Cast iron cooking

[mesuezee]

I just bought my first cast iron skillet. Got it at a tag sale today. I have to clean it up but I have never cooked with one before. We have an electric stove at home I hope I can use it on that during the winter. Any ideas for easy meals to cook that only taste "the best" in a cast iron skillet?

[BigJohnD]

Have cooked all kind of stuff in them. Bacon, sausage, eggs (in the grease of previously mentioned), potatoes, gravies, pancakes etc. Use a #8 cast iron pot for stews and such. And got everything else, Magnalite pots and pans. Almost a requirement to have the 2 if you're from Louisiana.

I'm assuming you bought the skillet already "seasoned"?

[oldmanAZ]

Dark roux for crawfish étouffée. Not easy, but as far as I know the roux can only be made in a cast iron skillet.

Like BigJohnD said, you MUST season it after you clean it up.

[BigJohnD]

Making me hungry talking about all of this.

[norty1]

Here is one form a JOF member:

Carmel Apple Crisp

Ingredients
8-10 large granny smith apples; peeled, cored and sliced
2 cups brown sugar
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup instant oatmeal
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1cup butter; melted
3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 tsp. salt
1(12 oz.) jar caramel sauce

In a buttered 12" Dutch oven add apples and lemon juice; stir to coat apples. In a separate dish combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt; stir to mix. Pour dry ingredients over apples and stir until apples are well coated. Spread out apples and pour caramel sauce over the top.

In a medium bowl combine brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, and walnuts; stir to mix. Using a fork mix in melted butter to form coarse crumbs. Spread topping evenly over apples.

Cover Dutch oven and bake using 10-12 briquettes bottom and 16-18 briquettes top for 60 minutes.

[BuddyRay]

Southern Creamed Corn.

Start with frying about 4 pieces of bacon - mostly for the grease. Leave the grease and black scrapings in the pan and save the bacon.

Husk 6 ears of fresh corn - the sweeter the corn the better but we usually have to take what Kroger is stocking at whatever time of the year.
Cut the kernels off the husks then use the back side of the knife to scrape the husks to get the "milk" out of the bottom remaining parts of the kernels. This is usually easiest by holding the ears in a bowl and cutting down into the bowl - otherwise kernels go everywhere :-).

In a bowl, mix one cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp of butter, 1 tbs flour, 2 tbs sugar, salt and black pepper to taste. Some southern cooks put quite a bit of black pepper in - I personally put very little. This is not an exact science - if the corn isn't particularly sweet you can add more sugar for example.

Bring the cast iron skillet (with the bacon grease) to medium heat, add corn and cream mixture.
Once it starts to bubble, reduce to low heat. Stir frequently. Cook about 30 minutes until it starts to thicken and become creamy.
When you serve , crumple the 4 strips of bacon over the dish.

Most good southern recipes (and this one is no exception) start with "fry some bacon" or "Melt a pound of butter" or "measure a cup of lard." The poster of this recipe takes no responsibility for your clogged arteries.

But this is good in cast iron.

[BigJohnD]

My granddad lived to 97 years old, eating nothing but stuff like mentioned above. I never bought into the eat healthy thing, and still use some of his cast iron to this day. He was in the timber / logging industry his whole life, so I'm convinced hard work had more to do with his good health than his eating. Work hard, eat what you want, live long. Be lazy and eat what you want, die young. A lot of America is lazy these days, soooo, get out and work, and use that cast iron when you get home.

[Country_Mouse]

I primarily use cast iron for all my cooking. I switched because I think it's healthier and none of the nonstick chemicals. I have a skillet and a large pot. You can cook anything you normally cook in other pots and pans. The only exception is milk based soups for example. I still use nonstick for those because I have a horrible electric stove as well and things can burn easily. Remember to never clean with soap and to season (baking with layer of oil)regularly. I use mine almost daily so I don't go through the seasoning steps regularly as it gets seasoned just from using it.

I like to make chili and hearty soups in them. I brown all my meats in them. When frying eggs make sure to use enough butter or oil to prevent sticking.

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[Witt74]

(this is Mrs. Witt74) I totally agree with everything the others have advised. I'm from Oklahoma and grew up with CI, still use it today. Yes, you can use it on your electric stove even the smooth top ones like I have. I think there's a law against making cornbread in anything BUT a CI skillet. My only advice is, if you're not certain your new treasure is properly seasoned, make your first 2-3 uses cooking bacon. Good cooking and good eating.

[mesuezee]

It was used. I was told to scrub it with a lot of salt and some water to get rid of the little bit of rust and then season it again with oil and baking it for an hour or putting in the BBQ for an hour.

[spoon059]

Awesome, I love cast iron! Another option is to place it in a campfire, woodstove or your oven on self-clean function. The high heat will burn off everything, including the previous seasoning and leave you with a fresh from the factory porous cast iron surface.

Couple of heating cycles with a nice layer of oil will give you a great seasoned surface. I usually heat the oven to 350 degrees and put a nice even coat of coconut oil all over it. Put it in the oven for an hour, then turn off the oven and let it cool down overnight. Next day, same thing. Do that for a couple days in a row and it'll be nice and slick!

[Crabman]

Now you need a DO (Dutch Oven)! We use them just about every time out.

[Jagiven]

Clean it good. Never ever use soap. Once seasoned we clean ours with hot water, plastic scraper, and or a green a scrubbing pad.

Bacon works gray to season. I also like to put s pork roast in it covered with foil, and bake the roast till done. No liquids. That is the best seasoning I have ever done.

As for cooking, we have a lot of cast iron. The only thing I do not use CI for is boiling water, for things such as noodles.

My favorite CI is my checked frier, we use it alot. Its a deep sided frying pan. WORKS great for stir fries and the like

[mesuezee]

I cooked french fries in the pan tonight1 They came out so crispy! I think bacon for Sunday morning!

[RickAE]

We almost always cook something in our Cast Iron Dutch oven when we go camping.

[Ron Mann]

Corn bread baked in a black iron skillet is the best.

It doesn't get any better.