Cast Iron- share all your favorite tips/tricks/recipies

[Jay_Miller]

I’ll put in a shout out for enameled cast iron. All the thermal mass benefits and none of the work associated with seasoning a new pan or concerns about rust.

[Ken_Strauss]

High end American Made

I have 1 piece I love. They come seasoned.
Sign up for newsletter and get 10% off

I waited 8 weeks to get my roaster
http://blanccreatives.com/store/

[Eric_Michels]

@Matt Thomas

@Eric Michels

I first remove anything heavy with a plastic scraper and then clean with a green plastic scrub pad under running water. If it’s really hot, I’ll hold the scrub pad with a pair of tongs (which I was probably just using to cook with anyway). I will warn that when hot enough this process will aerosolize the oil that was in your pan as the water steams off the hot pan. It just means that I have to clean the hanging light fixtures above the sink more often that I otherwise would have to. The net time savings on quick cast iron clean up is worth it to me.

This doesn’t warp the pan?

In theory, it could crack but I’ve never worried about warping. The cast iron is too thick for that. For clarity, I wouldn’t do this with an enameled piece - I think that there is a real risk of crazing there.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Question cast iron gurus - is there such a thing as too hot? Could one put a cast iron pan on a 150K BTU wok burner, or would it eat the pan alive? We’ve never put anything but the wok on there. We seared a rib cap in the wok once and it was amazing, but the curve of the pan made it difficult to handle. Curious if the cast iron would work.

[ybarselah]

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Question cast iron gurus - is there such a thing as too hot? Could one put a cast iron pan on a 150K BTU wok burner, or would it eat the pan alive? We’ve never put anything but the wok on there. We seared a rib cap in the wok once and it was amazing, but the curve of the pan made it difficult to handle. Curious if the cast iron would work.

will be fine. i left one (accidentally) on the stove top overnight on high with nothing in it after cleaning it. probably 7 or 8 hours.

also, your wok is likely cast iron or carbon steel. so basically the same thing.

i actually prefer my carbon steel pan to my cast iron, but the differences are negligible and i have use for both.

[CFu]

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Question cast iron gurus - is there such a thing as too hot? Could one put a cast iron pan on a 150K BTU wok burner, or would it eat the pan alive? We’ve never put anything but the wok on there. We seared a rib cap in the wok once and it was amazing, but the curve of the pan made it difficult to handle. Curious if the cast iron would work.

I once left a cast iron over a partially covered charcoal grill to pre heat. I forgot about it and it got so hot it cooked off most of the seasoning. Worked out well since I wanted to re-season at some point anyways.

[Eric_Michels]

For those of us that don’t have a 150K BTU burner to use a regular thin-walled carbon steel wok, I highly recommend Lodge’s thick-walled cast iron version. It has a flat bottom for use on a standard cooktop, a fully concave interior, and the mass of it and cast iron construction mean that it will suck up enough heat to avoid cooling right down when you add your food (a problem I had on weaker stoves with a thin walled carbon steel wok). It is clearly not the same as having a full on wok burner but the closest that I’ve been able to come at home.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

Thanks all!

[P_Willenberg]

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Question cast iron gurus - is there such a thing as too hot? Could one put a cast iron pan on a 150K BTU wok burner, or would it eat the pan alive? We’ve never put anything but the wok on there. We seared a rib cap in the wok once and it was amazing, but the curve of the pan made it difficult to handle. Curious if the cast iron would work.

I have a set of cast iron pans I use in the 850F pizza oven. Ones that I don’t care if they warp or develop hot spots. Cast iron is cheap enough, might as well.

[Ken_Strauss]

@P. Willenberg

@Sarah Kirschbaum

Question cast iron gurus - is there such a thing as too hot? Could one put a cast iron pan on a 150K BTU wok burner, or would it eat the pan alive? We’ve never put anything but the wok on there. We seared a rib cap in the wok once and it was amazing, but the curve of the pan made it difficult to handle. Curious if the cast iron would work.

I have a set of cast iron pans I use in the 850F pizza oven. Ones that I don’t care if they warp or develop hot spots. Cast iron is cheap enough, might as well.

I bought the cast iron roaster specifically to use in my pizza oven. No problem.

[P_Willenberg]

@Eric Michels

For those of us that don’t have a 150K BTU burner to use a regular thin-walled carbon steel wok, I highly recommend Lodge’s thick-walled cast iron version. It has a flat bottom for use on a standard cooktop, a fully concave interior, and the mass of it and cast iron construction mean that it will suck up enough heat to avoid cooling right down when you add your food (a problem I had on weaker stoves with a thin walled carbon steel wok). It is clearly not the same as having a full on wok burner but the closest that I’ve been able to come at home.

I have a buddy who does this and preheats the cast iron wok in the oven since he has crappy electric coil burners.

[Mark_Mason]

I need help with my cast iron skillet. Bought a new Lodge and have used it about 15 times, all for steaks. Each time, I just wipe it out with a paper towel but now I have a “gunk” that has formed a soft crust that is getting thicker with each use. I could scrape it out with a knife, it’s that soft and thick. Is this the ideal, nonstick surface that I’m after?

[Rob_S1]

@Mark Mason

I need help with my cast iron skillet. Bought a new Lodge and have used it about 15 times, all for steaks. Each time, I just wipe it out with a paper towel but now I have a “gunk” that has formed a soft crust that is getting thicker with each use. I could scrape it out with a knife, it’s that soft and thick. Is this the ideal, nonstick surface that I’m after?

No.

Get a chainmail cloth and scrub that off. I always wash my cast iron when it’s still warm, rinsing it out with hot water and then drying. Just wiping it out won’t clean the pan and you’ll get soft, thick gunk. When it’s properly seasoned the hot water and a soft bristle brush should make everything come off. The vast majority of the water will run off like it’s a non-stick pan.

[ybarselah]

this may be a very stupid question, but is there a cast iron pan out there with a copper core?

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

Stupid question

[M_Hudson]

For whatever reason I am now cooking in my lodge skillet all the time over my copper core pans. I find that if I put it on the gas burner on 3 and just let it come up to temp slowly it cooks wonderfully. Eggs are non stick every time. Ps I seasoned it by bills recipie. Wife nearly beat me for the smell but it worked.

[Nola_Palomar]

I keep my grandmother’s Wagner on my stove top and use it all the time. My dad brought me several more which I’ve re-seasoned but I think I’d like to bring them back to bare and start over. Is one true method better than others? I have done it w the self clean cycle on the oven, is that over kill though?

[Milton_Hudson]

I keep my grandmother’s Wagner on my stove top and use it all the time. My dad brought me several more which I’ve re-seasoned but I think I’d like to bring them back to bare and start over. Is one true method better than others? I have done it w the self clean cycle on the oven, is that over kill though?

The self clean cycle works well. Or if you have an outdoor burner (around here we call them turkey burners or crawfish burners) you can just put it on that until the previous seasoning burns off. Then once cool, clean it out and use the same burner to reseason. This way the smell stays outside. The country way to do this was to throw it in a trash fire, once the fire burns out,get it out of the ashes, wipe out and then fry up some potatoes.

[Mel_Hill]

I’ve used this method to redo the seasoning in a cast iron skillet
http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/01/a-science-based-technique-for-seasoning-cast-iron/

[Victor_Hong]

this may be a very stupid question, but is there a cast iron pan out there with a copper core?

Because copper expands faster than cast iron when heated, and shrinks faster when cooled, the copper core would eventually fatigue and distort the cast-iron cooking surface.