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Cast Iron in Kathy's Kitchen

Cooking in cast iron is becoming more popular again, especially since we live in a time when we do so much BBQing. Our regular readers may already know that in our home my husband is my biggest competition in my kitchen. He loves grilling and has 3 Big Green Egg grills, and I'll never say no to something coming off those grills. He uses cast for anything from baking corn bread, mac and cheese, brown butter seared steaks, cast iron pizza, egg bake, fajitas and chili.
Cast iron also works well in your oven and on the stove top. If you have an old pan that has turned rusty, give it a wash, re season it and start using it.

Cast requires a little bit of care.
  1. Wash cast in hot water. It's best to not use soap. Rinse well and place in a warm place to dry so that it does not rust. I put it into my oven to dry. Place cast in oven, turn oven to heat to 350. Once heated turn off and leave pan inside oven to dry.
  2. Store in a dry place so they don't get rusty.
  3. Seasoning your pan is key. Seasoning is basically just rubbing your clean dry cast with a good coating of MELTED or liquid vegetable oil and then putting the pan upside down in a 400ยบ oven for an hour. Turn oven off and leave pan in to cool. MAKE SURE YOU PUT FOIL ON SHELF BELOW INVERTED PAN TO CATCH THE DRIPS OF OIL. Every so often your pan will need to be re seasoned. 
Cooking with cast.
  1. Cast iron takes time to warm up and preheating your pan will make for better baking and cooking. Follow directions on recipes as they will vary.
  2. Cast iron gets very hot, make sure you have heavy oven mitts when handling and also a good trivet to place it on when it comes out of the oven or off the grill. DON"T put it on your counter top. 
  3. It's important to give your pan an extra rub with oil before using....just like you would prep any of you baking pans.

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for the information on caring for cast iron pans. I've gotten two this year at a thrift store. One had a bit of rust on it and now, you can't even tell. I love cooking with my cast iron pans. Julia

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  2. I now cook in cast iron too. I wish I had returned to them when I had a stove with cast iron burners. I did not know how to season the skillets then.

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  3. One other cast iron trick I have learned - if I need to scrub my pan, I rinse it in hot water then sprinkle it with salt - I then use a soft rag or paper towel to scour it with the salt, then rinse with hot water again. No soap, more gentle than a scouring pad, and I don't get tonight's supper mixed in with tomorrow's supper.

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  4. Excellent tutorial on how to revive cast iron. I have my mom's old dutch oven that needs to be cleaned and reasoned and had just been researching on how to best to do this. It's in bad shape but I'm hoping to "bring it back from the rust". Thanks for your tips and BTW my mouth is watering when you list all the yummy things that Scot makes for you.

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  5. Envious of your wall! Love it.

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  6. I have Le Crueset pots... but love love love this old fashioned skillet... it literally never leaves my stovetop...after I wash it I return it to my stovetop... heating it for a few minutes.

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  7. I find bacon grease to season better than vegetable oil. If i have to use anything else, I find Olive oil or (better yet) peanut oil to make for better seasoning. THe key is to get the pan hot enough long enough for the oil to seep into the pores of the cast.

    I have a friend who has access to a restaurant deep fryer. He submerges the entire pan in the deep fryer for about a half hour. Seems to work well.

    I boil the pans out after use. A drop of soap and enough water to cover the bottom and anything stuck to the edges. Bring to a boil, let cool, wipe out, rinse. Seldom need to scrub.

    Care of the cookware is the key.

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  8. I love your wall too, Kathy !! and I love cast iron, and I agree,it does get really hot ! so what I did is sew a little padded sleeve that slips on the handle of the cast iron pan handle and that saves me from continually reaching for a glove.

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  9. I too always heated my pan on the stovetop after washing it. Just put the wet skillet on the burner, turned it on for a minute or too until it was dry, then turned off the burner and let it set until the next meal. That made sure it was dry and didn't rust. Easier than dealing with the oven and cooler in the summer.

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