Cast Iron cooking

[skfullgun]

I made some jalapeno cornbread in my little 8" Lodge skillet tonight. Morris Corn Kit, egg, milk, and one whole, sliced jalapeno. I put enough oil in the skillet to coat the bottom and put it the oven to preheat. Mixed the batter and poured it in the sizzling skillet. Twenty minutes later I was eating a golden, HOT, slice of heaven! Mmm, mmm. Good cornbread!

 

[robertc1024]

I've made the best steaks I've ever eaten in one of mine. Preheated the oven to ~400 degrees, got the cast iron smoking hot with a bit of olive oil in it. Seared a 1 3/4" filet mignon seasoned with salt and lots of coarse black pepper for about two minutes a side. Throw it in the oven for four or five minutes. Rare to medium rare cow splendor.

 

[skfullgun]

Weeee, doggie! I'm gonna have to give that a try!

 

[ed308]

Warning: I got my DeBuyer carbon steel pan. I used the SS cleaning thing and it put scratches on my new pan. So be careful with it on a new carbon steel pan and SS pad. I'm not worried about it. Its a pan and going to get beat up. Anyway, seasoned the pan with repeated heat and wipe of flax seed oil. Got a nice golden color. Very slick too. Looking forward to cooking with it.

 

[acorneau]

Did you get the "Mineral B" or the "Carbone" version? (About $60-90 versus $200-250 if that helps.)

Either way, I'm interested to hear about your experience with your new pan!

 

[picker]

I know two things about cast iron skillets. They last forever when treated and taken care of properly. Do not be the first one in the door when she's pissed. Was witness to that once. Not pretty.

Been there done that [smile]

 

[picker]

I have bought a few old rusty skillets at junk stores, first time I'm burning brush I always pitch them in the fire, oil real good when they are still hot.
Best/joe

 

[karlac]

Did some shopping on ed308's advice on the ss chainmail scraper pad and got the this one on Amazon. About half the price, still prime, and yep ... the best thing I've used yet to clean cast iron.
Thanks for the head's up ed308!

 

[mroper]

I use a stainless steel chore boy to clean mine. My dang potatoes stick when I am making hashbrowns or roasted ones and I loose some of the crunchy goodness. whats the secret?

 

[Byrd666]

Part of it is, make sure you have plenty of oil in the pan. Second part is, pat dry yer taters to make sure there isn't a whole bunch of water in the way. And make sure your pan/griddle is hot before you throw the taters on.

 

[Vaquero]

I use a stainless steel chore boy to clean mine. My dang potatoes stick when I am making hashbrowns or roasted ones and I loose some of the crunchy goodness. whats the secret?

Don't do that.
You're removing the seasoning.

 

[ed308]

Did you get the "Mineral B" or the "Carbone" version? (About $60-90 versus $200-250 if that helps.)

Either way, I'm interested to hear about your experience with your new pan!

I purchased a 10" DeBuyer Mineral B pan on Amazon last week for $58. It's carbon steel pan from what I've read. On sale today for $49! Nice pan too. But the pan is heavier than a comparable Lodge cast iron pan.

I used mine for eggs today. Some sticking to the pan but not too bad for the first use. And better than what I get with my cast iron pans.

Make sure you seasoning your pan via the potatoes skin method. I used flaxseed oil to season mine. I found it hard to get thin coats of oil on the pan but it worked based on the results I got this monring.

One important point about the DeBuyer pan I purchased. It can only handle temps in the oven up to 390 degrees due to a epoxy coating on the handle. There pans with the Eiffel Tower pans may handle higher heat in the oven but not sure.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00462QP0W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the method I used (per DeBuyers website) to season my pan:

Pour about 1mm of oil into your iron pan and heat it. Once the oil slightly steams, empty it into a recipient and wipe the pan with a paper towel.

The seasoning of your pan will be optimal and efficient after having cooked red meat 10 times. The more your pan is used, the best the cooking results are. The more it blackens, the less it sticks. Once your pan is well seasoned, you will be able to cook more delicate food such as eggs, fishes…

 

[ed308]

Don't do that.
You're removing the seasoning.

The SS Chore Boy cuts into the seasoning too much. It will clean the seasoning off the pan if you scrub hard. I would suggest using a plastic scraper like what Lodge sells to scrape of the pan if needed. Or use the SS thing from Amazon (this) which is small SS chain loops. It cuts into the seasoning only a fraction as much as a Chore Boy pad.

 

[mroper]

Part of it is, make sure you have plenty of oil in the pan. Second part is, pat dry yer taters to make sure there isn't a whole bunch of water in the way. And make sure your pan/griddle is hot before you throw the taters on.

This time I boiled them for a bit it worked fine no sticking . I always use plenty of oil

 

[ed308]

I've had my DeBuyer carbon steel pan for more than a week now. And I really like it. For eggs and searing meat, it's become my go to pan. Eggs slide right out once the pan is seasoned. The more you use it, the better it gets and does so really fast. I've found a carbon steel pan to be much easier to season compared to cast iron. With the flaxseed oil method, just heat up some oil (pour a 3" circle in the pan) until it just starts to smoke. Pour off the excess then wipe the pan of all oil. Also wipe down the outside as well which will seal the outside. The key is to wipe off all excess oil and leave only a thin coating to bond to the pan. So don't be timid wiping it down. (Two sections of paper towels work and insulates your hand from the heat.) If you leave a thicker coat, it will come off like with cast iron. Do that ten time and your done.

Whoever suggested a carbon steel pan as an alternative to cast iron was spot on. Thanks!

 

[karlac]

I've had my DeBuyer carbon steel pan for more than a week now. And I really like it. For eggs and searing meat, it's become my go to pan.
Whoever suggested a carbon steel pan as an alternative to cast iron was spot on. Thanks!

Ditto ... Got one ordered. Got a sous vide cooker for Christmas and this is apparently the cat's meow for searing. I have a cooking torch, but like pan searing meat a lot better.

 

[ed308]

Hmm, I guess I don't get out much since I never heard of Sous Vide cooking before now. Will have to look into it.

 

[Army 1911]

I don't like sous vide cooked meat. It doesn't sear and just doesn't taste the same to me. It looks un-appetizing as well.

 

[pronstar]

Sous vide done right is awesome. Lots of steakhouses use it.

Sous vide done wrong is terrible, basically boiled food.

Thankfully it's super easy to do


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[karlac]

Sous vide done right is awesome. Lots of steakhouses use it.

Yep ... most just don't realize how much sous vide cooking they eat when going to restaurants. A lousy cook can give a bad name to any type of cooking.