just knew that they were definitely cast iron.
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YooperDog @RJ Adventures I know one or two are Lodge, the others are toooooo old or worn to determine. I just know that they do well in my world. Maybe if I cared, I would look closer. Cleaned up 3/4 of them with sooo much rust on them, I just knew that they were definitely cast iron.
zbigjeff what did you do to clean them up? Only have a couple cast iron and both are lodge, one is a 10" skillet and I have a smaller griddle plate for camping to throw across the outdoor kitchen stove
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zbigjeff what did you do to clean them up? Only have a couple cast iron and both are lodge, one is a 10" skillet and I have a smaller griddle plate for camping to throw across the outdoor kitchen stove
RJ Adventures said in Cast iron cooking:
zbigjeff what did you do to clean them up? Only have a couple cast iron and both are lodge, one is a 10" skillet and I have a smaller griddle plate for camping to throw across the outdoor kitchen stove
For restoring really rusty dirty cast iron, I am definitely sold on the electrolysis method for cleaning cast iron. All you need is an automotive type battery charger, a container large enough for the item, and Arm and Hammer washing soda. When finished you just need to season the item.
Paul
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processhead thanks for that link! Never thought about the electrolysis to clean them but makes total sense! Loved doing this in school
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processhead Thanks for posting this link. Had not thought of this method but think I’ll try it on my old Griswold.
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RJ Adventures said in Cast iron cooking:
zbigjeff what did you do to clean them up? Only have a couple cast iron and both are lodge, one is a 10" skillet and I have a smaller griddle plate for camping to throw across the outdoor kitchen stove
For restoring really rusty dirty cast iron, I am definitely sold on the electrolysis method for cleaning cast iron. All you need is an automotive type battery charger, a container large enough for the item, and Arm and Hammer washing soda. When finished you just need to season the item.
processhead yes a lot easier than elbow grease. One of our daily pieces is a 10 " Japanese piece that we found on our property, days of daily scrubbing to get it cleaned up. With that operation we could have let chemistry do the work.
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@ndmike There’s a following on this site for these gems. I have about 8-10 of them (12,11,10,8,6,4 skillets; 1 Dutch Oven-3 peg; 1 square-about 8 inches; 2 enamel coated Dutch Ovens and a 9-13 baking tray). There may be more. But those are the core. My fav all depends on what I’m preparing. They are the most versatile cooking instruments. The only item that I’m not fond of is when making in them is crepes. Most of mine were gifts from people or the Goodwill store that looked like OMG at the beginning. Glad you also enjoy these instruments of goodness.
zbigjeff that is a nice collection. I love cooking on cast iron. I have a stupid glass top stove right now that I want to switch out to gas. I like gas for the control of heat so much better.
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RJ Adventures said in Cast iron cooking:
zbigjeff what did you do to clean them up? Only have a couple cast iron and both are lodge, one is a 10" skillet and I have a smaller griddle plate for camping to throw across the outdoor kitchen stove
For restoring really rusty dirty cast iron, I am definitely sold on the electrolysis method for cleaning cast iron. All you need is an automotive type battery charger, a container large enough for the item, and Arm and Hammer washing soda. When finished you just need to season the item.
processhead spot on for really nasty stuff when restoring.
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