contemplated the dutch oven
I have had a little bit of an affinity for cast iron as long as I can remember. I associate this with my mother. When I look back on my childhood, it seems that she cooked with Cast Iron pans, though when I think really hard, what I can remember for certain is a set of Wagner Ware hanging on the wall. I know we had a conversation about the pans once, when I was very young. When we still lived on Westland Road- though realistically, I was in Lawrence for a few years before they moved out. What we said I can't remember. When I say 'very young,' I mean I was in primary school. But I know we talked about the pans. I think she'd inherited them.
She had a dutch oven that she used to make round up in. I don't think the dutch oven was cast iron. I believe there is a generation of people that don't realize that eventually dutch ovens were made in some other material, but eventually it came to be realized that dutch ovens are useful, and cast iron is heavy. Women (and people in general) are a fair bit softer in body and harder in manner than we (as people) used to be.
Emily and I have had two cast iron pots for awhile now. They don't have numbers engraved on them anymore, so they may be an off-size. Maybe they're all standardized sizes now. I don't know. But we got a big skillet for our wedding (lodge logic) in '09, and then an egg-size skillet in '11 for Christmas (World Market.) We had registered for the skillet we got at our wedding, and the egg size pan was on my Christmas list, but I never managed to cook much with them. There are a few things that worked. Curry, rice-a-roni type things, Sauces. And bacon. In other words, things that were heart-stoppingly greasy (like bacon) or things that had significant liquid content and got wiped out in the clean up. Looking at the reality of my daily life, I don't make eggs a lot, though I used to. I also used to make pancakes a lot. That probably would have become more habitual if the pan we had gotten for our wedding would have released them. As it sat, I tried to make pancakes in it once. To say the least, it didn't work.
I got kind of disheartened for awhile. I'd heard so much great stuff about cast iron. How it evenly distributes heat, how stuff slides off it like glass. I'd also heard rumors that limited amounts of iron get in the food, and that anemic people have been counseled to cook with cast iron. I don't know if I actually believe that any significant amount of the pan actually gets in the food, but it seemed that it couldn't hurt. Beyond that, I have kind of an emotional attachment to cookware that is old-fashioned and outlasts people. Iron and steel seems much closer to the heart than teflon and plastic. However, I was reaping none of these benefits. Most of my stuff came out unevenly cooked and half stuck on a pan that I wasn't supposed to use soap in. And instead of feeling close to my pans, I was sad that they didn't work. Was it the pans? Was it me? I did some research, and there's a little from column A and a little from Column B.
Some things they don't make like they used to. It turns out cast iron is one of these things. They used to machine down the face of the pan so that it was smooth "like glass." Of course, the pan still required seasoning and use to work properly, but learning that assuaged much of my frustration right away. It wasn't just me. They don't make cast iron pans that are smooth-faced anymore. I read a lot of things from people who had tried to sand their newer pans, and they'd all failed miserably. The only success story was from a guy who took his pan to an autobody shop and had them sand it down for him there. I don't know anyone from an autobody shop, but I remembered a sort of local blacksmith that I'd had a conversation with, and thought he might be able to help me.
But I had some problems myself. I'd been cooking on teflon most of my life. I'm not really sure when the teflon revolution came about, but it was well after I started cooking for myself (which was youngish by today's standards.) A person cooking on teflon can use an entirely different standard of practice than cooking on cast iron. Little time-saving 'tricks' you can use with teflon don't apply to cast iron. Teflon is handy, but I think it came to be because our generation is softer in body and harder in manner than the one before us. We will use microwaves, and boxed foods. If for some reason it is important to cook a meal ourselves, we will use teflon. I have a bit of discomfort with this, and I'm not %100 sure that teflon is not toxic, though I have done much cooking in teflon pans.
All that aside, you can't put stuff in an unheated, or partially heated cast iron pan and count on the cooking of said item to release it. This is true of teflon. When something is hot enough to flip, you can sort of flip it back and forth to evenly cook the sides. I have to say that I can flip nothing in my cast iron pans. I mean, I can with the steel turners, but not without some kind of tool. Cast iron must be entirely preheated. Hot enough to cook the item you want to cook when the item is placed in the pan. I tend to rush things, so this annoyed me, but maybe cast iron pans can teach me patience. I had also seasoned them improperly. I had seasoned them on the stovetop, and it turns out that cast iron must be lightly greased all over, and then stuck in the oven. And in the end, I was using improper tools with them. You cannot use metal with teflon. You must use plastic. I had enough teflon pans that my only flipper was plastic. This causes seasoning tumors when used repeatedly on a cast iron skillet. You have to use stainless steel, which maintains the surface and prevents tumors. Some people had mentioned a bit of success with newer pans which came from years of use which eventually built the seasoning up to a degree that it more or less smoothed out the face of the pan.
