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Post by bula on Oct 18, 2017 10:56:08 GMT -5
My wife successfully re-seasoned a dutch oven. She has several skillets going back 3 generations that she uses often. The finger wagging advice that came with them besides the NEVER EVER use soap on them, also came with avoid dairy products and tomatoe based stuff. Yet saw a dutch oven red sauce pasta recipre. Sooo..what say you ole timers ? What never goes in your cast iron , and what does ?
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Post by sixshot on Oct 18, 2017 11:30:41 GMT -5
bula, you are right about some of the old wives tales about cast iron cooking. And the one you mentioned about not using soap to clean them is one of the oldest & of course it isn't true. I'm right in the heart of the dutch oven cooking capital of the world & if you think you're good this is the place to prove it because there are dutch oven competitions just about every weekend somewhere close by.
I think the national headquarters is just south of me in northern Utah (60 miles) you can google dutch oven cooking & find a schedule for all kinds of cook offs through out the year. Every store you walk into has Lodge, Camp Chef, etc dutch ovens & all types of accessories, plus a dozen or more different cook books using nothing but dutch ovens.
I have 9 ovens at the time, I've gave a few to my kids but still have a couple of #14's, 2 #10's, 2 #8's & some smaller one's plus some flat grills, & skillets. I also have a #12 & a #10 aluminum oven that we use when we're packing on the horses.
I had one of the very rare & no longer made Lodge rectangular ovens that would hold 2 large roasts or perhaps 3 whole chickens but I gave it to one of my son's along with a very, very large skillet that I used to brown chicken. It's probably 15-16 inches wide.
Some of the forum members have had peach cobbler out of my ovens, I think they liked it. I just gave out the recipe here last week. As far as cleaning a good, seasoned oven normally just needs some warm water, maybe a little soap & then rinse it out & wipe dry, then a light coating of oil in the oven and on the lid & a small piece of paper towel in between so it gets a bit of air & it's good to put away.
There's nothing you can't cook in a dutch oven, either in the kitchen oven, over the camp fire or buried in the ground which is one of my favorite ways to fix a meal for a hungry group of hunters coming back into camp. You burn out the hole the night before 18-20 inches deep at least, and 6" of space all around, build a fire in it early in the morning & let it burn down to coals, shovel some of the coals out. Have your roast browned, the potatoes, carrots, onions, etc washed & peeled, along with whatever seasoning you like. For me it's salt, pepper, Johnny's seasoning, garlic. Nestle the large dutch oven down into the hot bed of coals, cover the dutch oven with tin foil & then put the lid on over the foil, this keeps the dirt out of the food! Tie a long piece of wire to the handle on the dutch oven. Throw the rest of the hot coals on top of the lid & cover everything with at least 15-20 inches of dirt & go hunting. When you come back by the time your buddies dig the dutch oven out the biscuits are done & it's happy times around the camp fire. I also like to throw a couple of packets of gravy mix in that's been mixed in with about 2 quarts of water.
You can also use an old piece of tin in place of the tin foil to cover the oven & that will keep the dirt out also. Just make sure you have that piece of wire tied onto the handle of the dutch oven. There will never, ever be any left overs, guaranteed!!!!!
Did I tell you how to do a Pineapple upside down cake in a dutch oven!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dick
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Post by dougader on Oct 18, 2017 11:34:47 GMT -5
How are you gonna make gravy without milk or cream? I have heard the high acid content of tomatoes is not good in cast iron, though.
My grandmother never washed out her cast iron fry pans, just wipe them out with a paper towel. Man she could make some wonderful fried potatoes, bacon and eggs (basted in the bacon grease, of course).
Dad always had the best fried chicken... but it was his chicken gravy that was the masterpiece. I've never tasted better, ever. I could live on mashed potatoes smothered in his chicken gravy.
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Post by bula on Oct 18, 2017 11:35:24 GMT -5
Thanks.Both getting ready for work. Will show her this and whatever else shows up later tonite. Will watch the thread from work but cannot post.
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COR
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,522
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Post by COR on Oct 18, 2017 13:06:27 GMT -5
I actually asked the Lodge cookware folks about using tomatoes a few years back and they told me that acidic foods like tomatoes and orange juice will do best in a "well seasoned" pan, they said it could discolor a new pan. What was interesting is they also mentioned the soap comment as another one they always get but does not "ruin" cast iron, just slows the seasoning process.
I've used kosher salt when needing to scrub them and then a rinse.
Dick is going to show me how to make a bear roast this spring...
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Post by Ken O'Neill on Oct 18, 2017 16:44:31 GMT -5
A bear roast must start with at least 240 grains of lead. More is better.
