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ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Today in my cast iron skillet, I made pita breads for gyros. Yay cast iron!

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ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

I've got a glass stovetop. Came with the house when we moved in, and we're planning to ditch it sometime for a gas stove. Frankly, I'm fairly rough with it. I cook with a 12" cast iron skillet on it all the time. I shake skillets and pots around directly on the surface. I use it as extra counterspace. It's got a fair handful of scratches, but the worst looking parts are from spills and boilovers that burned onto and around the elements. I imagine if I took some cleaner to the surface to clean up the baked on stuff, it'd turn out in "used but good" condition, plenty good enough for a rental unit. And like I said, I'm hard on the surface.

Really, though, I can't wait to get rid of the thing.


gently caress fragile tools. What is the point?

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Yeah the house we moved into had only one fire extinguisher, in the basement, expired. Fixed that right quick.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Yeah, I wear lovely clothes or an apron and clean up after. 20 minutes seems like a lot, usually it's just a quick wipe down with a soapy paper towel or two. There's not that much splatter in my experience.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Don't forget to open the kitchen windows.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Yeah, a kitchen towel accompanied by not moving it very often. Just a quick jump from the oven to the stove top or whatever. What are you doing that you need so much contact that you're setting fire to cloth?

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Stickiness usually means too much oil left in the pan. Try to remove more oil after using it. Also, an hour in the oven seems really long. I just stick it on a High burner for 2-5 minutes, until the oil just barely starts to smoke, then I yank it off the burner.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

coyo7e posted:

I had a roommate who worked at a new york slice place that does hipster recipes like http://www.sizzlepie.com/MENUS , he'd bring home a few random slices most nights and and its totally worth preheating the ovenwith the cast iron in it, while you take a shower before work.

I understand if it's an overwhelming amount of effort to turn an appliance on and then do something else for ten minutes though.

Heating up a full-size oven just to warm up a drat piece of leftover pizza is a crazy waste of energy.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

When we go camping, we bring along a pie iron. It's good for making pies or whatever, but the pro thing it do is open 'er up in the morning and slap on some bacon. Once those are crispy, crack an egg straight into the pooled fat and scramble with some tongs. Boom, delicious breakfast.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Canola oil, bacon, use it, take it easy.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

I leave the chunks on and call 'em flavor crystals.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

jjack229 posted:

I've been learning to cook on my 10" Griswold pan for the past year and a half, and have really been enjoying it.

I'm about to move to an apartment that has an glass-top electric range. Someone told me they always heard that you can't use cast iron on a glass top and the Internet is given me mixed information. Concerns seem to be about scratching, cracking (by dropping the pan), or overheating the glass (evidently cast iron is hotter than other metals?).

Is this a real concern or can I just cook on it as long as I don't slam the pan down and slide it around?

It's an apartment stove. The fact that you're even concerned about it means you're already miles ahead of the average renter. You're fine.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Oldsrocket_27 posted:

What are everyone's thoughts/experience regarding glass top stoves with cast iron? I'm moving into a house with one and my first instinct is that I cannot use them on it, both because of potential scratching on the pans and potential breaking of the stove-top. We plan to get a gas range at some point down the line, but buying a house ain't cheap, so for now that's not an option.

It's fine. Don't be an ape.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Jose posted:

glass owns and will do basically anything you want while being piss easy to clean

Glass is better than coil, but I still can't wait to get rid of this dumb fragile thing and replace it with gas.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

We're going camping this weekend with our new Dutch oven. I'm definitely planning to make biscuits and we'll probably cook bacon and eggs. Anyone have any favorite camping Dutch oven recipes?

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Leviathan Song posted:

Beef burgundy

We ended up doing beef burgundy for dinner, and then cooked bacon and eggs on the upturned lid the following morning. Now I've filed divorce papers so I can get married to this oven.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Heners_UK posted:

I think I'll pass on the kettle.

New question though, is there a preferred non-enameled dutch oven for campfire use and home use? I've got a 6qt enameled one for home and I'm wondering if I go larger so I've got a large capacity pot and one I can take outside.

Having said that, it's not like I'm feeding an army daily...

