Comments on: The Care and Feeding of Cast Iron

By: Joyce

Joyce — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 12:50:27 +0000

I have lots of cast iron and love it. If anything needs re seasoning I just fry a mess of potatoes and it’s done. One item of cast iron I have not managed to make useful is my kettle, (tea kettle type) does anyone else have one and how do you deal with the rust?.

By: Peculiar Cat Mama

Peculiar Cat Mama — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:07:04 +0000

I have an untold number of cast iron cookware, both at the farmhouse and at the cabin, where we also have an old cast iron woodburning cookstove. There is nothing better than bacon, basted/fried eggs, and grilled toast on double cast iron. ;>)

My bacon pan is a square old one, handed down. The square ones are hard to find – I was lucky to find another one in an antique store and bought it for the cabin. My bacon pan remains on the stove or in the oven ALWAYS, full of bacon grease. That is it’s seasoning. I baste my fried eggs in the bacon grease, changing out grease periodically (monthly) for freshness (hate it when there’s not enough grease to baste an egg properly!). I butter bread and turn it face down on a hot cast iron griddle pan – perfect.

I have all sizes and use them for all manner of things. Besides bacon, fried chicken (or fish) in the deep fryer is to die for. I usually keep that grease around for a little while, depending on how often I’m going to have chicken and/or fish (and I label what was fried in it – I don’t mix my kept greases).

As for soap – NO! NOT EVER! We wipe a pan out with a paper towel, use steel wool if necessary, though with a properly seasoned pan, it never is necessary, wash with water only, and put on the GAS STOVE burner till it dries (don’t walk away and think of something else when you’re doing that, BTW). I also have a small pan with lid and wood handle – never had any problem with the wood handle.

When we find a pan, my husband scours with steel wool and scraper, wash it in really hot water, season by rubbing oil or grease all over it, put it in the oven or on the stove or just begin using it to fry something. Never had a problem, and we’re not unhealthy because of it.

The dutch oven works well for a big pot of beans or stew. Same thing – wipe out, rinse, natural dry. And I love the way it looks. Plus cats can’t knock the cast iron lids off of cast iron pots and pans.

I swear by cast iron. I have a kettle, woodstove, the cookstove at the cabin, a bacon press, pans and griddles of every size and shape; there’s only one thing I still want: a cauldron with hook and frame. You could have an entire clam bake in one of those! (clams, baked potatoes, corn on the cob – substitute steaks for clams and let ‘em sizzle to one side)

But my bacon pan is by far my favorite and most-used staple. Besides, that bacon grease is handy for dipping a spoonful for a pot of green beans or blackeyed peas. (Yeah, I’m from the South.)

By: cindi

cindi — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:42:28 +0000

I LOVE my cast iron! My Mom gave me one of my pans, and the other one, which has a lid, I got from the flea market up the way. We don’t have or want any other pans, and teflon/other ‘no-stick’ pans will never again cross my threshold! My husband has even made deep-dish pumpkin pie in those pans. I’m a bit of a coconut oil addict…it’s such a stable oil that I use it for seasoning our pans.

By: Teri

Teri — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:54:43 +0000

TYTYTY! I have loved cast iron since I was a girl and have never been really sure how to clean it and keep it great! but now I do! so I am gonna go to the flea mkt here and buy that old 21 in skillet i have been wanting!!!

By: Sheila

Sheila — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 04:20:39 +0000

I have 4 cast iron skillets (6 ,61/2 I believe , 8 and 10 inch) and a cast iron dutch oven (or pot LOL) , I use the dutch oven every other day and my cast iron skillets every once in a while , I think I’m gonna start using them more often though because I like how evenly my food cooks and tastes .

By: DarleneS

DarleneS — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:24:52 +0000

I have had a lot of cast iron over the years and I love it too. My MIL taught me to season it with a coat of salt sprinkled on the bottom and baked in the oven on low for an hour. That is how I did mine.
I have had some cast iron that had a funny taste to the food so I got rid of it. My newest one is a Lodge and is not funny tasting.

By: dennis henderson

dennis henderson — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:28:45 +0000

Seasoning your iron cookware is fine, but really, is seasoning all that necessary? I cook regularly with uncoated, vintage, very smooth iron, and all I do is scrub it with hot soap and water and steel wool,
and afterwards, a brief time on the burner to dry thoroughly . There’s rarely any build-up from cooking (which comes off easily if there is) ,and most importantly, there’s no flaking off of old seasoning to contaminate the food. Additionally, the benefits of using ‘naked’ iron means the food is coming in direct contact with the iron and no seasoning barrier to interfere with absorption. If one really likes the taste of iron and a no- hassle maintenance, all you really have to do is monitor for occasional rust, and just keep your iron clean. Oiling, I only do when storing for long periods. The rest is simple, common-sense care.

By: Therese

Therese — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:21:10 +0000

I, too, love my cast iron. Thank you for spreading the knowledge! I gave my daughter my treasured 12″ pan for a wedding gift…. never saw it again…. finally got up my busy-body nerve to ask, and she said, Oh, my husband let it soak overnight and forgot about it. It rusted, so we threw it out.

Oh well. Never again, though.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:13:43 +0000

I have a large skillet and small, shallow-sided skillet I got at a thift store for $5. It had minor rust, so I used steel wool. I don’t use cast iron as much as I’d like. I guess sometimes I forget I have it. I’d like to have a few more pieces like a dutch oven and to slowly replace my other pans. I’ll have to keep a look out for sales.
When it comes to not using soap, I have found that baking soda is a really nice, gentle abrasive that I use even on my stainless steel frying pans.

By: Divemaster01

Divemaster01 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 14:17:57 +0000

I love all the cast iron stories. I have a 10-inch Lodge skillet I got at Goodwill still in the ox. Its seasoned nicely now and I made Sue’s cornbread in it, the yummiest I ever had! Also have tow corn stick pans and 2 Dutch ovens, found thrown away at the curb by someone. I have expensive cookware as a wedding gift 10 years ago, but love my cast iron best!