The cast iron skillet might be my favorite piece of cookware. It's versatile, can caramelize without sticking, lasts forever, might be the manliest piece of cookware out there, and the invention is a couple hundred years old! There's not many pieces of cookware you can hand down to your kids, but my cast iron will probably last a few generations.
You probably already know this, but don't use soap on it. Every time you cook on it will make future food taste better. I just got a cast iron skillet a month ago myself, I can't believe I went this long using regular pans.
Now, that I have a job I'm looking to purchase one of these bad boys. My question is: can there be a significant variety of quality between them? Can I just go to wal-mart and pick up the $20 one (I think that's what it is) or is it worth it to spend more on a higher quality product? If so, does anyone have any specific brand recommendations?
I cheaped out on a cast iron pan and have a $10 one from Ikea. It works perfectly well as a frying pan - despite the thin metal, it distributes heat nice and evenly (and is still reasonably light). Thing is, it's tiny and the sidewalls are nearly non existent. It limits my ability to cook with sauces, throw things in the oven, not to mention cook whole birds (I can barely fit two cornish game hens flat on the surface). Especially with the whole oil splatter issue, a larger flat surface area with high side walls would be pretty valuable. A top-end cast iron frying pan costs, what, 40 bucks? I'm not sure what the advantage is. Find a pan with decent construction and dimensions. Some pans come pre-seasoned, although I hear you're supposed to season them again anyways so I'm not too sure what the benefit is there. This has now inspired me to season my cast iron frying pan again. I've been neglecting it for too long. Oh, and have good oven mitts. When you're pulling a cast iron pan out of a hot oven, you need good ones. I've got some cloth ones with silicon grips and they work decently well.
Get a nice, thick and HEAVY cast iron pan. And while you're out get a cast iron 'dutch-oven'. That bad boy will do almost anything you can imagine, from deep fry to chili.
Yeah, even if you get it pre-seasoned you still want to oil and butter the shit out of it the first time you use it. I've had mine for almost a month and it is just now getting easy to wash (remember, just water, not soap) and things are starting to really taste better on it. I don't see how quality could affect it that much as long as it's a good, heavy pan. I bough these from amazon: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008GKDN/ref=oss_product" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008 ... ss_product</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008GKDG/ref=oss_product" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008 ... ss_product</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063RWG6/ref=oss_product" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00063 ... ss_product</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006JSUB/ref=oss_product" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006 ... ss_product</a> for a total of $50.82 with free shipping. I could probably have done with out the griddle, but I am absolutely in love with the set and don't see ever going back to regular pans again. Big thing to know about cast iron pans is the more use it gets the better food tastes cooked on it and the easier it is to clean. Don't try to use these as "special occasion" pans, get as much use out of them as possible, they will be better after 10 years of use than the day you bought them.
A little rock salt and a paper towel will clean it enough without ruining the surface. I don't think the brand names are any better than others as long as it's thick and heavy. The thicker it is, the more heat it will retain and you can sear multiple pieces of flesh at one time, as opposed to a regular pan where the temp of the skillet would drop too quickly. They also do a better job searing a steak than a grill, and you can scrape up the brown bits on the bottom (avoid using metal that'll scratch the skillet) to make a finishing sauce.
I've never cleaned any of my cast iron with water, soap, sand, or anything abrasive. A simple wipe out with a paper towel while still a bit warm and that is it. I've also found that some of the best cast iron I've ever bought were the biggest and heaviest pieces of crap from a non-name camping store. Sure, you can season them all you like, but really, long-term use is the best way to get the job done.
Even in the early stages of use? I can see getting away with just wiping it down now, but for the first couple weeks if I didn't use some water I don't know how I would have gotten the pieces of fried egg out of there. I'll try to just start wiping it down now that stuff is sliding off more easily now.