I picked up some steel cookware at goodwill, because regular stores don't carry steel cookware anymore. I cooked a burger apiece in my pans. I brooded about how many years of not working properly would be required in order to work properly. I commiserated with Jacob's first seven years of labor. All new pans are rough-faced from a melt and pour process that doesn't smooth them out anymore. You just can't get the pans you used to be able to get.
If you're shopping for new stuff.
Yesterday, Emily and I were downtown killing time and went to the Antique Mall. I remembered what I had found on line. I remembered looking for cast iron pans at goodwill and being disappointed, but thought I might have better luck at the Antique mall. Indeed I did. The first thing I found was a little #3 Wagner Ware pan. Egg-size, smooth faced, $7.50. Most people online had bought their pans on e-bay and said they would run $20-$30. I felt good about this. It had some white stuff on the face, though, and I wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't raised. Just colored (or stripped of color.) At any rate, it was white, the rest of the pan was black, it still felt very smooth.
Next I found a big collection of cast iron cookware. A #8 Griswold pan, smooth faced. Another Wagner of comparable size to the Griswold, A #4 Griswold pan with a lid. Rare. And a dutch over with other assorted pots.
I contemplated the dutch oven before seeing the $50 price tag. I didn't buy it. I got the #8 Griswold pan, which was smooth, and considered trading in the little Wagner for the #4 with the lid, but on closer inspection, the #4 had seasoning tumors. After a little hesitation about the morality of my actions, I took the lid and left the pot. They were being sold separately, and the lid fit the Wagner pan more or less. The Wagner is a number 3, so it doesn't seal on top, but it stays in place and allows a little vent. I was content with the arrangement.
Yesterday I seasoned them. Prior to seasoning, I tried to make an egg in the Wagner, but it didn't quite survive the flipping process. However, there was not egg mess left in the pan as had been a previous difficulty with the newer pans. This may have been a personal error. I'm having a bit of trouble with the size of the pan v. the size of the flipper and trying to angle things correctly. Another egg- over easy and cooked in the Griswold, came out perfectly. This morning I made flapjacks in the Griswold. They came out great. It does seems that things taste different when they're made in cast iron. I'm not sure if the phenomena is a real one, though. Maybe I'm wrong about the iron-in-the-food thing. Maybe I'm right about the toxicity of teflon. Maybe it's all in my head. In some ways, I wish I'd bought the cast iron dutch oven to make round-up in, but that's a lonely meal as Emily is allergic to beef. If she were a beef-eater, I think I'd go back for it.
There has not been enough time to try eggs in the egg pan again. I only eat so much per day. But that will be upcoming, and I'm optimistic.
-C
She had a dutch oven that she used to make round up in. I don't think the dutch oven was cast iron. I believe there is a generation of people that don't realize that eventually dutch ovens were made in some other material, but eventually it came to be realized that dutch ovens are useful, and cast iron is heavy. Women (and people in general) are a fair bit softer in body and harder in manner than we (as people) used to be.
Emily and I have had two cast iron pots for awhile now. They don't have numbers engraved on them anymore, so they may be an off-size. Maybe they're all standardized sizes now. I don't know. But we got a big skillet for our wedding (lodge logic) in '09, and then an egg-size skillet in '11 for Christmas (World Market.) We had registered for the skillet we got at our wedding, and the egg size pan was on my Christmas list, but I never managed to cook much with them. There are a few things that worked. Curry, rice-a-roni type things, Sauces. And bacon. In other words, things that were heart-stoppingly greasy (like bacon) or things that had significant liquid content and got wiped out in the clean up. Looking at the reality of my daily life, I don't make eggs a lot, though I used to. I also used to make pancakes a lot. That probably would have become more habitual if the pan we had gotten for our wedding would have released them. As it sat, I tried to make pancakes in it once. To say the least, it didn't work.
I got kind of disheartened for awhile. I'd heard so much great stuff about cast iron. How it evenly distributes heat, how stuff slides off it like glass. I'd also heard rumors that limited amounts of iron get in the food, and that anemic people have been counseled to cook with cast iron. I don't know if I actually believe that any significant amount of the pan actually gets in the food, but it seemed that it couldn't hurt. Beyond that, I have kind of an emotional attachment to cookware that is old-fashioned and outlasts people. Iron and steel seems much closer to the heart than teflon and plastic. However, I was reaping none of these benefits. Most of my stuff came out unevenly cooked and half stuck on a pan that I wasn't supposed to use soap in. And instead of feeling close to my pans, I was sad that they didn't work. Was it the pans? Was it me? I did some research, and there's a little from column A and a little from Column B.
