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Post by seak89 on Oct 19, 2017 3:05:25 GMT -5
Bear fat or good talo. Cast iron been here hundreds of year olive oil well not so long and seldom ever found in the back country home.
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Post by dougader on Oct 19, 2017 8:16:42 GMT -5
G'ma used bacon fat or lard.
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Post by sixshot on Oct 19, 2017 12:39:59 GMT -5
The soap thing is hard to over come for a lot of people but I know world champions that do it every time they cook, all I can say. As far as oil, it's a preference thing, bacon fat is great, olive oil is a great oil for the first seasoning. We use a lot of Canola oil when we cook, also vegetable oil, etc. The reason many people, myself included throw out that first pancake is heat, cast iron heats slowly & cools slowly, much like a bullet mold. That first pancake is a heat test for the cook, he's checking his temperature, another way to check temp. is to slowly run your hand just a few inches over the top of your griddle, after doing this a few times you can nail the temp almost exactly where you want it. 350 degrees isn't uncomfortable, 375 is getting close & 400 degrees, you have to move your hand kind of fast. This isn't exact for everyone but once you've done it a few dozen times you'll nail it every time, guaranteed. I use to make sourdough pancakes almost every morning for my kids & sourdough bread once or twice a week, if they didn't get it they were mad! One of the secrets to good sourdough pancakes is to be sure & put a couple table spoons of oil in the batter. So light & fluffy they almost melt in your mouth. I've had adults that don't really care for pancakes eat 6 of them! Let's do some dutch oven spuds: Reds are best but Russets make a great fried potato also. First decide how many people you're going to feed & pick the right size oven. Lets use a #8 & peel enough spuds that you have it almost full. Also peel your favorite onion, I like Walla Walla Sweets, but any onion will work, they add great flavor to the spuds & you hardly taste straight onion but it really adds to the finished product. First dice about 1/2 lb of bacon & throw in the oven, cook it just enough to render the fat out of it, you don't need it crisp but that's ok. Now, leave the fat in the oven & remove the bacon. Now add about 1/4 of 1 stick of real butter (not margarine) don't ruin it with margarine, that stuff is one molecule away from PLASTIC! Dice your Dice or slice your potatoes, we like to slice them, its usually better because you have to stir them from time to time & it works better if they are sliced, up to you. Also dice your onion. Make sure the bacon fat/butter is mixed & hot! Now add some potatoes & some onions & then seasoning. We use Johnny's seasoning, pepper, garlic powder (optional) salt, be careful on the salt because the Johnny's seasoning has salt in it. Stir, add more potatoes, onions, seasoning, stir, more potatoes, onions, seasoning, stir, etc. until your dutch oven is full. From time to time remove the lid & stir with a spatula, scraping the bottom so you aren't burning anything that's sticking. Now your spuds are steaming & you can tell when they are done. If you want them more brown (not necessary) you will have to remove the lid. Just before you're ready to serve them add 3-4 handfuls of your favorite cheese & then sprinkle the bacon pieces over the top of the cheese & jump back because there's a stampede coming. As soon as you take that lid off grown men will run right over the kids! Camp Chef is making some great cast iron oven with some neat innovations. The lids have legs on them & you can turn it over & the lid is now a skillet. Also it hasa tiny hole at the top where you can insert a thermometer to check the temp. without removing the lid. The Lodge ovens with no legs have several tiny little "points" inside the lid, these are "drip" points that collect the condensation & drip it back over the food for moisture & does it evenly, great idea. You'll see in the photo's some of the different ovens, the 2 big one's are #14's made by Lodge, there's also a $10 made by Lodge with no legs for using on your stove top or in the oven, we use it a lot. The other one is #10 by Camp Chef with legs on bottom & top so you can use the lid as a skillet/frying pan. It's a commemorative Lewis & Clark Edition & also shows Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who helped guide Lewis & Clark through the rugged mountains of Montains & Idaho (she was born in Idaho) Dick
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Post by dougader on Oct 19, 2017 13:07:54 GMT -5
Awesome!
You made me hungry, and I just ate a little while ago!
No kidding, Dick, I went through 15 pounds of potatoes in the last week by myself.... and I don't eat potatoes as a rule 'cuz I'm always trying to lose weight.
I've been eating a huge breakfast and then I'm not hungry until dinner.... 6 russets (not the huge bakers, the small to med sized ones that come in the 10# plastic bags for $1.98) fried up with oil and butter, bacon or ham added, then salt, cracked pepper, onion and garlic powder, and them some rosemary or oregano or thyme... sometimes a mix of 2 or 3 of those. Then I cook up 3 or 4 eggs, sunny side up, and plop them on top of the spuds and dig in.
About the oil and butter. Butter cooked at high heat all on it's own will brown and even burn. But if you mix it with a high smoke point oil then it's protected somewhat. I like grapeseed oil because it's light, neutral in flavor and has a high smoke point.... and it's supposed to be better for you than the usual vegetable oil or corn oil. It's not too expensive at Trader Joe's or Winco. I started using it when I used to make my own mayonnaise and found it to work perfectly for that.