Made some lamb last night, and I was quite impressed with the results. Double Lamb chops w/ Gorgonzola crust - with blackberry & balsamic reduction Start with a frenched rack of lamb, and break it down into double chops. Marinate the chops in olive oil, roasted garlic, rosemary, salt & pepper for about an hour. To make the reduction Puree some blackberries in a blender or food processor, add this to balsamic vinegar & brown sugar. Put on a low simmer and reduce to a syrup. It should still be fairly tart. To make the Gorgonzola crust mix breadcrumbs, chopped cilantro, chopped garlic, salt & pepper. Crumble in Gorgonzola so they are coated with the breadcrumb mixture Grill the lamb chops on one side, then flip and top with the Gorgonzola mixture. Close the grill and cook until desired doneness. Remove from grill and cover with foil to let rest for 10 mins. Put a spoonful of the reduction on the plate and top with a lamb chop. or 3
I plan on getting one of these myself. The GF wants to get a very expensive enameled one from here. I think this is fucking stupid and we should get something more like this since a) it's not insanely priced and b) I think it will absorb flavor like a regular cast iron pan whereas the enamel one will not. Any input on the differences? Is Le Creuset really that fucking good? I'm inclined to believe that going for the non-enameled one will be better long term. Also, general cast iron cookware question, is it cool to use metal utensils on them? Sorry for the n00b questions, but up until now I didn't cook/clean in the kitchen much.
There may be some things you'll be glad you have an expensive enamel Dutch oven for; I can't really say, I've never used one. I think the main "benefit" is that it's more like other cookware that you clean. I do know that my parents got one (I think it was Le Creuset, maybe not) and it lasted about 6 months before it cracked, while they've had the same cast-iron Dutch oven similar to what you linked for 30 years or something. Probably if you use it properly there should be no risk of the enamel cracking, asides from dropping it or something, I dunno. Metal is fine to use with cast iron: you can't really wreck cast-iron cookware like you can if you scrape a Teflon pan with a metal spatula or overheat an aluminum pan. You just re-season the cast iron if it starts to rust, etc.
Do any of you use cast iron on glass top electric stoves? I hate not having gas in my house, which is why I do most of my cooking at my restaurant.
If you're wondering about Le Creuset, I think Pink Candy owns one of their dutch ovens. She messaged me about it in response to a post asking about what cookware I should get. You can ask her, or hopefully she'll come along and explain, but she said she was in love with it and it was worth every penny. And if you read around the internet, you'll find lots of people in love with their expensive enamelled dutch ovens, whether they're Le Creuset or Staub or whatever. I can't really think of a reason why the heat conducting properties of enamel would be that different over plain cast iron. I'm thinking at least part of it has to do with the fact the enamel isn't non-stick, so bits of food stick to it and caramelize (i.e. flavourize) which are then mixed up throughout whatever you're cooking. Or maybe it's because they come in pretty colours, who knows.
I inherited a set of 10 Le Creuset and quite like them. Not sure if they have any special cooking properties but they work awesome.
Pioneer Woman gives away a Le Creuset dutch oven on occasion and swears by it. We have the big Lodge skillet with the scouting Fleur De Lis on the bottom and a Lodge dutch oven. We also have a couple of POS no-name smaller skillets and they can't compare to the Lodge. Lodge also has a huge catalog of stuff from little bread molds to big freaking griddles and shit. They rock!
I got a 6.5qt Tramontina cast itron Dutch Oven from Walmart.com and had it shipped to my local store for pickup for $34. <a class="postlink" href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-6.5-Quart-Cast-Iron-Dutch-Oven-Red/11989387" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-6. ... d/11989387</a> It is awesome. It's not a $200 Le Creuset, but id be afraid to cook in something that expensive. The Lodge pans are great too. I also got a pre-seasoned 12"w cast iron skillet and it works better than any cheap non-stick skillet around.
I really think that the big advantage of using La Crueset is that they're all pretty and shit so you can put them right on the table and serve out of them. Sure, they're awesome to cook in, and you don't have to worry about seasoning the pan or anything, but I don't see them being all that different than just a big-ass cast iron pan/dutch oven from Walmart. By far my favourite one is the this, I'd think. Awesome way to do steaks.