Cast iron anyone?

[NorthernRedneck]

Anyone else here a fan of cooking with cast iron? I inherited my grandmother's 10.5 inch wagner skillet a few years ago when she passed away in 2007.

Since then, I have collected a few other pieces but only recently really started using them. We have a couple different sized pots with lids at camp along with another 12" and a 10.5 inch skillet.

Last night, I baked a cornbread in the 12" lagostina which cooked in half the time the recipe called for and turned out perfectly.

We also have a smaller 6" pan that we baked a bree cheese in last night and had it with baguette bread.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Here's the 12" at camp frying up grouse.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

We have a small cast iron fondue set which works great for camping.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Fresh Bannock over the fire. Turned out great.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

This old mclarys Dutch oven was my grandfather's who used it for baked beans and stews. My dad inherited it when I was a child and used it for deep frying fish over the coleman stove at camp for years. When he passed away, I inherited it and have been using it regularly for pretty much everything.

Last summer, my scouts troop participated in a weekend reenactment of the 1800s. We cooked using the old Dutch oven all weekend.

 

[EastTexFrank]

No pictures.

My wife uses cast iron all the time and loves it. Some of it she bought, some of it came from her mother and grandmother so that puts it at over a 100 years old. The only thing is that, with her arthritis, some of it is getting a little heavy for her to use now but that's where I come in.

MY SIL belongs to a campfire cooking club that meets at Tyler State Park one week-end a month. She is a wonderful Dutch oven cook. For a small donation you can show up and eat lunch with them. The park rangers eat for free and they never miss a meal. I was amazed at some of the things that you can cook in a Dutch oven.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I was also. When we did the historical recreation at the old fort, we planned one pot meals that could be cooked on the fire using the Dutch oven to teach the kids. We did oatmeal in the morning with dried fruit. Homemade hamburger helper for supper. At camp, we've made an apple crumble, Bannock etc. I was surprised how quickly it boiled water and was actually able to control the temperature with the amount of heat produced by the fire.

 

[300 H and H]

We have quite a few Griswald pieces. Some think they are the best. They seem to be a bit thinner and lighter, and the cooking surfaces are very smooth.
Most are family pieces., pasted down to us. We use the I would say for 75% of stove top needs.
Love the results as well!

 

[Kevlar]

Pretty hard to beat a good cast iron pan or any cookware for that matter. Seems the older stuff is better as it’s usually got a smooth cooking surface. I prefer to use cast iron but my wife doesn’t. Dad has an old pan that the cooking surface is like glass, stuff just slides right out of it. I picked up a big pan a few years ago for camping and quading to cook on a fire, it’s good and can double as a weapon against bears if need be! It’s heavy!! If you look after them they will last for generations, not like the crappy Teflon ones that you might get 3 years out of.

 

[chowderman]

I have a number of cast iron pans - a pre-1920 Griswold, which is a (near) daily worker . . .
many cooks declare the 'old stuff is better' - the smooth finish is one, the other is 'all the good iron ore was used up by 19xx)

some issues with that....

#1 - given modern metallurgy, it's patently absurd that the industry cannot produce the same, or better/improved, raw iron for cooking vessels. keep in mind, "the same, or better/improved" must be judged in terms of 'what's good for cooking' and not some 'new-age' definition.

#2 - 'the old stuff' was sand cast, then machined so the floor of the pan was smooth. fry pans more apt to be machined than dutch oven style stuff... odd ball shapes like long oval fish pans,,,, rarely machined.

there is a popular theory that "seasoning" a new-age sand cast pan will make it as smooth as . . . hogwash.
wishful thinking . . .

there are companies (fieldcompany.com, et. al.) that produce machined cast iron pans - and companies that will 'grind/polish' your pan smooth - and DIY instructions to smooth/polish the new not-so-nice cast iron stuff.

I can hand-flip eggs over easy in ye olde Griswold (also in anew Teflon pan . . . ) - the best seasoning comes from regular use, not exotic oils from the east slope of Mountain Mysterious but pressed only on a full moon . . .

I've been thinking to get a new CI griddle pan (i.e. almost no side height....) for crepes - but the bathroom scale has the 'more crepes, please' thing on hold . . .

 

[NorthernRedneck]

The 10.5 inch I posted was my grandmother's. I would love to go to her place several times a week a beg for crepes. Lol. She'd give in and make me some. They were the best. Mmmm

 

[pirate_girl]

My son Ty has tons of cast iron he cooks with, both in the kitchen and outdoors year round.
He has a wok that I've thought about taking off his hands, but I think it would be far too heavy for me to handle.
I used to have a Lodge skillet that I used.
That thing got lost somewhere in my moving between here and there.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I made some fall off the bone ribs in the cast iron Dutch oven today. Delicious 😋 I did some research on this pot and from what I can find, it's from the 1920s.

 

[Melensdad]

Not sure how I missed this thread. Both my wife and my daughter have a lot of cast iron.

BUT literally 100% of Melen's cast iron is Staub enameled cast iron. She has about a 1/2 dozen pieces. Mostly in unusual shapes.
Probably 85% of the the lovely Mrs_Bob's collection is also Staub enameled cast iron from France

I know she has some various old US made fry pans, also Lodge cast iron, both the basic iron and also at least 1 enameled Lodge piece

They are used regularly in our home. Regular cast iron fry pans, dutch ovens, etc.

 

[KitKat2023]

I have a cast iron skillet that is great for steaks, but it's so heavy that I don't like using it. It's definitely non-stick though!

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Last night I made deer backstraps roasted with potatoes and carrots. Everyone devoured it. I just spiced it with salt and pepper and a but of garlic. The added 1 cup of beef broth for moisture.

 

[m1west]

Also have a lot of cast iron, nothing like fried catfish in a cast iron skillet.

 

[Melensdad]

Here is a photo of some of the lovely Mrs_Bob’s enameled Staub. Some are old, some newer, despite being decorative, all are actually used for cooking.

 

[Umberto]

I have a large collection of cast iron - no idea how many pieces.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

I have a large collection of cast iron - no idea how many pieces.

View attachment 172361

I just ordered a flat skillet like this as we didn't have one. I also picked up a square Jim beam flat skillet before Christmas.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Here's last night's supper. Porcupine meatballs in my grandfather's old mclary Dutch oven. There's something about cast iron pieces that were handed down. I remember as a child, my grandfather making baked beans in this pot. Dad used it mainly for deep frying fish at camp. I did use it for the same thing the other night. It heats up the oil excellent. For the sauce, I just used a can.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

Cast iron makes excellent crepes. The pan on the left was my maternal grandmother's. I remember her making them for me when I was young using the same pan.

 

[NorthernRedneck]

 

[redsqwrl]

That man could use some advice from a canadian who can cook a meal using some cast iron. preferably by a citizen who can and would catch or harvest their own protein.