Posted on 12/15/2008 6:26:19 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Modern dish washing liquid detergent (the kind for hand washing, not dishwasher stuff) is mostly a wetting agent. It doesn't really harm well seasoned cast iron to wipe it down with sudsy water, as long as you completely dry it and re-oil immediately after. Don't ever soak the pan in anything, though. Not even just plain water.
I beg to differ ... We use "Dawn" or "Palmolive" brand dishwashing stuff ... I can tell when the cast iron has gotten a dose of the stuff ... it's just not as slick afterward. A good bacon-fry will cure that problem, though.
Despite the tone of this article, I don't find my cast iron pans to be all that fragile. Reasonable care will keep them in good shape practically forever.
I prefer grilling my steaks of course, but if it's raining or if I just don't have time, this is what I do. Hands down, this is the best recipe for cooking a steak indoors that I've ever used.
A caveat: this recipe will SMOKE YOUR HOUSE UP if you don't have an exhaust fan that's up to snuff.
Pan Seared RibeyeIngredients:
Boneless ribeye steak(s) (I have also used New York strips)
Kosher salt or sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Vegetable oil or canola oil (I have even used light olive oil, but not extra virgin because the flavor is stronger)Directions:
Be sure to time this recipe; you can easily overcook your steak at the temperatures we are working with. The below times are for a medium rare steak 1-1/2” thick. Steaks that aren't too fatty work best because of the high heat.
Bring steaks to room temperature. Lightly coat steak(s) with oil, then season with salt and black pepper.
Place cast iron skillet in oven and heat oven to 500 degrees.
Once your oven is at the proper temperature, turn one burner on the range to high heat. Turn on your exhaust fan. :)
When you remove the pan from the oven, place it immediately on the hot burner. Do NOT grease or oil the pan in any way. Place steak in pan and cook for 30-45 seconds each side.
Put pan in oven and cook for 2 minutes. Flip steak and cook for another 2 minutes. Then remove from oven, place steak on a plate and let it rest (very important!) for a couple of minutes under foil.
The flavor is just amazing.
We usually fry a slice of bacon to keep the eggs from sticking.
Of course, we’ll all die of heart failure before we’re forty, but day-um, that’s good breakfast. :-)
It’s fine in the cast iron skillet; Not so much in my space-age, teflon-coated super-pan.
I also wash my occasionally if I've screwed up cooking something or one of my relatives used the skillet and messed up. Then of course, I re-season the pan.
One of my cousins cut (deeply) her cornbread IN the skillet with a sharp knife and as far as I'm concerned ruined the pan. I couldn't believe it. And it was her mothers skillet that she had inherited. Sacrilege.
I don't know if I've ever had cornbread (at home of course, not at a restaurant) that WASN'T baked in a cast iron skillet. I can even make cornbread from scratch and I'm a GUY. That way, it doesn't have to have sugar in it. Some of the “cornbread” at restaurants should probably be called “cake” instead of cornbread.
There is one thing I love that I learned from my dad, though--and that is making a "dessert" with a piece of cornbread when it's all you have: slather a slice of cornbread in butter and top with a good portion of Steen's cane syrup (Made in Louisiana). It's really good.
One other thing that Daddy did was to dunk his cornbread in buttermilk and eat it with a spoon. I never could get into that scene--LOL!
It's funny what poor folk figure out to eat, isn't it!
Typical camping breakfast:
Cook bacon.
Cook eggs in bacon grease.
Cook more bacon.
Cook hash browns or home fries in bacon grease
Best meal of the day.
You haven’t lived until you’ve had mutton fried crispy in a hot, cast iron, dutch oven!
There's an obvious way around that, but I hesitate to mention it.
Yep. All my pans came from garage sales. My favoiite, a 14" chicken fryer, was badly rusted. A bit of sandpaper and a dozen or so uses, and it's good as new.
Oddly enough, cast iron wears like cast iron.
I have picked up a few Wagner Ware small pans I use constantly.
Now I have been trying for thirty six years to get my wife to dump her teflon coated junk but she won't so when she is sick I raid her pans and toss out the worst of the group.
Last week I found a deep fryer (Wagner Ware) but I could not justify buying it as I already have two deep fryers (Lodge)I picked up about thirty six years ago.
And yes, getting them seasoned teaches patience and calmness.
castiron fry pan ping
***That’s why even if someone soaps the thing (horrors), it can be restored. It just takes time. ***
I often wash mine with soap, dry, put on stove and let it get warm then spray it with PAM or equivalent. Sometimes I just use cooking oil.
One thing no one has mentioned is that you must wipe off all the excess oil. If you don’t it will pool in the bottom of the pan and become gummy and RANCID. Then you really have a job cleaning and reseasoning them.
***Our local ACE hardware sells Lodge brand cast iron pans.***
check out the thrift stores for glass lids. Most will fit cast iron. Be careful with them, the cast iron can chip the glass. I wonder how much glass I have eaten in the past? Oh well, I’m still here!
***I think my wife married me for my 14” skillet... ****
NO FAIR! Now I have pan envy! My largest is only 11 3/4 No. 10. Griswold!
***That way, it doesn’t have to have sugar in it. Some of the “cornbread” at restaurants should probably be called “cake” instead of cornbread. ***
My wife tells me that the difference between Yankee cornbread and Southern cornbread is the Yankees had sugar and the southerners didn’t during the Civil War. She just puts one spoonful in ours it is delicious.
She also puts in a spoon full of sugar when she cooks liver. It does make the liver edible!
***One other thing that Daddy did was to dunk his cornbread in buttermilk and eat it with a spoon. I never could get into that scene—LOL!***
WHAT? You have never had HOT cornbread and cold milk? absolutly delicious!
Cornbread and beans is also delicious!
Patience, grasshopper. You’re going to have to season the pan first. But it’s worth it.
arghhhh.... Griswold. 3 of them.
Well, maybe a true artist bought them.
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