Cast Iron Cooking

Cooking is a big thing around The Acre, and we have pretty much completely switched all out pots and pans over to cast iron. I grew up with my grandmother cooking with at least two skillets, now my father uses them. Cupcake and I had one small skillet we used for cornbread at first. When she moved in we went out and bought a complete set of Paula Deene cookware, and it was junk. Junk Deere Junk. The pots faded, warped, the lids do not fit snug and all the Teflon is coming off the surface of the pans. 

This was NOT caused by a dishwasher. We have one, but Cupcake is old school when it comes to washing dishes, she's a strict "by hand" kind of chick. So since the pots and pans started to give out on us, we added to our collection of cast iron.
Myths are that cast iron is bad for food to stick, hard to clean and heavy. Well, it is heavy but that's about the only thing we can agree to. Cupcake is the research specialist, and she read up on cooking and care for cast iron. We learned that pre seasoned pots and pans do just fine as long as you dont use soap to wash them. We use coarse sea salt for grit, and a clean scrubber sponge. Anything left in the pan scrubs right out. We place the pan on a stove eye, heat on low until the pan dries, then add a quick shot of cooking spray, then store the pot for next time. Cupcake brought an old hog rack that she has had for years, and we cut the rack to fit on the wall in the kitchen. This made a perfect cast iron display rack that we think really works with the log home look.

Our pans are so well used now, most times a quick spray from the faucet rinses the pan clean. We also have a small pot for beans or sauces, two griddles for bacon, and a large pot for bigger meals.

Over the weekend we saved our first half dozen eggs from one of our second generation of chickens. We fried them up for Sunday breakfast along with a few fresh green onions.

 And one night we were in the mood for something quick and light, so I made us a couple "combat" Ruben sandwiches with canned corn beef and habanero cheese instead of traditional Swiss, baked in one of our smaller cast iron skillets.

The only exception we make for cast iron cooking is tomato based things, such as soups. It just so happens that today is a chilly, rainy day, and we have a big chunk of pot roast left over from Saturday night dinner. Preparing for just such an emergency, we have a cast iron pot coated in porcelain. The acid in tomatoes will strip the seasoning from a black iron pot (I've seen me do it) so we use this gem for tomato things, like tonight's vegetable beef soup we have slow cooking while I type this.

Every time we cook a meal we ask each other "why isn't everyone cooking with cast iron?" So we thought we would share our findings with the world, and hope that we could convince at least one person to give it a try. We promise you will never go back to non stick junk, and any pot or pan you buy will last generations to come. Start a tradition.
Any brand will do you a good service. We have all Redstone brand, but our good friend "Rhulenbarb" has some Griswold pots handed down that he gets his cook on with. We did see a brand from China that got poor reviews as being cheaply made and the iron was brittle and cracked easily, so stick with American made. China owns enough of our county now anyway.
K&K