Cast Iron Comfort Follow Up

I truly did my best to remember every little thing about cast iron to put in my original post... fact is, I thought about that post and all the info I was going to put in it since I got my dutch oven, sometime back before Christmas. Sadly, I didn't write any of my thoughts down, and you know what they say... If you don't write it down, it never happened. That is particularly true for my airhead self. So, since I had so many fellow cast iron lovers comment, as well as people who are interested, but have never seasoned their own cast iron, I thought I would do a little mini-follow-up post with regards to cast iron care, so all the info and tips would be easy to find if someone were to click on my cast iron label. So, with many thanks to my commenters, here goes.

My husband pointed out:

#1---Cast iron is a work-out. This is true, these skillets and pots are heavy. But in my world, in the kitchen, things come with a price. If you want your food to be extra delicious, then you purchase high-quality ingredients, as scratch as possible, and take the time and effort to prepare them yourself. It SHOULD take time, effort and elbow grease. It is not only about the end result, it is about the process, and the quality of time spent in the heart of your home, the kitchen. For the cast iron, the cost of delicious food is the weight of the tools. I consider it a small price to pay, as my arms could use a work-out anyway. :-) One thing that will make it easier is to get handle covers, then you don't to reach for a hot pad every time you lift the skillets.

#2---Bacon Grease and Lard can go rancid, if you don't use your pan at least weekly, stick to vegetable or canola oil. You can use Crisco, but it's a hydrogenated oil, and we don't keep that poison in our house. We have strict "no-poison" policies around here. :-) We won't judge you if you eat poison tho, and we will eat it with kind and proper manners, should you serve it to us. We're not health nut Nazi's, just pacific NW foodies. :-)

#3---Your seasoning should be a patina, not gloppy greasiness. Sometimes after my cast iron has cooled, and I pull it out of the oven, the grease will have pooled up into a tiny spot of gooeyness somewhere. Just wipe it out, and re-bake your pot/skillet for a little bit, it will be just fine. Remember, you want patina, not goopy! :-)

#4---NON-STICK without TEFLON(garbage, my husband would say!)!! Yay! The first time you scramble eggs in your well-seasoned cast iron skillet, and there is nothing stuck to the pan, your heart will sing, I guarantee it.

Chatty asked about:

#5---Ceramic Cook tops are NOT supposed to have cast iron on them, this is true. I have a ceramic cook top, I cannot wait to have a gas stove someday! But, the ceramic cook top is easy to clean, so I definitely appreciate that about it. I have a strict work for me, by my rules policy in my kitchen... and gadgets are not tolerated. Simplicity is best. With the exception of cast iron, holiday dishes, crystal and knives, everything must be machine dish-washable, and my stove must cook what I want. I'm the boss, after all. So, I do use my cast iron on the stove top. I also use my pressure canner, and hot water bath canner on it. So, basically I break all the rules. My ceramic stove top is fine, I've never had problems with it. I never slide my cast iron over the top, I always lift it to move it. And, I almost never use it on a high heat setting, because the heat retention of cast iron is amazing, and high translates to unbelievable HOTNESS! But, if you would rather not use your cast iron on your ceramic, and I certainly understand if you take that stance, you can still use cast iron. Just only use it in your oven...Cornbread, Shepherds Pie, Roast Chicken, Roast Beef, you name it, you can bake so many things in your oven in cast iron!! And, I know after I publish this I'm going to think of 40 other oven baked foods I could have put on this list. Oh well, you get the point. :-) One thing about the amazing Internet is that if you have questions, you can always Google them, and get any number of answers on subjects like this. I highly recommend that route. LeAnna also said she has a ceramic cook top and has never had trouble with her cast iron on it as well.

As a side note, Ioi said that her family used outdoor dutch ovens for 10 years. Ioi!!! Please!!! In all your spare time do a blog series on outdoor dutch oven recipes!! I want them ALL! That is cool!

Lily of the Valley pointed out that:

#6---while it doesn't bother her, people freak out about not using soap to clean their cast iron... this is true. Soap should never touch your cast iron. I only ever use a nylon veggie scrubbing brush to clean mine. However, anti-bacterial, sanitize-the-universe-soap IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO KILL BAD GERMS! Heat does that just as well. So, clean your cast iron with the nylon brush and pop it in your oven at 350 degrees for at least 15 minutes, or a full hour if you oil it down first. It's become routine for me... every couple of times I use my cast iron I oil it down, stick it in the oven, set the timer for one hour, open a window, and walk out of the kitchen. Or, I clean my cast iron first, stick it in the oven, turn the oven on, and then clean the rest of my dishes. When I'm done with the other dishes I turn the oven off, and walk out of the kitchen.

Robynn and Tina both mentioned this:

#7---Cooking acidic things in your cast iron can and will eat your seasoning. This is true. However, I usually oil my cast iron BEFORE I stick acidic things into them, and I have never have problems with it. If you think about it, if you never cooked onions in your cast iron, well, you'd pretty much never use your cast iron. So, if I'm caramelizing onions or whatever, I always do a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom. If I'm doing spaghetti sauce, I always coat the dutch oven with olive oil first, and then oil and bake it to re-coat the seasoning immediately after I'm done. It is something to be careful about though, and I usually make sure whatever I'm using to cook the acidic food is REALLY WELL seasoned before I do anything like that in it.

Okay, I think that's everything. This is a really fun subject for me, and joint hobby for my husband and myself, and I really appreciate all the comments and input!