Cooking on your stove/cast iron cookware question

[eclecticcottage]

I am not 100% sure this is the right place for this, but, anyway

We just bought our cottage a few months ago. We've had to do a LOT of work so far (like, tear out the floors including the floor joists in the living room due to rot...it was so bad we didn't think there was originally a sill plate until we fond a little rotten hunk between two joists!) and need to take a bit of a spending break. We just figured out the propane stove that came with the place isn't exactly a good idea to use. We went through 10% of our propane in a few weeks using it (I think it's about a 700 gallon tank). The oven bangs so loud when it cycles back on the dog barks because she thinks someone's at the door! Which means we won't be using it and want to wait on an awesome sale before buying a new one.

So, we figured we could get by with the crock pot and cooking on the Lopi Republic that's heating the place anyway (that's all we've got until we hook up our propane vent free). So I picked up some cast iron cookware from TS. Made a cornbread in the dutch oven-texture wise and crust wise, it came out BEAUTIFUL (just heated it up on top with the lid on). Better than the bread machine or oven at our old place. BUT it has an unusual taste. I think it's the cast iron cookware. I've never cooked with it before. It's supposed to be preseasoned. I want to make some soup but I am wondering before I do....am I thinking right that cast iron has a "flavor"? And if so, is there a way to lessen it? I washed it well before use.

 

[Butcher]

Cast iron cook ware is about all we cook with around here weather it be over a open far outside or on a woodstove. Never had a bad taste from anything yet unless I burnt the fud. Just remember not to wash your CI stuff in soap and water. Wipe clean and if ya got some burnt stuff stuck in them use some sand to clean it out.

 

[MarkinNC]

That is certainly something you can google or youtube, but, I have had virgin cast iron cookware impart an off flavor the first couple of uses. Back in the day before it was pre-seasoned it used to be sealed with wax so it would not rust. I think that imparted an off flavor. I would suggest getting a sacrificial pound of smoked bacon and fry it up in your various cookware pieces to hopefully impart a better flavor. It should acquire the taste of what you cook in it. I am guessing you know not to cook acidic based dishes like chilli etc.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Erm..no...but I would have used the crock pot for that. I never thought to google it.

 

[KodiakII]

:grrr:

That is certainly something you can google or youtube, but, I have had virgin cast iron cookware impart an off flavor the first couple of uses. Back in the day before it was pre-seasoned it used to be sealed with wax so it would not rust. I think that imparted an off flavor. I would suggest getting a sacrificial pound of smoked bacon and fry it up in your various cookware pieces to hopefully impart a better flavor. It should acquire the taste of what you cook in it. I am guessing you know not to cook acidic based dishes like chilli etc.

I always cook my chilli in cast iron (dutch oven)...aluminum would melt! :gulp:

 

[fireview2788]

I cook chili in mine all the time with no problems. As far as it giving a different flavor it does but it's a better flavor. As far as seasoning just remember to oil it after you clean it and you'll be fine.


f v

 

[SteveKG]

I've used cast iron cookware off and on for years. Last year, I went almost all cast iron, got rid of the non-stick stuff for good.

I haven't noticed any taste imparted by the cast iron, even the new stuff. I bought a bunch of Lodge pieces.

We cook just about anything with it. If you cook chili or some stews and etc., such as lentils with tomatoes in them, or anything with tomato or tomato sauce, etc., which is acidic, just don't leave the leftovers in the iron pot or sauce pan or skillet. Also, I clean any cast iron thing I used the day I used it, no leaving it around to wash later. I learned my lesson.... I use just hot water [real hot, put a kettle on the wood stove and it'll be ready to use after dinner]. Use a brush and/or one of those plastic scrub pads to knock off anything stuck to the pan.

Don't let the dogs lick the pans, and do not use soap to clean. In a year, we have had 100% good results just using hot water. Actually, you are leaving some oils/grease in the pan that way, a tiny bit, without soap as a surfactant, but that is part of keeping the pans seasoned.

I messed up one night and left some spaghetti in a Dutch oven, and the next a.m. there was a little rust on the inside. I cleaned it as usual and wiped it down with a little cooking oil, stuck it into the wood range oven and left it there for some hours. It was fine after that and I couldn't tell it had ever been messed up.

I don't do anything else to my pans before putting them away til next use [actually, mine hang from nails on the wall]. Our relative humidity here is often near single digits and almost never much above 20 or 30%, and that for only a day or two. I have heard of people having problems with their cast iron stuff if they live in more humid areas. In those cases, you would need to either wipe the pan very lightly with oil after cleaning and they have dried. I have also used, instead, a very small spray of Pam or similar stuff. If you use too much of anything, and you don't use the pan for a while, I have seen it be a bit sticky and can collect dust and need a quick wash with, again, hot water, before using. If you wipe down the surfaces with a paper towel after wiping with oil or spray, it will be perfect. You are looking to put a tiny bit of a film of oil on the metal.

