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Wanderlost's avatar
Wanderlost
Nomad II
Mar 13, 2014

Hit the Cast Iron Jackpot

We moved MIL into a retirement village she picked out. They don't cook in their suites, so she gave us all her cast iron.

Some of it was in sad shape, having been used directly in the campfire and never had the ash scraped off, or left out in the garage where it rusted and mud daubers made nests on it.

After a frenzy of cast iron cleaning in the self-cleaning oven, we've got the cleanest oven around and re-seasoned cast iron of all sizes and shapes -- and I'm out of bacon fat...

One skillet is almost as large in diameter as my grandfather's chuckwagon DO, so they both hang by each other on the laundry room wall. If we ever get out of this draught, we'll use Grandad's DO for beans or cobbler in a campfire. The 14" skillet will fit on the outdoor grill, so we can use it more often.

All the other pieces fit just fine in the kitchen.

The really cool thing is now we have such a variety of stainless and CI to choose from when we take the RV out. We gave up on the separate cookware sets for RV and S&B long ago, just taking the few items we knew we'd need on each trip. Works out just fine, and will be even better with the increase in CI choices.

I feel rich right now...
  • Folks have used bacon fat, lard, chicken fat, and much more on cast iron for centuries.

    Besides, I needed to use up the bacon fat so I can start a new crock...
  • I have a 22 inch skillet that is phenominal for frying spuds, bacon, and then scramble a huge pile of eggs. Don't do it often but it is incredibly fun and delicious. The cast iron skillet hung in my moms garage until I stole it. She never used it but I sure do.
  • Wanderlost wrote:
    Folks have used bacon fat, lard, chicken fat, and much more on cast iron for centuries.

    And with good reason- animal fats have more of the desired carbon in them. Salt does cast iron cookware no harm at all- professional cooks even sometimes use it as a mild "abrasive" that, combined with grease, effectively polishes/smoothes the carbonized surface.

    And frankly, I think olive oil smells nasty when scorched/baked on.
  • I have found that coconut oil is the best. Doesn't get rancid with non-usage and seasons the cast iron well. I also use coarse sea salt for cleaning if needed. If something is stuck on, I put some water in the pan, bring it to a boil. Discard water, scrub with paper towel and coarse salt. Wipe and finish with a bit of coconut oil. Coconut oil is not liquid - it melts quickly when hot but it is the consistency of lard. You cannot get home fries any better than in some coconut oil and in a cast iron pan.
  • I was always told that cooking with cast iron also supplies iron to us. ???? That is what my mother always told me
  • I stopped at a garage sale and I couldn't take my eyes off the dozens of CI cookware pieces hanging on the garage wall. The owner told me he had many more in the house that he uses regularly. Lucky guy !
  • hokeypokey wrote:
    I stopped at a garage sale and I couldn't take my eyes off the dozens of CI cookware pieces hanging on the garage wall. The owner told me he had many more in the house that he uses regularly. Lucky guy !

    Now that you know what look for, you can be that "lucky guy " too. Flea markets; yard sales; and slow and steady collecting over time should help you toward that goal.
  • Have about 14" round CI griddle that I love to use to make pizza! Beats a pizza stone all to hell.
  • SDPat wrote:
    Have about 14" round CI griddle that I love to use to make pizza! Beats a pizza stone all to hell.


    I have the Lodge 14" pizza pan that I have used for several years to bake artisan bread and pizza on, and I agree it beats worrying about breaking an expensive stone.
    They no offer baking steels at $100+, I keep my cast iron.