Let's Talk BBQ
Other Cooking Equipment => Cast Iron & Campfire Cooking => Topic started by: hikerman on January 17, 2015, 11:22:01 AM
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Came across an interesting article about the myths of cast iron by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, of Serious Eats.
www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iron.html
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Informative article. Thanks for posting.
Art
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Thanks for the post! Good article.
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Good read...thanks.
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That is exactly how I care for the cast iron we use to cook with. We have about 8 or so pieces we use regularly and about 80 or 100 that are just "collected", we sold about 300 pieces when we downsized to our townhouse. Most of the stuff we use to cook with was my wife's Grandmother's and is well over 100 years old. As the article said, the older stuff is much more finely cast and smoother, some of the newer stuff like my griddles have the grainy casting and may never get as smooth as the old iron. Just as info, all that cast iron you see at flea markets and yard sales that is marked "USA" on the bottom and a designation like SK-8 (size 8 skillet) or other marking to indicate the type and size is most likely old Lodge cookware, they did not start putting the Lodge name on it till the 90's. There are some other "USA" iron that could be Birmingham Stove & Iron or others, but most will be Lodge, it will all be good. The older Lodge is much more finely cast and smoother. Lodge is the only cast iron cookware that is still made in the USA (well I think there is one or two "designer" brands that cost an arm and a leg). If you can find some Wagner Ware or Griswold or other marked brands at flea markets, buy them if the price is not too high. Most of the "collectible" iron we have is those and some of them are going for 100's of dollars.
For the most part I stay away from Chinese cast iron although I do have a couple of griddles I use. I just don't really know what kind of scrap metal they might have melted down to make that stuff, and most of it is really rough cast.
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Good article, I would still not use soap to clean my CI though.
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Interesting read. A couple of those myths I've not heard of: "Cast iron being as non-stick as Teflon" & "Don't use metal utensils in cast iron." Just never heard those two before.
The "Don't use soap rule" is one I have heard of and ignored many times. Most often a quick cleaning with hot water and a scrub brush gets it clean, but if the pan is super greasy, I'll use some hot soapy water in it, wipe dry, then wipe on a thin coat of veggie oil for next use. It's never hurt the seasoning from what I can tell.
I love our cast iron! :)
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A good article and most of it I already knew. I very seldom use soap on mine but have. Don
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Pops had a old cast iron skillet that Grandma would cook on. Every once in a great while he would use dish soap but for the most parts we would just wipe it down and keep it a bit greasy.................
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Good article. I, too, have used soap from time to time. Metal utensils, as well.
BD
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I try not to use soap if I can help it.... probably goes back to my first wife that she didn't rinse them well enough or dry them on the stove, and I would get a soapy taste. The CI that I have in the RV normally gets cleaned the old school way with sand, and I only hit them with oil every other use. been switching them from RV to RV for almost 25 years and they work like a charm! I love my CI but the posts on here about the De Buyer pans have me intrigued.
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Good read!
I always thought that soap was the enemy of cast iron. I guess a properly seasoned pan will not be affected ;)