 

[Mrs. Krabappel]

I break all the rules and wash mine with soap and water. No problems ever. I agree fry up some bacon and go from there.

 

[curber]

I clean mine with rock salt and rince with water after.

 

[babzog]

I bought a CI frypan about 20 years ago. Seasoned it with oil and the oven and have done it again a couple times since. Never had a bad taste in the food. It will eventually turn black and almost get a non-stick coating to it. I wash mine in soap / water but never with a metal scouring pad (removes the coating). After, I dry and wipe the inside with a bit of olive or canola oil to keep it from rusting.

 

[Nightskies]

Very new Nooby here. So can you only put cast iron on your stove? I'm figuring to cook soups, stews, porridges, and scramble some eggs when I get my Oslo. I see no logic in turning on the electric stove while the wood stove is running nice and hot. Waste of electricity right? Or is there some reason this wouldn't work.

 

[pen]

Very new Nooby here. So can you only put cast iron on your stove? I'm figuring to cook soups, stews, porridges, and scramble some eggs when I get my Oslo. I see no logic in turning on the electric stove while the wood stove is running nice and hot. Waste of electricity right? Or is there some reason this wouldn't work.

Only thing cooking on the stove top can do is muck up the surface some. Otherwise, if you like to do it and don't care then go for it. Using aluminum foil underneath helps.

I don't recommend putting non-stick pans on the stove because I don't like using them in general after a roomate in college about killed all of us from the teflon-flu.

But, if you are careful not to overheat a non-cast iron pan, and it has a handle which can tolerate the heat near a stove, then you can use it.

pen

 

[SteveKG]

You can and we do use any type of cooking pot or pan on a wood-burning stove. We happen to have gone to cast iron for our frying pans and Dutch oven, etc., but we still have some sauce pans that are either stainless, aluminum, or porcelain/steel. The wood stove is just a heat source like a gas or electric range. We have forgone non-stick coated pans due to the fact they are pricey and still wear out in a couple years and the suspected health aspect of getting the Teflon-related chemicals into our bodies. Plus, America's Test Kitchen claims that heating up such cookware to high temps can off-gas chemicals from the coatings.

But to your question, use anything you want to cook on the stove.

 

[pyper]

I have cast iron and stainless steel cookware. No difference in taste when the cast iron is properly seasoned.

A lot of people do a low temperature seasoning (e.g., 325F) with vegetable oil. If you do that, then you'll cook on a layer of grease, and it's prone to come off into your food, giving it that flavor. Some people seem to like it. People who only use their cast iron occasionally end up with a layer of rancid grease. Yuck. I have no idea how the pre-seasoning is done.

I season my cast iron with olive oil, because it has such a low smoke point. Starting from a clean pan dry pan on a hot burner, you pour some in and wipe it around with a paper towel. When it starts to smoke, wipe some more; repeat as desired. It helps to have a good range hood, or to do it outdoors on a propane grill or fish fry burner.

There are many methods of cleaning cast iron. Many of them are intended to preserve the seasoning. Because my method of seasoning is so easy, I don't worry about about it. Instead, I use dish detergent, and whatever scrub pads I use on any other cookware. Just a dish cloth for light stuff, but I don't hesitate to use Scotchbrite or even a steel wool pad. It doesn't hurt it, and neither does the detergent. The only exception is my griddle, which is only used for pancakes. Because it is large and rectangular, it is difficult to season, so I am careful with it. But I still use detergent. I agree that you should never use soap, because soap will leave a film on anything.

Now if you use a low temperature seasoning as described above, then maybe that kind of seasoning can absorb detergent, but the seasoning I use won't absorb anything.

When you buy new cast iron, it usually has a rough surface. This is due to low quality casting sand. I use a sanding pad on an electric drill with coarse sanding disks and make them smooth. When you season smooth cast iron is is much less non-stick than rough cast iron. Especially important in the bottom of a dutch oven if you bake a lot. If you buy vintage cast iron, it comes smooth -- even if it's unused -- because they used a higher quality sand.

I've never used cast iron on the stove, but I have used my dutch oven in the grill when the power was out. My wife had gotten a dessert all ready to bake and realized the oven needed electric.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Very new Nooby here. So can you only put cast iron on your stove? I'm figuring to cook soups, stews, porridges, and scramble some eggs when I get my Oslo. I see no logic in turning on the electric stove while the wood stove is running nice and hot. Waste of electricity right? Or is there some reason this wouldn't work.