I was being good today, Dick. Now I want to go cook up another frying pan full of Idaho spuds!
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Otony
.327 Meteor
Posts: 722
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Post by Otony on Oct 19, 2017 21:46:20 GMT -5
There is a Russian folk song about pancakes. The first one goes to the dog, the second goes to friends, the third is for relatives, and the fourth pancake is for you!
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gunzo
.30 Stingray
Posts: 423
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Post by gunzo on Oct 20, 2017 10:26:50 GMT -5
Sausage milk gravy that's prepared correctly is in my top 5 list of favorite foods, paired with good biscuits of course. To my knowledge & from my experience, a cast iron skillet is the only vessel in which to cook it. All the magical & modern cookware on the planet will pale in comparison. If it's not cooked in cast iron you just as well use a packet of instant.
Good gosh, I just remembered, today is catfish day at a local bar & grill that has plate lunches is owned & operated by a family that originally came from deep Appalachia & can country cook like no others. Brown beans, cornbread, fried potatoes with onions, the fish, all cooked in cast iron & using lard. I must be strong, it's only five miles away, I must be strong. Last time I ate there, I felt like I couldn't breath for hours.
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Post by sixshot on Oct 20, 2017 11:33:41 GMT -5
gunzo, where's it at, I'll meet you there!! I'm teaching another cinnamon roll class today, 9 ladies this time, I'll try to get a few photo's. It won't be with cast, the wind is blowing half the county away. I'm also taking a surprise, I made a stawberry cheescake that will knock it out of the park, photo's later. Cheers!!
Dick
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callshot
.327 Meteor
Living another day in the worlds largest playground
Posts: 784
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Post by callshot on Oct 21, 2017 12:24:47 GMT -5
I boil the chili sauce (lots of tomatos and vegetables along with sugars and spices.) in my 16" deep Dutch oven all the time. Just clean with soap and boil water then heat it well to dry it then season it well, never had any problems. Another thing that is quite good is Cornish game hens. Just brown in the Dutch oven then lay on their backs and cover with the lid. Cook for a while if you can wait and they will fall off the bones. One hen per person is about right. Only 1.4 lbs. each including the bones. I have all the way from 3" & 4" up to 16" deep ovens. If I use wood the quaking aspen dead wood burns down to coals quickly then stays as coals for quite a little while. Darn you people that talk about food like this when I'm on food restrictions!
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Post by sixshot on Oct 21, 2017 15:52:25 GMT -5
You're never on food restrictions when I'm buying! Food restrictions, can you believe that cross eyed biscuit eater, I've watched him put ways enough grub to feed 3 teenagers when I'm buying, when he's buying it's corn dogs at Quik Stop & I have to take my own stick......
Dick
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Post by bula on Oct 22, 2017 7:42:16 GMT -5
Foul ! Gunzo, you can't put up a post like that and not tell us the name of the place, where...something !
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gunzo
.30 Stingray
Posts: 423
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Post by gunzo on Oct 22, 2017 9:48:36 GMT -5
Foul ! Gunzo, you can't put up a post like that and not tell us the name of the place, where...something ! OK, I'll give y'all a heads up ahead of time. Wednesday is their fried chicken day. Chicken fried in Ky. but not by the Colonel. I remember fresh green beans, with ham hock of course, it was a few months ago & the owner was sitting at the front table breaking beans when I walked in. I knew I was in for a treat. Their are always 3-4 sides, but hard to remember as I am nearly comatose when I leave. Seems like I remember sweet tea being part of it, but that's a given. Back to cast cookware. Woke up yesterday craving country ham. Didn't have any but it made think of the proper way to have it. When growing up my dad usually had a cured ham around. It was never baked, boiled, steamed in a lard can, had cola poured on it, or some of the other ways some people prepare it. It was sliced one slice at a time & fried in an iron skillet. The remaining fat & the iron skillet are the best conditions to fry over easy eggs that is know to me. Make them the eggs from free ranging chickens with the dark yellow, nearly orange yolk for the full experience. I like to trim some fat off a ham slice & fry the fat first, allowing me to get enough grease for the eggs without overcooking the ham. Jeetyet?
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Post by Robster on Oct 22, 2017 19:28:09 GMT -5
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Post by sixshot on Oct 23, 2017 0:59:07 GMT -5
Great photo's, looks like the dogs are having a great time too! Wish I was there to share the grub!
Dick
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Post by Robster on Oct 23, 2017 7:02:15 GMT -5
Thanks Dick, you are always welcome at my fire. And my hunt camp. You started me down the path of DO cooking many years ago and I do appreciate you taking the time to talk to me on the phone with all of your tips and pointers back then.
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Post by bula on Oct 23, 2017 7:51:56 GMT -5
5 Days in the ADK, nice ! Did see snow shoe hares in winter white when I was there. Spent two trips on High Peak range and a day on Giant Mt which is across the road from Keene Valley that leads to Mt Marcy. These were Jan/Feb., trips. Lived on snow shoes until high up.
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