Cast Iron Comfort

Warning: You are about to say WAAAAAAAY more pictures of cast iron than you ever thought possible in one blog post, and possibly actually in your whole life. End Warning.


So, approximately 6-ish years ago, Frank got into Barbeque. And, when I say Barbeque, I DO NOT mean grilling. He got into actual, smoky delicious amazingness, the kind that takes 2-12 hours, and requires wood, and has categories by region throughout the US, and is generally one of the USA's greatest contributions to the entire universe. Excuse me, I digress. Along with that, came an interest in Cast Iron Cookware. I didn't think too much of it at the time, he can do what he wants, but I may have said a few things along the line of, "why?!" Slowly, as time went by, I gained more interest in it, and used them, and haphazardly seasoned them and cared for them (or not!) as it suited me and my schedule. And, every couple of weeks, Frank would walk into the kitchen, look at his abused cast iron sitting on the stove, or wherever, shake his head and sigh, and go about properly seasoning them, and getting them back to their original glory. But, I still didn't think too much about it. Then, we moved to Wenatchee, and I spend a lot more time in my house, and in my kitchen, and in the glory of amazingly prepared food and a well cared for home, and that is when my interest in cast iron really took off.


As time has gone by, I have learned more about it, and how to care for it. Cast iron is a lovely, heirloom style fixture in my kitchen now. I have begun a small collection of it, and hope to have enough to someday hand my daughters a well-seasoned skillet when they move out to start homes of their own. What could be better than taking a skillet with you that your meals were cooked in, with love, your whole life long?!


So, here is my routine/rules/what I know about cast iron care.


#1: NEVER EVER allow soap to touch your cast iron. EVER!
#2: Clean it with water and a gentle brush... I use a vegetable scrubbing brush to clean mine. If a more intense cleaning is required, put a small amount of water in it, bring it to a boil, and then use your veggie brush again to scrub it clean, it should come right off.
#3: Do not allow it to sit with water in it.


So, this is the Griswold cast iron dutch oven that I got for my birthday.... Griswold used extremely high quality iron, and as far as I know the details of their processes have been lost, or are at the very least not used by any other cast iron production company anymore. They went out of business in 1957, and their cast iron is considered to be the finest you can get. There are different levels of valuable within the Griswold repertoire obviously, but even the more inexpensive ones are pretty pricey, and they are delightfully smooth.

I started by rubbing the inside of it with bacon fat, and then baking it in the oven for an hour at a time, at 350 degrees-over, and over and over again.And then I absentmindedly had it sitting on top of the stove, under the steam vent for the oven, and it came up with this lovely bit of rust on the outside after just one hour under the steam. And, my husband pointed out to me that I should probably season the outside to protect it too. I was worried about flavor and non-stickyness, so hadn't really gotten so far as to worry about the outside yet.
These two tools will be your best friend in dealing surface rust--canola oil and salt will do the trick in a lovely fashion. Some folks use vinegar too, but I like the efficiency of both oiling & cleaning with salt & oil, so I've never done it that way.

So, I mixed canola oil (or use vegetable oil) with kosher salt, and rub it over the outside of the dutch oven and lid to de-rustify it, and clean it up a bit. Then bake at 350 degrees for an hour... I did this twice, just to give the outside a good layer of seasoning, and protect it against future rust spots. It also looks much prettier, as you can see in the below picture, compared to the above, unseasoned outside picture.

Usually, when I season the outside I use vegetable/canola oil, and with the inside I use bacon fat, for flavor. Sometimes if I don't feel like digging around in my refrigerator for my designated bacon fat cup, I will just use oil on the inside. You can use either, I just adore bacon in all forms. One thing though, you should NEVER use butter... as according to things I've read, even butter baked onto cast iron can develop a rancid flavor after a while. Just the thought of that makes me gag, so I'm not even going there. I have had bacon fat in my fridge for long long long times, and never had trouble with it going bad. I do use it pretty fast though. Have you ever had pancakes cooked in bacon fat instead of butter?! OH. MY. GOODNESS. Heavenly!!!!

The inside of my pot, after several layers of bacon fat baked into it. Sometimes, even when you spread it thin, it will develop into pools after baking. Just use a rag or a paper towel and wipe it clean before storing. (I'm opposed to one-use items like paper towels for the most part, but I won't judge you for using them.**grin**)

This is our first cast iron skillet.... Lodge, #12. It is seasoned in a lovely way, mostly thanks to my husband. Now I just maintain. It makes an amazing cornbread. To maintain the seasoning of my cast iron I just use water and my nylon brush to get any chunks off, and then stick in the oven for just a few minutes on 350. Every couple of times that I use them I rub with bacon fat or canola/vegetable oil, and bake for an hour at 350. It adds practically nothing to my kitchen clean up as far as time required is concerned, and adds so much to the flavor profile of food, as well as the homey aspect of food prep and eating.

This is a Griswold #8 skillet that Frank found in an antique store in Winthrop when we were living in the RV park while we moved here. It was in pretty bad shape, but he set it next to our campfire every night, until the old yucky seasoning was baked away, and then cleaned it well with oil and salt, and began the re-seasoning process again. If you do happen upon an old cast iron skillet with somebody else's yucky seasoning, you can remove it with the super-close-to-your-campfire trick, salt and oil, and soap, if needed, and also if you are one of those who leaves your oven racks in the oven when you self-clean it, you can put the cast iron in there... I take my oven racks out, so that method won't work for me, but you could also just set your oven at 550 degrees or whatever, and see if that works too, I would imagine that it would. A few other options are vinegar, oven cleaner or a wire brush. I've never had anything that required that deep of treatment.

The back of the Griswold. I love the character of this skillet. It is a tiny bit warped, which makes it not valuable money wise, but I enjoy using it.

And, another Lodge#8 skillet, well seasoned.

And, last but not least, two very important cast members in our cast iron (har har!) collection, Frank's two outdoor dutch ovens. When you open the lid on the one he always makes baked beans in, you can smell the baked beans, even though the dutch oven is perfectly clean. It is AMAZING. As my brother once said, "Your cast iron should be so well seasoned that if your meal doesn't turn out you can just throw the food out and eat the pan." That is so true for this dutch oven.

Cast Iron collecting is a huge thing for some people... if you research the different brands, you can find out so many different facts, and different things that make different cast irons valuable, or not. For me, the goal is not necessarily the monetary value of the cast iron as much as the warm, homey value, and a deep appreciation for a good kitchen tool. Most of all, I want to have "things" that my children and maybe even grandchildren will look back on, and remember the love and value that their mother put into caring for their home, and preparing their meals.

P.S. One Farberware stainless steel-designed in USA, made in China skillet for sale. Hasn't been used in a couple years. Has zero personality, but looks pretty when it's not covered in dust.