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paulg
.375 Atomic
Posts: 2,420
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Post by paulg on Oct 18, 2017 17:39:29 GMT -5
This should either be a sticky or a sub-forum unto itself! Dick, I’ll bet you that you make more noise with your cast iron than I do with my blue speckled camp wares. ;-) ITS A JOKE PEOPLE!! But seriously folks......
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Post by cherokeetracker on Oct 18, 2017 17:58:12 GMT -5
Bula,, As far as seasoning goes there are a couple of real good ways if starting out the first time. But in your post you stated about re-seasoning, and it is best with Olive Oil. Some folks use vegetable Oil but Most agree with the Olive Oil. After using sugary recipes or something that happens to stick? Well I will and do use soap to try and remove anything that would cause bacteria. Most times I will put some water back into the pan or oven and boil it for awhile, then re-season with Olive Oil. Since My stuff is seasoned well I do not worry about Milk or tomatoes. I do cook gravies and Spaghetti Sauce at least once a week in mine and all is good. I cook my shrimp (that has tomato paste in it) for my Shrimp and Grits.
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Post by cherokeetracker on Oct 18, 2017 18:04:46 GMT -5
How are you gonna make gravy without milk or cream? I have heard the high acid content of tomatoes is not good in cast iron, though. My grandmother never washed out her cast iron fry pans, just wipe them out with a paper towel. Man she could make some wonderful fried potatoes, bacon and eggs (basted in the bacon grease, of course). Dad always had the best fried chicken... but it was his chicken gravy that was the masterpiece. I've never tasted better, ever. I could live on mashed potatoes smothered in his chicken gravy. I know how to make gravy without milk or cream. Now mashed taters with Fried Chicken is BEST with that milk or cream gravy. Yeeehaw Red-eye gravy does not use milk either. But It is a tough call for Biscuits,, Milk Gravy or some of my Fried apples. |
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Post by cherokeetracker on Oct 18, 2017 18:09:22 GMT -5
bula, you are right about some of the old wives tales about cast iron cooking. And the one you mentioned about not using soap to clean them is one of the oldest & of course it isn't true. I'm right in the heart of the dutch oven cooking capital of the world & if you think you're good this is the place to prove it because there are dutch oven competitions just about every weekend somewhere close by. I think the national headquarters is just south of me in northern Utah (60 miles) you can google dutch oven cooking & find a schedule for all kinds of cook offs through out the year. Every store you walk into has Lodge, Camp Chef, etc dutch ovens & all types of accessories, plus a dozen or more different cook books using nothing but dutch ovens. I have 9 ovens at the time, I've gave a few to my kids but still have a couple of #14's, 2 #10's, 2 #8's & some smaller one's plus some flat grills, & skillets. I also have a #12 & a #10 aluminum oven that we use when we're packing on the horses. I had one of the very rare & no longer made Lodge rectangular ovens that would hold 2 large roasts or perhaps 3 whole chickens but I gave it to one of my son's along with a very, very large skillet that I used to brown chicken. It's probably 15-16 inches wide. Some of the forum members have had peach cobbler out of my ovens, I think they liked it. I just gave out the recipe here last week. As far as cleaning a good, seasoned oven normally just needs some warm water, maybe a little soap & then rinse it out & wipe dry, then a light coating of oil in the oven and on the lid & a small piece of paper towel in between so it gets a bit of air & it's good to put away. There's nothing you can't cook in a dutch oven, either in the kitchen oven, over the camp fire or buried in the ground which is one of my favorite ways to fix a meal for a hungry group of hunters coming back into camp. You burn out the hole the night before 18-20 inches deep at least, and 6" of space all around, build a fire in it early in the morning & let it burn down to coals, shovel some of the coals out. Have your roast browned, the potatoes, carrots, onions, etc washed & peeled, along with whatever seasoning you like. For me it's salt, pepper, Johnny's seasoning, garlic. Nestle the large dutch oven down into the hot bed of coals, cover the dutch oven with tin foil & then put the lid on over the foil, this keeps the dirt out of the food! Tie a long piece of wire to the handle on the dutch oven. Throw the rest of the hot coals on top of the lid & cover everything with at least 15-20 inches of dirt & go hunting. When you come back by the time your buddies dig the dutch oven out the biscuits are done & it's happy times around the camp fire. I also like to throw a couple of packets of gravy mix in that's been mixed in with about 2 quarts of water. You can also use an old piece of tin in place of the tin foil to cover the oven & that will keep the dirt out also. Just make sure you have that piece of wire tied onto the handle of the dutch oven. There will never, ever be any left overs, guaranteed!!!!! Did I tell you how to do a Pineapple upside down cake in a dutch oven!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dick |
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Post by cherokeetracker on Oct 18, 2017 18:11:20 GMT -5
That was strange it left off my reply..... I would like to see the recipe Dick.
