How I seasoned my entire cast iron cookware collection

October 04, 2009

I have all kinds of cast iron. Today, I decided it was time to clean and re-season all of it. There are a few key pieces that sit on my stove top and I've decided that it was time to break out some additional pieces. Particularly, a nice sauce pan with a lid and a double dutch oven (for lack of a better term). In all, there were two No. 8 skillets, a No 14 skillet (yeah, the big daddy) two waffle irons, two regular dutch ovens, the double dutch oven, an egg poacher, a cornbread pan, a muffin pan, and a star-shaped muffin pan. There was a sauce pan and lids for about each of them! I really needed another oven, or two, for the task. My oven was working at 250 degrees all day.

Anyone who cooks with cast-iron can never turn back. I'm ready to ditch everything else I have and commit to cast-iron cooking! Having your cookware properly seasoned and maintained only increases the performance of cast-iron. Here's how I did it:

Seasoning your cast iron

1. Clean your cookware real good. It's OK to use a mild soap as you scrape off any junk. I used a wire brush and scouring pad to get it as clean as possible. A wire brush is good for rust (also a clue that your pan is not properly seasoned.)

2. Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F.

3. Dry everything off real good. You don't want any water on it before the rub-down with oil.

4. Rub it down using a paper towel. You can use canola oil, but I used Crisco vegetable shortening this time. I have used bacon grease in the past. People have used lard, bacon grease or ham fat or any other saturated fat. Saturated fat will stay in your pan much longer so while it may seem weird, think of it as cooking breakfast in it. Each time you cook, your surface becomes more seasoned. Go crazy... season it with bacon grease, we're talking cast-iron!

5. Let it cook in the oven for 2 hours. After two hours, turn off the oven and leave the pans in it to cool in the oven. Now if you have to do multiple oven loads like me, that may not be an option.

When the pans come out, grab your hot mitt and give them another rub down with a cotton wash cloth or something that you can work fast with. Just shine it up and that's it folks. Repeat this process as often as you like. Even better, cook with it... a lot! Bacon and anything greasy or fatty adds to an awesome seasoned surface. Eventually, with proper cleaning, your pan will achieve a natural non-stick, smooth-as-glass surface.

Cleaning your cast iron

When you clean your cast iron, be sure not to use high detergent soaps. Some will argue it's OK to use a mild soap, but I do not. If you need some scouring action, throw a little kosher salt into the pan under your faucet and get a scrubby or something to grind up the junk. Soaps will de-season your cookware. It will take off the black and you will begin to see the silver of the cast-iron again. You want your cookware to maintain a nice, even black shine.

When done washing, give a quick towel dry and then put it on your stove burner to completely dry it out. Don't over cook the pan here! A minute or two should do it. Leave it on just long enough to dry out.

Tags: food , home , how-to

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Thomas Family Winery, Madision IN.

April 03, 2009

We grabbed a group of friends and headed to Madison, Indiana to visit the Thomas Family winery and attend the "Hot" Luck dinner. It's apparently an annual event that is free 'o charge and all are welcome to bring a dish made in the "spicy tradition." Everything was "hot." There was cayanne pepper in the fudge and my favorite was the chocolate lamb curry. There was so much food and all of it was awesome.

Of course the old vine Zinfandel was what I most looked forward to. I hear they are 100 year old vines. They definitely have a better grip on the red wines but I thought the whites were very average. They tasted similar to my own wine... that is still being mastered.

Overall, great food and wine and a good round of friends can't be beat. I'll be looking forward to heading back next year and I think I'll bring my white bean deer chili... whith some heat added.

Tags: food , wine

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Wine Cellar Event Sat. Feb. 21

February 20, 2009

On Saturday, we ate, drink and were merry with good friends. Over the last 2 years, I have really been digging the red wines. To me, reds *are* more complex animals and hard to figure out both in the tasting and making. But I drink what I like and it spans from sweet to dry. I look at the craft in the style of wine in reds more so than whites. It seems there’s more tinkering done in the cellar with red wines… and rightly so.

These are NOT all the wines that were available. They were this years, “featured selections.” My idea is to feature a diverse group of wines from sweet to dry and cheap to expensive, both red and white. People liked some, but not all. Seems my homemade peach wasn't so hot. In fact, it tasted soapy :( - But, I plan to play with it some more. You watch, I may just bring it around. My Plum wine however, was something to gett jiggy to.

Here was the official line up, but it didn't include many wines that were brought... and additional wines that were pulled from the cellar.

Reds

2007 Menage A Trios (a blend) - Folie A Deux
2007 Chianti – Ruffino
2005 Syrah Petite - Stags Leap
2005 Syrah - Columbia Winery
2004 Syrah - Red Bicyclette

Whites

2007 Voignier - Stags Leap
2007 Moscato - Sutter Home
2007 Gewurtztraminer - Chateau St. Michelle
2006 Savignon Blanc - Bogle
2007 Chardonnay - Bogle

Sparking

2005 Champagne - Valley Vineyards

My Homemade

2007 - Concord
2008 - Peach
2008 - Plum
2008 - Strawberry
2007 - Niagra Ice Wine (juice from a kit… real deal stuff)

Thankfully, my wife shares the passion enough to where we’ve sinfully set up a budget for wine-buying. The goal was to put some good stuff in the cellar, but it’s so hard to keep our hands off it! So the cycle repeats. We find ourselves being wine junkies to the extent of grabbing a quick bottle of the shelf to try something new. It’s cool when you find a good $5-10 bottle that you really like. The point of my featured selections is not to wow or woo. It’s to expose everyone to a variety of wines… and particularly, ones I’ve been drinking lately. Around here, we “drink what we like.” If you like it, and it happens to be priced right, remember who introduced you to it :)

Wine is fun and finding people who appreciate it the same is a blast. Thanks to all those who contributed something to the wine and food. What a great experience. So, see you at the next taste. Check out the pics from this years event.

 

Tags: cellar , family , food , friends , wine

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