Welcome to the forum Nightskies. Yes, you can use any pots and pans you have. Around our house, it is weird if something isn't on the stove cooking or warming up. If too hot, put aluminum foil under or set on a trivet. Having a soapstone stove we also have some soapstone blocks (which you can buy from Woodstock) that are sold as boot driers. Those work great for setting pots and pans on.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

eclecticcottage, you should get along okay. If there is a taste, then go against the grain and wash them with soap and water one time. You can wipe them and then finish drying on the stove. Cooking some bacon in them is also very good. Good luck.

 

[curber]

The rubbing of the salt into cast iron sounded crazy to me tell I tried it. It does something to the pores and smoothes them out. The result is a verry non-stick seasoning on your pan. Sometimes I'll even use salt and a little oil and just grind it around the pan, cold of coarse. then just rinse the salt out with hot water, dry and oil. Pat

 

[woodchip]

We put anything on our stove that would go on the cooker

Plain cast iron can be seasoned with oil and heated to give it a hard finish (can be done indoors, but it does smell a little).

We have not used our electric cooker since September, everything we have eaten has been cooked by wood!

And not satisfied with cooking on top, once the fire dies down, we have a hot oven like an Italian pizza oven.......

 

[woodchip]

The rubbing of the salt into cast iron sounded crazy to me tell I tried it. It does something to the pores and smoothes them out. The result is a verry non-stick seasoning on your pan. Sometimes I'll even use salt and a little oil and just grind it around the pan, cold of coarse. then just rinse the salt out with hot water, dry and oil. Pat

Cheap cast iron can be treated quickly by running a fine grade sandpaper on an orbital sander, then seasoning with oil, quicker and more accurate than any other way I've found..

Cheap iron has tiny imperfections, which is why I do it.

Most cast iron here is crappy cheap stuff from China these days, so you have to knw how to make it good ;-)

 

[bluedogz]

I cook on cast iron a lot too, and only ever have trouble when someone 'scrubs all that gunk off it' and forces me to reseason.

I am a fan on the low-oven seasoning with Crisco or bacon fat. Do it every New Year's Day whether I think they need it or not.

Never had any odd flavor from cast iron... not sure on that one.

 

[Nightskies]

Ooooh. Purty pictures Woodchip! Hubby will like the pizza! Danm, where's my stove already?! I wanna cook and burn!

 

[eclecticcottage]

Thanks for all of the replies! Since cast iron is pretty heavy and hence, pretty expensive to ship, I bought new rather than hunting about the net for vintage. I was pretty dissapointed to find it was made in China, but aside from TS I wasn't sure where to buy it so I caved and bought it anyway. I'll have to try seasoning it with bacon grease. It was a different recipe than I've used before so it could have been that too, but I don't know...it just tasted odd. I might wait until I'm home and DH isn't to try the sanding thing, I think he'd flip out if he saw me sanding the brand new cookware, lol.

As to teflon-I won't use it either. Many years ago there were warnings against using it if you had parrots in your house because they were sensitive to the fumes if it was overheated and it could kill them. That was enough for me, since then it's been stainless only, even though I no longer have a parrot.

 

[SteveKG]

After some years of using cheap, imported cast stuff, I tossed it and almost exactly one year ago replaced it all with Lodge [Google it, they sell it factory direct or on Amazon, free shipping]. My mother told me about it. Mom was right. It's made in the USA, Tennessee I think, somewhere around there, the quality of the metal and the casting is very good. Preseasoned. Inexpensive. The smallest frying pan I bought was about $7, the largest about $25. Dutch oven mid-30s. Very good cookware.

I read somewhere that the way manufacturers preseason is they spray the cookware [all over] with a mist of oil and then heat batches of the items in large ovens of some sort. But don't quote me: I don't know for sure, though that makes sense.

We had some nice glass lids from previous products, other frying pans and etc., and turns out they all fit the Lodge stuff perfectly. So you may not even need to buy lids, though some items, such a Dutch ovens, come with them anyway. We have four sizes of frying pans from very small to very large, and we happened to have lids that fit every one of them.

The cast stuff I tossed or gave away was all made in Taiwan or China. The casting ranged from poor [with pits and little bumps of cast in them] to not-much-better-than-poor. I have found no imperfections in the Lodge stuff. We use it in and on our Aga Heartland wood range and atop our other two heat stoves all the time. Winters, anyhow!

 

[Treacherous]

Those pictures have got me hungry.

 

[eclecticcottage]

Used the dutch oven again yesterday, and figured out the taste-now I have to figure out what to do about it. It's the oil, I could tell this time. Could it be that it's not seasoned enough? We used the skillets on the range and that food was fine.