Cast iron pans

Since we are on the subject.

Whats your favorite recipe and thing to cook in them? Do any of you guys use the Dutch Ovens?

I do but only for deep frying usually. And making bread. Unless we’re talking about the ceramic coated Dutch Ovens, then I make everything in those. A favorite is Rissoto. One recipe is Dirty Risotto. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/dirty-risotto-recipe.html

Family favorite of ours is my Chicago style deep dish pizza made in the dutch oven.

No knead artisan bread is an extremely simple, awesome bread I make in the dutch oven recipe. Google the recipe – 5 minute prep time……simple.

I like a plain old 12″ cast iron frying pan for frying fish. It distributes the heat evenly making for a better fish fry. I only use a 1/4″ of peanut oil preferable or canola oil. I dust the fillets with flour by shaking them in a big bag containing flour. Then simply fly each side until golden in color. Best way to eat perch or walleye without taking away from that great delicate flavor of the fish. Other types of frying pans don’t cook as evenly.

Almost anything…I love my cast iron!
Favorite day in, day out is a simple home made venison teryaki(my own recipe for the sauce) stir-fried hot and served over rice or noodles…great sauce for any meat, but it does something special with venison. My picky kids eat the heck out of it!

…and bacon. How the hell did I forget bacon???

Damn…it’s 11 p.m. and now I have a craving for bacon and that Artisan bread Timmy posted.

Take and make your favorite pizza in 12″ cast iron “skillet ” Soak your favorite wood chips. Fire up Weber kettle get it around 400 degrees, Add chips, pizza and in about 20 Minutes smoke flavored pizza. It is great.

These things are brilliant. Mrs. Grouse has 2 Le Creusets of different capacities, I think 7-8 and a 4-5 quart.

They are wonders of the industrial age. Put them on the stove top for browning or searing meat, then fill them and let them simmer low and slow. One pot, no fuss, no mess.

My personal favorite is braised beef short ribs in Zinfandel. Recipe on Epicurious.com. I also tried this with bison ribs, which are even better if/when you can get them. Go big on this recipie, you’ll want more.

I also do some Czech and Hungarian dishes that are all kind of variations of a theme. Chunks of meat or sausage, spices, veggies, simmer low and slow.

We use these Dutch ovens a lot instead a crock pot.

Grouse

I use my Dutch oven quite often from braising short ribs in beer to chili, stew, soup and every Christmas eve I use it to make my homemade eggrolls.
My cast iron skillet also gets a lot of use especially in the winter when the weber is buried in snow. I heat the oven to 500, throw the pan in the oven to bring it up to temp, (I always pre-heat as to not have to turn anything over and items won’t stick) slam a filet on it whether beef or fish. Awesome!

I have a brisket in the dutch oven right now for tacos with chipotle adobo sauce. We rarely use the crockpot since we bought the dutch ovens many years ago.
Caqst iron skillets are a staple here for many things including fried potatos that the FW makes that are simply outstanding and can’t be duplicated in a regular skillet.

i do perhaps 50% of my cooking on cast iron now. planning on DF walleye filets for SB!! i buy a lot of cast from 2nd hand stores in ANY condition.

then i heat it and scald off the rust with old cooking oil (DO THIS OUTDOORS). Pour cold cooking oil on the cheery red pan. it’s a great way to get rid of your punk wood in the spring.

When it cools, it should have a fine cooking face. i’ve got 15 photos of the process if someone wants to go into this in more detail. I’ve attached the 6 that illustrate the basic process. you may want to alert your neighbors or even the fire department. i’ve had both show up over the years. i don’t want to put the photos on a cloud, so just email me at [email protected] and i’ll attach them for you.

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   Seasoning-the-skillet-star.jpg
   

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   2Heating-In-Coals.jpg
   

How are the enamel coated cast fry pans? I see them around, but have never personally used one. Is the coating delicate? Non-stick? My wife recently saw a good deal on an enamel coated skillet at a garage sale, but she passed on it due to not knowing if it was worth owning……

greatly preferred over teflon coatings. somewhat delicate in that you shouldn’t really use metal utensils on them (altho i do…) you also have to be concerned about putting them hot into cold water. let them cool on the stove top. i have a complete set of calphalon that i love. the aluminum heats a little faster, but doesn’t hold heat like the iron.

now WHERE is that second hand store your wife found???

I keep it simple with my cast iron skillet. My favorite is a ribeye seared for 1 minute on each side. Throw the whole works into a 500* oven cook for 2 minutes, open oven, flip steak, cook for another 2 minutes. Melt in your mouth goodness.

And yes short ribs are awesome in a dutch oven.

Timmy wrote:

How are the enamel coated cast fry pans? I see them around, but have never personally used one. Is the coating delicate? Non-stick? My wife recently saw a good deal on an enamel coated skillet at a garage sale, but she passed on it due to not knowing if it was worth owning……

Americas Test kitchen were tested skillets to see if the lodge cast iron could be replaced. They found the seramic faired well but over time lost their anti stick qualities.
That said I use my ceramic coated dutch oven all the time and absulutely love it. After 8 years of use I see more and more ware to the ceramic coating.

hl&sinker wrote:

Americas Test kitchen were tested skillets to see if the lodge cast iron could be replaced. They found the seramic faired well but over time lost their anti stick qualities.

it does wear, especially if you use metal utensils on it. BUT i think it shows LESS wear than teflon…