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Post by dougader on Oct 18, 2017 18:56:58 GMT -5
How are you gonna make gravy without milk or cream? I have heard the high acid content of tomatoes is not good in cast iron, though. My grandmother never washed out her cast iron fry pans, just wipe them out with a paper towel. Man she could make some wonderful fried potatoes, bacon and eggs (basted in the bacon grease, of course). Dad always had the best fried chicken... but it was his chicken gravy that was the masterpiece. I've never tasted better, ever. I could live on mashed potatoes smothered in his chicken gravy. I know how to make gravy without milk or cream. Now mashed taters with Fried Chicken is BEST with that milk or cream gravy. Yeeehaw Red-eye gravy does not use milk either. But It is a tough call for Biscuits,, Milk Gravy or some of my Fried apples. Yeah, I was thinking of the sausage gravy they put on the chicken fried steak up this way. Ummmmmmmmmmmm.... |
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Post by sixshot on Oct 18, 2017 20:29:11 GMT -5
Most of the new dutch ovens now days come already seasoned but CT is correct, olive oil is best if you need to season or re-season one. Most places around here sell little plastic scrapers for about a dollar that work great for scraping out any left over food in your oven. Everyone keeps a few of these handy if they are doing much dutch oven cooking. Don't use a metal scratch pad for obvious reasons, that just removes your seasoning.
Let's do some dutch oven chicken: Remember, chicken doesn't like to be hurried. What I do when I'm feeding a bunch of people is take that big skillet & put about an inch of oil in it, perhaps half a gallon (it's big) Remember we are cooking outdoors, over a hot bed of coals, not open flames...hot coals only. You will need some long tongs & some good gloves (think welding gloves) get the oil very hot. My wife mixes the flour with several spices, I leave that to her but it's got Johnny's seasoning, garlic, 2 tsps salt, 1 tsp pepper, onion powder, smoked paprika, seasonall. We usually use vegetable oil with quite a bit of butter added. If you like it extra crispy then dip in milk & back into the flour a second time.
Lay the pieces of chicken into the very hot oil so that you drop it AWAY from you, it takes about 3 laps around the house if that hot oil nails you! If the oil is the right depth about 1/2 way up the sides of the chicken you will brown it in about 45-60 seconds, flip it over & repeat. Now, using some long tongs take the chicken & let it drip off & place it in a big #14 or #12 dutch oven depending on how many people you are feeding. You don't want oil in the dutch oven, it gets soggy, we're cooking slow now. Best to put the backs & wings on the bottom first, that way if you get to hot, they burn istead of the breasts, thighs, etc. The secret to good dutch oven chicken besides the seasoning is to just barely be able to hear to crackling when you pop the lid, just barely. You've already browned it fast, now let the dutch oven work it's magic. When you can stick a fork in that breast or thigh & don't see any blood, it's done to perfection. You can also do it with charcoal if you don't want to use wood, easier to control the temp with charcoal.
Also you can double stack the ovens, just put charcoal on the lid, add charcoal, put another dutch oven on top, put charcoal on top of that & then get those taters going boys, the kids are hungry!! Many times I've had 4 dutch ovens going, two on top of two. I use to have a neighbor that had over 50 dutch ovens, every year he would feed over 450 people at one time. Of course he had help but it was chicken, dutch oven taters, corn on the cob, salad & usually a cobbler, all from the dutch ovens. Always start with bacon when you're doing dutch oven potatoes, more later.
Dick
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Post by nolongcolt on Oct 18, 2017 21:06:46 GMT -5
Interesting stuff here. We use the heavy stuff here as well, several big frypans, wife just bought a rectangular pan the other day, have a couple dutch ovens but they don't see much use. I note that we have a can of LODGE seasoning spray. Contents are 100 percent canola oil. I still wont use soap in mine, I use hot water, a scrubber, dry and oil. Here is a funny one from my late dad, not sure why he did it but he always threw out the first pancake from the pan, then number 2 was good to go. I know it had something to do with the getting the temp and surface just right, but dog gone, throwing out a perfectly good looking pancake still seems goofy even after all these years. Anybody here throw the first cake in the trash or know why one would?
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Post by dougader on Oct 18, 2017 22:53:39 GMT -5
When I make pancakes, the first one is always a little off. After that, the come out great...
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