Cast iron seems awful for a kettle, since you'd spend so much energy (time) heating up the metal itself. You want something thin and conductive for a kettle since you're just bringing the water up to temp quickly and then taking it off the heat. Cast iron's heat retention isn't useful.

We got the 12 inch shallow (6 qt) Lodge with the three legs. Should have enough room for generous servings for four-six.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Did you just let an empty pan sit on the stove on High for a long time? Don't do that. If you're searing steaks or something you're really shooting for like 400 degrees, not Glowing Red Hot.

Cast iron maintenance: cook bacon sometimes, clean your pan gently shortly after using, smoke a bowl, take it easy.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Or, you know, not. Are you trying to make a pan with a flawless mirror shine, or tasty food? The former is not required for the latter.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Why cook anything when you can repeatedly burn oil in your oven???

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Aggghhhbbbllggghgggg just cook things aavggfcdsghfccdssfffff this loving thread

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

You gonna hang it on the wall as an art piece or something? Your Grandma's sweet old cast iron pan got that way through use.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

All this talk of seasoning made me hungry. BLTs for breakfast.





Let's eat.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

What's the idea, there? Just get the thing hot and pour in gingerbread batter?

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

I cooked pita breads for hummus and then roasted asparagus, carrots, and mushrooms in my cast iron skillet as my contribution to Christmas Eve dinner last night.

:justcook:

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

I wait for the pan to be cool enough handled with bare hands, but still hot. I guess I'd be afraid of cracking the pan from the temperature shock, but maybe that's not really an issue.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Use your anti-grav field, people. Duh.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Ciaphas posted:

I've come to the conclusion that my irons are always going to have a little too much oil and grease and bits of burnt food crap left over after I clean, and come to accept that because gently caress it I use the things every other day anyway.

This person has reached cast iron nirvana. Congratulations.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Ask in general questions or just start a new thread. IMO we have too many megathreads and chat threads and not enough little "here's what I'm doing, what do you think" threads.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Nettle Soup posted:

Just keep using it and don't worry.

New thread title.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

McSpankWich posted:

Sometimes I wish my 10" was a 12," but then I pick up a 12" in the store and I'm like oh right.

I do need a Dutch oven though, for some reason I don't have one. Enameled is the way to go, right? There's not really any reason for the unfinished at this point is there?

You'll want bare iron with the feet if you intend to use it while camping. Otherwise yeah, enameled for home use.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Can confirm. Just cook, fuckos.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Subjunctive posted:

So how does that work with "just cook"? Unless I'm searing something, my pan doesn't get above 500F.

Either leave the factory seasoning on if it's supplied, or season properly once in the oven. Then Just Cook. Each time you're done cooking, clean it gently, avoid scrubbing and heavy soaping. You may have some bits left stuck on there. Who cares. Then dry it and rub it with a paper towel with some canola oil on it to get a super thin layer of oil on the cooking surface. Put it on the burner on High until it just starts to smoke. Take it off. Let it cool. Put it away. Repeat until it's smooth and gorgeous in a few years/decades.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Houses burn down when exposed to fire. 0/0 would not live in house.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Consider using a non-stick pan to fry eggs. It's way easier and you never break the yolks.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Picked up a Griswold for twelve bucks at an antique store while camping this past weekend. Dating website seems to place it within a decade either way of WW2. It's a small skillet, smooth bottomed and perfect for cooking single person meals over a fire.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Don't toss your nonstick.

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

After I use the pan I rinse it out, spread some canola oil super thin, chuck it on a burner until it just starts to smoke, and put it away. I don't use flax seed or whatever and it doesn't flake.

IMO don't overthink it. :justcook:

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

It's fine, just don't drop it. It might get scratched a little, but who cares, cooking surfaces are meant to be used, and ranges have pretty low resale value so whatever. Consider replacing it sometime.

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ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Nostalgia4Dogges posted:

On fb a health minded individual had posted an article about just how bad Teflon and the likes really is. Ah hell might as well post the article:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/09/how-the-epa-and-the-pentagon-downplayed-a-growing-toxic-threat.html

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, that article is about water contamination from manufacturing processes, not about cooking with Teflon cookware.

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