Was Wasted Space, Now Cast Iron

[Guest guest]

Oh, I hear ya there! My ex-husband ate like your BIL...all junk food and

nary a vegetable of fruit. No wonder he had his first heart attack in his

40's! Luckily Roman " largely " eats a healthy diet...lots of fresh fruit,

vegetables, and nuts in addition to whole milk, real butter and healthy

portions of meat, cheese, etc. He is a good cook and makes almost

everything from scratch and usually packs his own lunch. He does eat some

junk when on the road (pop, chips, candy bars, etc.), and does occasionally

pop open a can of Spaghetti-O's. But THANK GOD his diet is seriously much

better than most men's.

 

We had a long talk yesterday about not trusting the microwave and about

renewing our commitment to get rid of the non-stick pans and go all cast

iron as soon as we can afford to.......

--Cee--

******************

Good for Roman Cee. Can he come here and give me a break from the

cooking?lol

 

You'll grow to love your cast iron like I love mine. My mom was a country

gal and she swore by cast iron. I grew up eating food cooked in cast iron.

Mom did get a set of cast aluminum pans back in the 70's-before they started

coating them with teflon. My cookware after I married was her cast off cast

aluminum set and my own new cast iron pieces. As the aluminum pieces wore

out(broken knobs/handles, not the pans themselves)it was impossible for many

yrs. to replace them as they started making all cast aluminim with teflon

coatings.

 

I have 4 cast iron pans....never got a dutch oven tho as I still had my cast

aluminum one and those were alot more expensive back when we set up

housekeeping in '82. I can't use my cast iron anymore since we got this

glass topped stove, as it says you can't use cast iron on it-it scratches

the glass. If I had known that before we got it, I never would have bought

this blasted stove! sigh

I can still use my skillets though to bake in the oven....and I do!

 

Never wash a skillet! I takes the seasoning off it.

Mom taught me that you coat a new skillet in oil(veggie oil, etc.) and put

the pan in the oven and bake it for a couple of hours at 350. When it cools

off, wipe it down with brown paper bags or paper towels. Do this a few

times over a few weeks before you attempt to cook anything in it.

Then after using it, wipe it down good. If you feel you have to put the pan

in water to clean it, put it on a hot burner just to make sure all the

moisture was removed before putting it away. You should reseason the

pan(doing the oil and heat technique)every month or so til your pan is a

nice dark black.

 

If you want to avoid the trouble of trying to get a brand new pan to the

point of use, try buying a used one off of eBay or from a second hand

store(if you can find one there). There are alot of skillets on eBay at any

given moment and some are going for alot of money as collector's items, not

for cooking-which is a shame in itself. But you might be able to find

something used for a reasonable price and the more used it is, the closer to

having a nice seasoned pan you will be. ;-)

 

 

Now I don't know about cast iron being totally stick free but most oldtime

cooks didn't attempt to say, cook a chicken breast in one w/out any type of

lubrication.....either the skin still on or some bacon grease or oil of some

kind in the pan with the chicken. Most oldtime cooks would do cleaning(what

they call 'deglazing' nowadays) of the pan after cooking so that any stuck

bits got carried off the pan surface into a gravy or au jus sauce....so if

used in that way I guess you could call them stick free.lol

So after I found out I can't use the cast iron on this glasstop stove, I got

a set of stainless steel w/out the teflon coating....talk about pricey!

Yowza!!! It's nice stuff and if I can keep hubby from melting it down to

molten melt again, it will work out fine....but it's no cast iron.

I'm keeping my skillets though and some day, when we move or ditch the

glasstop abomination, the skillet mama will rule again.... ;-)

sluggy

[Guest guest]

Kail asked me what I wanted for Valentines Day-it's our anniversary too. I told him nothing says love like cast iron. ROFL! I wish you guys could have seen the look on his face, lol. Priceless!

 

Cyndi

 

In a message dated 2/11/2007 11:57:42 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, arcure writes:

Good for Roman Cee. Can he come here and give me a break from the cooking?lolYou'll grow to love your cast iron like I love mine. My mom was a country gal and she swore by cast iron. I grew up eating food cooked in cast iron. Mom did get a set of cast aluminum pans back in the 70's-before they started coating them with teflon. My cookware after I married was her cast off cast aluminum set and my own new cast iron pieces. As the aluminum pieces wore out(broken knobs/handles, not the pans themselves)it was impossible for many yrs. to replace them as they started making all cast aluminim with teflon coatings.I have 4 cast iron pans....never got a dutch oven tho as I still had my cast aluminum one and those were alot more expensive back when we set up housekeeping in '82. I can't use my cast iron anymore since we got this glass topped stove, as it says you can't use cast iron on it-it scratches the glass. If I had known that before we got it, I never would have bought this blasted stove! sighI can still use my skillets though to bake in the oven....and I do!Never wash a skillet! I takes the seasoning off it.Mom taught me that you coat a new skillet in oil(veggie oil, etc.) and put the pan in the oven and bake it for a couple of hours at 350. When it cools off, wipe it down with brown paper bags or paper towels. Do this a few times over a few weeks before you attempt to cook anything in it.Then after using it, wipe it down good. If you feel you have to put the pan in water to clean it, put it on a hot burner just to make sure all the moisture was removed before putting it away. You should reseason the pan(doing the oil and heat technique)every month or so til your pan is a nice dark black.If you want to avoid the trouble of trying to get a brand new pan to the point of use, try buying a used one off of eBay or from a second hand store(if you can find one there). There are alot of skillets on eBay at any given moment and some are going for alot of money as collector's items, not for cooking-which is a shame in itself. But you might be able to find something used for a reasonable price and the more used it is, the closer to having a nice seasoned pan you will be. ;-)Now I don't know about cast iron being totally stick free but most oldtime cooks didn't attempt to say, cook a chicken breast in one w/out any type of lubrication.....either the skin still on or some bacon grease or oil of some kind in the pan with the chicken. Most oldtime cooks would do cleaning(what they call 'deglazing' nowadays) of the pan after cooking so that any stuck bits got carried off the pan surface into a gravy or au jus sauce....so if used in that way I guess you could call them stick free.lolSo after I found out I can't use the cast iron on this glasstop stove, I got a set of stainless steel w/out the teflon coating....talk about pricey! Yowza!!! It's nice stuff and if I can keep hubby from melting it down to molten melt again, it will work out fine....but it's no cast iron.I'm keeping my skillets though and some day, when we move or ditch the glasstop abomination, the skillet mama will rule again.... ;-)sluggy