Cast Iron Skillet

[chris]

Somewhere on the Forum we talked about cast iron skillets but I can't find it to cont'd.

Last week Bobby Flay said the best way to clean a skillet was not to wash it and then heat it and then rub with oil but to fill it with salt and to bake in the oven and then rub with oil.

I can't find the actual instructions as to oven temp and how long etc. Anyone ever hear or try this method.

[Clipper]

I don't FILL the skillet with salt Chris, but I have ALWAYS used salt as an abrasive and a paper towel to remove food remnants from the skillet and to absorb excess liquid from prior cooking. A grill cook taught me that many years ago. At the end of a night of cooking eggs by the hundreds for drunks, he would clean his little frying pans with salt and stack them over the grill til next time. Kathy normally coats the inside of the skillet with oil, using a paper towel, and stores it in the oven. Periodically if the skillet for some reason begins to stick, we go back and re-season the skillet by oiling and baking the oil into the surface of the skillet in the oven. Kathy just turns the oven on and uses the preset 350 degree default setting on our stove. Our stove goes to 350 whenever the oven is turned on. If you want it lower for low and slow baking or roasting you have to lower the setting manually. She lets it heat and season for about 1/2 hour and shuts the oven off, leaving the pan in the oven to cool.

It works quite well. I used the cast iron pan this morning to sear and cook a sirloin breakfast steak. I simply rubbed the steak with a little canola oil and seasoned salt and put it in the hot pan. No oil necessary in the pan. It cooked beautifully and didn't stick. When I was done I cleaned the pan with salt and a paper towel, rubbed it with oil, heated it with the burner eye, and put it back in the oven.

[kit]

After cooking, I always put a little water in the pan and put it back on the stove on 'low' heat for a few minutes while I eat. This usually softens any burnt-on food so it can easily be removed with a wooden spatula. Then I clean it in hot water and a non-scratch scouring pad (no soap). I dry it with a paper towel then rub it with a little canola oil. I only 'season' it once in a while.

I've noticed that when cooking or reheating any foods that are acidic (like spaghetti sauce) in my cast iron pan, it imparts a metallic taste to the food, so I've switched to a stainless steel or non-stick coated pan for this purpose, but for general cooking, cast iron reigns supreme.

[Clipper]

Kathy and I noticed that same thing Kit. We have a cast iron dutch oven that we use on the open fire while camping. We made chili in it just once and noticed the metallic taste picked up by the tomato sauce. It works great for soups and stews or for baking but NOT for anything with the acidic nature of tomatoes or tomato sauce. My favorite dish done in a cast iron dutch oven is short ribs, braised in the pot with celery, carrots, onions, and garlic with beef stock for a braising liquid. Some people use wine along with the beef stock. We build a fairly large fire, burn it down to coals, and set the cast iron pot on the coals and pour coals on the lid. We keep it simmering on that bed of coals for about 3 or 4 hours and the short ribs fall off the bone.

[Deleted]

I remember hearing someone from the Food Network say that you can just wipe lard all over the pan put in in a brown paper bag and leave it in a closet for 7 days. Never tried it but would that be a little stinky!

[Deleted]

Oct 18, 2013 13:21:00 GMT -5 Clipper said:

Kathy and I noticed that same thing Kit. We have a cast iron dutch oven that we use on the open fire while camping. We made chili in it just once and noticed the metallic taste picked up by the tomato sauce. It works great for soups and stews or for baking but NOT for anything with the acidic nature of tomatoes or tomato sauce. My favorite dish done in a cast iron dutch oven is short ribs, braised in the pot with celery, carrots, onions, and garlic with beef stock for a braising liquid. Some people use wine along with the beef stock. We build a fairly large fire, burn it down to coals, and set the cast iron pot on the coals and pour coals on the lid. We keep it simmering on that bed of coals for about 3 or 4 hours and the short ribs fall off the bone.

For some reason when reading this I am thinking about Little House on the Prairie. Imagine having to cook like that every day. On an open fire or in a fireplace. Wonder how many women or men would be willing to do that in todays society. And no internet to download a recipe.

[Deleted]

Wouldn't the acid in the tomato produce Iron Oxide. Guess it would help if you had iron poor blood!

[Deleted]

I found this:
3. Cooking with cast iron fortifies your food with iron.
While cast iron doesn’t leach chemicals, it can leach some iron into your food...and that’s a good thing. Iron deficiency is fairly common worldwide, especially among women. In fact, 10% of American women are iron-deficient. Cooking food, especially something acidic like tomato sauce in a cast-iron skillet can increase iron content, by as much as 20 times.

www.eatingwell.com/blogs/healthy_cooking_blog/3_health_reasons_to_cook_with_cast_iron

[Clipper]

While consuming the iron leached into the food by the cast iron may be good for you, the metallic taste was somewhat unpleasant. Kathy uses only stainless steel to cook anything with an acidic base such as tomato sauce. Aluminum and stainless steel pans also oxidize through a process called passivation by simply being exposed to the air for a few minutes. That oxidation has no effect on flavor or safety of the food being cooked on or in the pot or pan. A problem noted with aluminum is that strong alkaline detergents such as dish washer preparations will permanently stain or corrode non-anodized aluminum, leaving them blackened or darkened in appearance.

So Alan, if I am feeling a little iron deficient, I should probably just lick the skillet after I fry my eggs in the morning?

[chris]

I only use my cast iron skillet for sirloin steaks, burgers and eggs. I have a large pot made of cast iron but it is coated with enamel that I have used for making soups and sauces.