Is Cast Iron a Favorite?
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
It's not my favorite. I prefer clad stainless.
However, it's inexpensive, ovenproof, withstands super high temperatures, holds heat well...
However, it's inexpensive, ovenproof, withstands super high temperatures, holds heat well...
Callisto in NC
Washing Up
I prefer classic cast iron, no coatings on it, just a good seasoning. I still love my stainless too. I don't prefer one over the other, it's all about what I'm cooking.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
Why is Cast Iron everyone's favorite
Cast iron cookware is a tool for the cook as are food processors, knives and microplanes.
There is a best tool for each job, not one best tool for all jobs.
snack_pack85
Washing Up
I have tiny wrists so I like lighter pans actually. For cornbread, frying chicken or searing meat I'll use a good well seasoned cast iron skillet.
Callisto in NC
Washing Up
CI is definitely heavy so for bigger meals or meals that I need a lid, I go to my stainless.
Chief Longwind Of The North
Certified/Certifiable
For me, it's easy. CI is durable, easy to clean, and I can cook just about anything in it, from cakes, to fried chicken, to stews, even spaghetti sauce and chile. My CI has seen years of use and has been taken camping and cleaned in a stream while scouring with sand. And it's still around and working great. Try that with your clad SS or teflon non-stick pans.
I can't think of any food, off the top of my head, that I haven't made in cast iron at one time or another. For instance; you want extraordinary pizza? Put some olive oil into a 12" cast iron pan and place your pizza dough in that. Put on the toppings. Place the pan onto a Webber Kettle charcoal grill with a bit of mesquite or alder. Put the cover on the grill, adjust all vent to wide open, and let 'er rip for about ten to fifteen minutes. Remove the pan, and put the pizza onto a suitable dish and serve it up. I'm telliing you what; That's some great pizza. I'd put it up against any brick-oven pizza on the planet.
You want pulled pork in a pinch? Place a 4 lb. Boston Butt roast into a slow cooker set on low cooking (not warm) and let it cook while you sleep at night and go to work the next day. When you get home, fire up the grill. Transfer the roast to your sargest CI pan and shred it with a fork. Add yoru favorite flavoring wood chips to the charcoal and put the pan on the grill. Cover and adjsut the vents to about 3/4 closed. This will cool the fire and trap the smoke. Stir the meat after 5 minutes or so and repeat. Cook another 5 mintues and remove from the grill. Add a ladle-full (about 3/4 cup) of the juices from the slow cooker back into the meat. It has to be very juicy. Serve this smoky, wonderful stuff with a couple of barbecue sauces on whole wheat hoagies or whole wheat hamburger buns.
You can make phenomenal coblers and cakes in CI too. Pancakes are a no brainer. I don't think I could make a proper rack of ribs in CI, though it works great for holding a crown roast in the oven.
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North.
I can't think of any food, off the top of my head, that I haven't made in cast iron at one time or another. For instance; you want extraordinary pizza? Put some olive oil into a 12" cast iron pan and place your pizza dough in that. Put on the toppings. Place the pan onto a Webber Kettle charcoal grill with a bit of mesquite or alder. Put the cover on the grill, adjust all vent to wide open, and let 'er rip for about ten to fifteen minutes. Remove the pan, and put the pizza onto a suitable dish and serve it up. I'm telliing you what; That's some great pizza. I'd put it up against any brick-oven pizza on the planet.
You want pulled pork in a pinch? Place a 4 lb. Boston Butt roast into a slow cooker set on low cooking (not warm) and let it cook while you sleep at night and go to work the next day. When you get home, fire up the grill. Transfer the roast to your sargest CI pan and shred it with a fork. Add yoru favorite flavoring wood chips to the charcoal and put the pan on the grill. Cover and adjsut the vents to about 3/4 closed. This will cool the fire and trap the smoke. Stir the meat after 5 minutes or so and repeat. Cook another 5 mintues and remove from the grill. Add a ladle-full (about 3/4 cup) of the juices from the slow cooker back into the meat. It has to be very juicy. Serve this smoky, wonderful stuff with a couple of barbecue sauces on whole wheat hoagies or whole wheat hamburger buns.
You can make phenomenal coblers and cakes in CI too. Pancakes are a no brainer. I don't think I could make a proper rack of ribs in CI, though it works great for holding a crown roast in the oven.
Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North.
Uncle Bob
Chef Extraordinaire
Certainly a favorite of mine...I like SS & Some aluminum too! --- If I could only have on kind of cookware....Cast Iron would be my choice!
Cast iron (real cast iron without enamel coatings) is only my favorite for some things. It is the last thing I would reach for in other instances.
divascancook
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- May 3, 2009
- Messages
- 19
I only have one cast iron skillet and I love it! Wish I could find more.
Scotch
Head Chef
I like cast iron for pan grilling, but I prefer stainless or nonstick for other things. As Andy said, they're tools, and just as you wouldn't use a screwdriver to do everything in the garage, you can't just pick one tool for the kitchen.
justplainbill
Executive Chef
For high heat, cast iron is superior to stainless. E.G. pricey AllClad recommends using low to medium heat with their stainless ware. However I'm more comfortable deglazing with wine in stainless cookware.
SRL
Senior Cook
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2009
- Messages
- 129
Yep, agree totally. My dutch ovens are CI, saute pans are SS, stock pots are AA, saucepans are copper or AA and baking dishes are pyrex.
And I do have one trusty non-coated CI frying pan for blackening stuff on the grill. But if I could only have one thing, it would be a Caphalon dutch oven. JohnL
Head Chef
Yup. love my cast iron. It's my "go to" pan for fried chicken or fried fish and my CI dutch oven is my favorite for chili or braising recipes.
Love cast iron, too. I can't imagine being without it in my kitchen. One of my skillets is easily over 100-years-old and, as you might guess, is seasoned to perfection. I also have many other types of cookware and, like others have said, certain pans are more suitable for some tasks.
MexicoKaren
Head Chef
The cast iron skillet that belonged to my DH's mother is used almost every time I cook a meal. It has high sides - about 3" - so I can also use it as a dutch oven. I cooked spaghetti sauce in it yesterday for a couple of hours and it washed up like a non-stick skillet. I can sear, saute, bake, stew....it's great for just about everything. But I do use a nonstick skillet for cooking eggs.
freefallin1309
Senior Cook
Love cast iron, it's a necessity in our kitchen when it comes to fried foods. CI lasts forever too as Katie E mentioned. Anything needing to be cooked High Hot n Fast is perfect for CI.