Some things they don't make like they used to. It turns out cast iron is one of these things. They used to machine down the face of the pan so that it was smooth "like glass." Of course, the pan still required seasoning and use to work properly, but learning that assuaged much of my frustration right away. It wasn't just me. They don't make cast iron pans that are smooth-faced anymore. I read a lot of things from people who had tried to sand their newer pans, and they'd all failed miserably. The only success story was from a guy who took his pan to an autobody shop and had them sand it down for him there. I don't know anyone from an autobody shop, but I remembered a sort of local blacksmith that I'd had a conversation with, and thought he might be able to help me.
But I had some problems myself. I'd been cooking on teflon most of my life. I'm not really sure when the teflon revolution came about, but it was well after I started cooking for myself (which was youngish by today's standards.) A person cooking on teflon can use an entirely different standard of practice than cooking on cast iron. Little time-saving 'tricks' you can use with teflon don't apply to cast iron. Teflon is handy, but I think it came to be because our generation is softer in body and harder in manner than the one before us. We will use microwaves, and boxed foods. If for some reason it is important to cook a meal ourselves, we will use teflon. I have a bit of discomfort with this, and I'm not %100 sure that teflon is not toxic, though I have done much cooking in teflon pans.
All that aside, you can't put stuff in an unheated, or partially heated cast iron pan and count on the cooking of said item to release it. This is true of teflon. When something is hot enough to flip, you can sort of flip it back and forth to evenly cook the sides. I have to say that I can flip nothing in my cast iron pans. I mean, I can with the steel turners, but not without some kind of tool. Cast iron must be entirely preheated. Hot enough to cook the item you want to cook when the item is placed in the pan. I tend to rush things, so this annoyed me, but maybe cast iron pans can teach me patience. I had also seasoned them improperly. I had seasoned them on the stovetop, and it turns out that cast iron must be lightly greased all over, and then stuck in the oven. And in the end, I was using improper tools with them. You cannot use metal with teflon. You must use plastic. I had enough teflon pans that my only flipper was plastic. This causes seasoning tumors when used repeatedly on a cast iron skillet. You have to use stainless steel, which maintains the surface and prevents tumors. Some people had mentioned a bit of success with newer pans which came from years of use which eventually built the seasoning up to a degree that it more or less smoothed out the face of the pan.
I picked up some steel cookware at goodwill, because regular stores don't carry steel cookware anymore. I cooked a burger apiece in my pans. I brooded about how many years of not working properly would be required in order to work properly. I commiserated with Jacob's first seven years of labor. All new pans are rough-faced from a melt and pour process that doesn't smooth them out anymore. You just can't get the pans you used to be able to get.
If you're shopping for new stuff.
Yesterday, Emily and I were downtown killing time and went to the Antique Mall. I remembered what I had found on line. I remembered looking for cast iron pans at goodwill and being disappointed, but thought I might have better luck at the Antique mall. Indeed I did. The first thing I found was a little #3 Wagner Ware pan. Egg-size, smooth faced, $7.50. Most people online had bought their pans on e-bay and said they would run $20-$30. I felt good about this. It had some white stuff on the face, though, and I wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't raised. Just colored (or stripped of color.) At any rate, it was white, the rest of the pan was black, it still felt very smooth.
Next I found a big collection of cast iron cookware. A #8 Griswold pan, smooth faced. Another Wagner of comparable size to the Griswold, A #4 Griswold pan with a lid. Rare. And a dutch over with other assorted pots.
I contemplated the dutch oven before seeing the $50 price tag. I didn't buy it. I got the #8 Griswold pan, which was smooth, and considered trading in the little Wagner for the #4 with the lid, but on closer inspection, the #4 had seasoning tumors. After a little hesitation about the morality of my actions, I took the lid and left the pot. They were being sold separately, and the lid fit the Wagner pan more or less. The Wagner is a number 3, so it doesn't seal on top, but it stays in place and allows a little vent. I was content with the arrangement.
Yesterday I seasoned them. Prior to seasoning, I tried to make an egg in the Wagner, but it didn't quite survive the flipping process. However, there was not egg mess left in the pan as had been a previous difficulty with the newer pans. This may have been a personal error. I'm having a bit of trouble with the size of the pan v. the size of the flipper and trying to angle things correctly. Another egg- over easy and cooked in the Griswold, came out perfectly. This morning I made flapjacks in the Griswold. They came out great. It does seems that things taste different when they're made in cast iron. I'm not sure if the phenomena is a real one, though. Maybe I'm wrong about the iron-in-the-food thing. Maybe I'm right about the toxicity of teflon. Maybe it's all in my head. In some ways, I wish I'd bought the cast iron dutch oven to make round-up in, but that's a lonely meal as Emily is allergic to beef. If she were a beef-eater, I think I'd go back for it.
There has not been enough time to try eggs in the egg pan again. I only eat so much per day. But that will be upcoming, and I'm optimistic.
-C